Movie Review Tuesday: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists

I decided to use the British version of the title of this movie in my title. I'm not quite sure why they changed the title of the movie for the American market, and I refuse to believe that it's because the Republicans are winning in the war on Science and the war on Women. This movie is put out by those brilliant people who invented Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, and Chicken Run, all favorite movies/TV shows of mine. The movie follows our hero, Pirate Captain, on his quest to win a Pirate of the Year award (he's been denied for the last 20 years, so he must win this one, right?). This movie is sort of everything you want in a movie. A band of misfit pirates (including one with gout, an albino, and a woman dressed up as a man), and of course the first mate who is logical and reasonable, the only straight character. While trying to win the Pirate of the Year award, Pirate Captain comes upon the realization that he sucks as a pirate and he could never win the Pirate of the Year. He tries and tries to plunder and steal from ships on the sea, but never comes across anything carrying any sort of booty. Until, that is, he comes across what I am assuming to be The Beagle, an exploratory science ship that carried Charles Darwin on his circumnavigation of the world, and lead to the formation of the Theory of Evolution. Charles is portrayed as a bit of a mad scientist, as well as a stick in the mud. He realizes Pirate Captain's parrot Polly is actually a Dodo, an animal that went extinct hundreds of years ago, and hopes to present this discovery to the scientists in London. What ensues is hilarity, adventure, intrigue and a lot of good old warm-hearted fun. While I found the movie to be slow at points, and I also found the humor to be terribly British, I did enjoy this movie immensely. For one, I thought that the characters were so well done - each one contributed a great dynamic to the plot. I also thought the animation was a lot of fun. While not entirely "claymation"(I think some was CGI to speed up the process), I loved the 3-D-ness of the characters, and I loved the look and the feel of the movie. Altogether, I think this movie is a win, especially considering the other movies out right now. It's done in the theme of the Muppets, with humor kids will get and humor adults will enjoy. I am really looking  forward to everything that comes out of this studio!