Aardman has the reputation of Pixar when it comes to stop-motion animation. Everything they do has such detail, while still maintaining their specific style. 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' is no different. However, if we're making comparisons to Pixar, 'The Pirates!' would have to be 'Cars'. It's good, but there's just something missing to make it excellent. The plot leaves something to be desired. It never really gets going while still feeling a little long. Still fun though with some laughs.

So funny! So many great offhand jokes and unexpected sight gags!

The "you look like you're related"-line with darwin and the monkey did it all... A clever and charming comedy that suffers from a somewhat misplaced cast of voices and a story that surrounds the annoying bird two god damn much...

Liked it well enough. Some gorgeous animation and very funny moments, especially the sight gag of the monkey and his index cards.

Unlike the amazing Wallace and Gromit series, this is more a film for kids. Still, it's amusing enough, with a fast pace, lighthearted silliness, and original, funny characters. I liked the historical anachronisms, especially Queen Victoria being given the personality of Gengis Khan! Door number 2 of the science competition was hysterical. The lone sour note was Piven's pathetic performance as Black Bellamy, completely taking me out of the picture. Otherwise, it's a solid, entertaining movie.

The Pirates! is filled with an amazing voice cast and an eye for detail, but the humor starts to wear thin and doesn't reach the heights set by the studios previous films. Though there are some genuinely laugh out loud moments.

A respectable and amusingly silly effort from Aardman that finds a great villain in the dodo-eating, bitchy Queen Victoria.

Its sense of color and textures alone is worth the price of admission, but the characters and amusing plot development also serve for a plain good time.

I appreciate the effort, but no laughs?

a breezy tide of comic riffs on a plunderless pirate's attempt to conquer self-esteem issues the wrong way, the wronger way and eventually the right way, this one's remarkably comfortable in its own skin, maintaining a perfect balance between homage and parody for the majority of its runtime. if it's ultimately too eager to please and simple-minded thematically, its unpretentious anarchy and daft wit is endearing and, as its protagonist comes to understand, allows it to make the best of itself.

So it isn't Aardman's greatest adventure, but nevertheless still sufficiently cocky and charming to make its mark - and I for one can't help but love a children's film that find room for The Elephant Man!

Pirates is a highly accomplished animation film, packed with visual detail; myriad gags historical to absurd, throwaway to in-your-face; and fast-paced adventure antics taking us all the way from the Pacific to London. And yet despite all that, it somehow feels a little rushed, lacking in heart; a movie that ticks so many boxes and is so polished, that a commercial cloud is cast over all the quirky creative genius that has been poured into it. How this happened I do not know. Still good though!

Better than any pirate movie we have seen with Johnny Depp, this animation has the clever touch of other -- and better -- Aardman features -- I guess I stopped laughing after 45 minutes or something --, but it's mostly an achievement that successfully combines claymation with digital 3D backgrounds.

Somewhat disappointing There is much better - funnier, cuter,more endearing Aardman characters and stories that I would have rather watched again. Soundtrack was good.

Great characters, a fun and welled paced adventure and very well done stop-motion animation made this an enjoyable watch.

Not Aardman's best BUT lots of fun with a very strong ending. I have a feeling that repeat viewings would be rewarded with many easter eggs in the background. A fun romp that'll be popular with kids but besides little jokes in the background it doesn't offer TONS. It is great fun though and worth a watch.

I had a few minor quibbles with The Pirates!, for example its uninteresting score, uninspired performance by Imelda Staunton and the cliched personality of Number 2, but that shouldn't stop you from rushing to the theater to enjoy this hilarious film. A definite recommendation.

Very boring and flopy script.

Goofy, light and agreeable fun. It's clever, but not hilarious. Full of moments that brought on a smile or a single laugh, nothing that had me rolling on the floor. The characters are fun, though a little one-note. All things considered, while it's not Aardman's best, it's worth a watch.

Takes a good ten minutes or so to find its feet but once it hits its stride Pirates! is an amusing little Aardman adventure with some great one-liners and fantastic voice cast (particularly Hugh Grant, whose character's animation/script/delivery fit together perfectly). The story is pretty standard for the genre and considering its intended audience it predictably holds back on some of the humour, but it's easy-to-watch stuff that you don't regret spending your time on.

Not quite up to Aardman's usual standards in my opinion but the characters are colourful, the animation is nice and flowing and the jokes are relatively amusing, not a bad way to spend your time.

Well, I didn't laugh my booty off but I did enjoy this little animated film. This movie probably won't get my vote for best animated film for the Oscars but it was a really beautiful movie. I thought that the Queen being the bad guy was a good choice. I also was really surprised to see Charles Darwin as one of the main characters. The voice acting was done well and the jokes were really well timed and quite British with their excellent dry wit.

I normally dont like stopmotion, but this one is definitely an exception... clever and funny script, well developed characters, Charles Darwin and Queen Victoria as characters in a pirate movie... brilliant...

This film is rather under-rated (from where I have seen) for its funny and subtle wittiness without boarderline embarassing humour. It might take a bit for those who are used to clean-cut and outright laughter to realize the 'oh!' funny a few seconds after the fact, but the entire film is completely worth the time to watch and enjoy.

More great stop-motion claymation from Peter Lord, this time adapting the hilarious book The Pirates! in an Adventure with Science. Per usual the writing is great, the characters are well developed, and you're sure to laugh out lad a dozen or so times at least. Any fan of British humor or claymation owes it to themselves to watch this.

Misses Aardman's usually ridiculously high mark in every department except perhaps visuals, with only a smattering of laughs and a plot closer to a third-rate kids' movie dressed up as an Aardman effort. The ridiculous cast a studio of that stature can assemble helps, but not enough.

Not as strong as Arthur Christmas or Wallace & Gromit, but nevertheless a solid entry into the Aardman canon with a decent stream of jokes and some standout sequences

Most kids' movies today have at least a little bit of pep to them, and this one's no exception. It means well. Unfortunately, it's a little limp, a little off-key, and more than a little unsatisfying. Basically, it's quaint--with both the good and bad connotations that term carries.

There are so many sight gags that a second or even third viewing may be necessary to catch them all.

With films like Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run, Aardman has pretty much sat at the forefront of stop-motion animation for the last decade. Unfortunately, Pirates! doesn't call up the wonderfully detailed setting and biting humor of their previous efforts, with its kid-friendliness having elicited a few well-earned chuckles rather than a slew of hearty laughs. Jeremy Piven voicing a pirate has also got to be one of worst casting decisions in recent years.

Funny stuff. Gotta love the attention to detail. Makes you even wanna watch the end credits. :D

Not sure what to say about this. No, seriously, I really don't know what to say. This movie is targeted pretty squarely at kids, so I'm probably not being fair. It's relatively harmless, but there's not much to like or dislike. It's just there. I mean, you can't really even hate the movie, or fault it much except for the rather inappropriate music. And that makes it boring. Ultimately, I walked away feeling like it was a movie that didn't need to be made.

The story is mainly aimed at children, but the execution is good.

What really made the film for me was the thoroughly absurd yet cohesive world it was set in. Even the smallest of characters have a back story you can sense. And the humor, which is genuinely zany without being just randomness, exists within every beautifully animated background. It is Aardman's least mature and least heartwarming but I look forward to seeing it again.

Great a attention to detail with subtle bits of humor everywhere. If only the storyline could match. Wasn't horrible but wasn't as carefully constructed as Wallace and Gromit usually is. Still it does a great job of appealing to both kids and adults. Its definitely able to compete with the lackluster offering of kids movies that have been released lately (gotta get back in winning form Pixar or you could be dethroned).

Technically impressive with lovely animation, but ultimately a bore due to a predictable and unimaginative script. Completely lacking in the creativity of Aardman greats such as Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit.

From the opening scenes, it's clear why THE PIRATES! is not the blast it should be: not only are too many of the jokes limp, but the timing is frequently off (the editing is not too great), and the story itself is generic and predictable, so the film fails to really catch fire. But there's still a lot to recommend here: solid voice acting, a number of great gags (the Elephant Man romances Jane Austen), and Aardman's lovely animation. Worthy as lightweight entertainment, but a definite letdown.

Very entertaining, harmless fun. Couldn't have asked for more, really. It is what it is, nothing more.

I am letting this movie inch close to the 40 mark because of the few funny moments it had. With animation films there is that freedom that has to be explored. There is nothing overly imaginative which one has come to expect of this genre. A movie to watch on a day when nothing great is required from the movie.

This should be my type of humor, but it's too fluffy, harmless, and just plain lazy. Great soundtrack, though.

Leave it to the British to come out with a movie about pirates 5 years after the fad of liking them is over. I can't wait to see their take on zombies and vampires in 2018.

I have to admit I was completely entertained! The jokes are absurd, sometimes loud and simple, sometimes dry and fleetingly subtle. The voice acting, bar the out of place Piven, is brilliant, with Grant the star and Blessed perfect as the Pirate King! It felt very much as if the whole movie was largely targetted at and made for UK based audiences, which is not something you see too often in movies hoping make money in US. Vicky made for a great villian too.

It's a film that gets by largely on the strength of its little asides rather than the main thrust of the narrative (which, unfortunately, is pretty weak, if surprisingly charming in parts). That said, it's not a bad film, and the goofball fantasy elements and impressive voice cast (particularly Martin Freeman) make for a decently entertaining hour and a half.

The visuals are pretty decent, but the story and comedy are horrible. Not a single actual laugh in the whole film; just one chuckle and the rest of the gags fall completely flat. The filmmakers seem to be trying too way hard to be clever and funny, and it wrecks this movie.