The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Released in 2012, The Pirates! Band of Misfits wasn't a massive hit financially but, it did pretty well critically and was nominated for several awards including an Oscar nomination for 'Best Animated Feature'.

It's about a pirate simply named 'Pirate Captain' who has led his loyal, rag-tag crew on all sorts of high-seas adventures over the years. His goal now is to win the coveted 'Pirate of the Year' trophy, which is awarded to the Captain who amasses the most treasure. After several attempted raids on various ships have resulted in no treasure being stolen, the crew finds themselves aboard a ship carrying Charles Darwin. Darwin soon notices that Pirate Captains 'parrot' is actually the last living Dodo bird, and tells him that this discovery will yield great riches. So, they all go to London to enter the Dodo in a scientific discovery competition, but Darwin has plans to steal the bird hoping to win the affection of Queen Victoria. 

Personally, I think that this is a fun, well-made movie. The animation and voice acting are great, and the comedy really hits the mark for me. It might not be a home run to every viewer, but I recommend checking it out. 
4 out of 5

Today's Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

I went into this one with pretty low expectations. The first Pirates film in this franchise was a bit better than I expected back in 2003, but the Johnny Depp/Jack Sparrow flamboyant drunk schtick has grown old over the years. 

This one is more of what you'd expect going in; Johnny Depp swaggering about and finding himself in over the top ridiculous situations. It's done just well enough to be moderately entertaining, but the film overall is a bit underwhelming. Unfortunately, the other main characters are so dull that the drunken slapstick and predictable gags are the glue that holds the film together. The plot is pretty much par for the course; there's some curse and, for some reason, this is linked to Capt. Jack Sparrow. There are also some pacing issues and I found myself checking the time more than once.     

Overall, if you like the other 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films then you'll like this one. It's probably not the worst one. 

I give it a 1.5 out of 5.

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