The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: April 27, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 26, 2012
The movie is a curiosity cabinet of visual pleasures but so breezy and lightly funny that you may not realize at first how good it is. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 26, 2012
May be far more ragtag than swashbuckling, but the film is sure-footed, witty and zany fun. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyAdam MarkovitzApr 25, 2012
You can almost smell the brine in the boat helmed by Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) on his quest to win Pirate of the Year. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondApr 27, 2012
The Pirates! Band of Misfits is one of the funniest animated films in years, or to put it in terms you scallywags can understand: it's a treasure trove of laughs. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranApr 26, 2012
A clever piece of business that is a complete pleasure to experience. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 25, 2012
The lunacy begins early in The Pirates! Band of Misfits and never lets up. Read full review
80
Time OutDavid FearApr 24, 2012
No one else has come close to translating England's homegrown blend of deadpan and madcap for a younger audience, much less with such impressive Claymated technique. You couldn't ask for better lesson in "Anglo-Absurdism for Beginners." Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 29, 2012
It is effortlessly and unassumingly funny – and terrifically smart. Read full review
80
EmpireOlly RichardsMar 26, 2012
Another Aardman triumph. The animation house's most technically ambitious project so far and, if not quite at the genius level of Wallace & Gromit, still a comedy treasure and far too good just for kids. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 26, 2012
A delightful romp whose varied pleasures should please kids all along the age spectrum. Read full review
80
VarietyLeslie FelperinMar 26, 2012
Although this family-friendly tale of feckless adventurers pursuing a prize is consistently funnier than "Arthur," in language, humor and attitude it's as endearingly British as Yorkshire pudding, soccer hooliganism and wonky teeth. Read full review
75
NPRIan BuckwalterApr 27, 2012
Barely a moment goes by without a well-orchestrated joke (or three), and it's paced as briskly as a clipper in front of a stiff tailwind. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartApr 27, 2012
The biggest thrill for this mild-mannered crew isn't plundering or plank-walking, but Ham Night. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterApr 26, 2012
Designed to please all generations of irreverent humour-lovers, The Pirates! Band of Misfits may not be heart-warming (it is about nasty, scurvy pirates!) but it's breezy rollicking fun. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliApr 26, 2012
That the film happens to be in 3-D, with digitized settings and backgrounds, doesn't detract from the timeworn charm of watching blob-like characters lurch erratically through harebrained comic pratfalls. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoApr 26, 2012
The movie could also teach something to the makers of "Pirates of the Caribbean" about delivering a story quirky enough to actually stick with you. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. RussellApr 26, 2012
It's better at being droll than laugh-out-loud funny. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 26, 2012
Uneven but rollicking, The Pirates! has a personality to call its own. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonApr 25, 2012
Pirates! comes with all the usual Aardman strengths intact, particularly the sense that its characters and creators alike are too good-hearted and sweet to nitpick. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallApr 25, 2012
The movie's memorable moments involve a silently expressive dodo bird and "man-panzee," stealing the show from human caricatures acting silly. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 23, 2012
Suffused with satire, wit, and the dry, tongue-in-cheek flavor of comedy one rarely finds in American productions, this stop-motion animated excursion pokes fun at pirate conventions while representing icons Queen Victoria and Charles Darwin as a bitch and a twit, respectively. Read full review
70
MovielineMichelle OrangeApr 27, 2012
It's all rather casual - not unengaging, exactly, but lacking a narrative energy all its own. Read full review
70
TimeRichard CorlissApr 26, 2012
A cheerful entertainment, suitable for kids and parents of the brighter stripe. It's just not Nick Park great. Read full review
70
Village VoiceNick PinkertonApr 24, 2012
A script that consistently finds fresh outlets for its running gags makes for a sufficiently rollicking pleasure cruise. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenApr 25, 2012
Better use should have been made of the voice talent provided by Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, and Lenny Henry than the meager cameos their characters have. But no one here needs to walk the plank. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJody MitoriApr 27, 2012
The movie is missing the zippy chases and lovable characters of Aardman studio's previous films ("Arthur Christmas," "Chicken Run"). Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 26, 2012
Like many Aardman films, The Pirates! is awash with silliness. There are far more fleeting visual jokes than one can possibly digest in a single viewing. It makes for an experience that, while geared toward younger, more fidgety audiences, has enough humor to keep Mom and Dad from falling asleep. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanApr 26, 2012
The claymation visuals are charming, and an enthusiastic, if somewhat underused, cast works hard to sell the better jokes (though the funniest gag is a silent monkey butler). Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithMar 28, 2012
Though we'd love to see how Aardman handle Defoe's followup, An Adventure With Communists, this amiable but overstretched diversion is unlikely to spawn a Caribbean franchise. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenApr 25, 2012
The film is content as it is to run clever one-liners and 19th-century pop-cultural references into the same comedic whirlpool. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottApr 27, 2012
What you won't find amid the clashing cutlasses and flashing foils, however, is anything resembling a rapier wit. Read full review
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