THE PIRATES!

Animated adventure


PRINCIPAL VOICES
Hugh Grant: The Pirate Captain
Martin Freeman: Number Two
Anton Yelchin: The Albino Pirate
Ashley Jensen: The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate
Al Roker: The Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens
Salma Hayek: Cutlass Liz
Jeremy Piven: Black Bellamy
Lenny Henry: Peg Leg Hastings
David Tennant: Charles Darwin
Imelda Staunton: Queen Victoria

REVIEW
This bunch of misfits is led by a captain who is determined to win for the first time the Pirate of the Year Award. A good story line but frankly it does not work. 

The movie is never really funny, just the smile-inducing type of humour but there is nothing approaching outright laughter. Instead of clever dialogue, that dry tongue-in-cheek sort the Brits are so good at, many of the gags are of the visual sort and these can be easily missed as they are often in the background. And they are only mildly amusing.

That’s not to say you should stay away in droves. But I’m sure you can find better things to do than sit in a theatre for an hour and a half waiting for something funny to happen?

CLASSIFICATION

for mild action, rude humour and some language. 

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• The Bottle of Grog on the Pirate Captain’s table disappears for a couple of shots but eventually takes its esteemed place.
 • When the cannon ball strikes the picture of Queen Victoria it leaves her distorted face looking left but in the very next shot she is facing right.

I know that regular rules do not apply to a movie of this sort but I still cannot resist listing these more obvious nitpicks:
• One of the patrons in the bar does the moon walk first introduced by Michael Jackson in 1983, many years after these events which took place in 1873.
 • Another bar patron is playing with a Rubik’s Cube which was not invented until 1974.

 P.S. At least they got it right for a couple of things:
• Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837 (and was Britain’s monarch until her death in 1901).
• Charles Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle began in 1831 and lasted until 1835.
• The dodo bird became extinct by 1681 (eaten mostly by hungry sailors)

TANGLED

Animated adventure

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Donna Murphy: the old crone Mother Gothel
Mandy Moore: beautiful 17-year-old Rapunzel
Zachary Levi: the handsome rogue Flynn Rider
Ron Perlman: his comrades the Stabbington Brothers

REVIEW
In typical Disney fashion they’ve taken a well-known fairy tale and not only given it their own twist but they’ve made a musical out of it with lots of songs and some dancing. Not that this hampers the telling of the story but it was not something I had expected.

The CGI is right up there with the very best including lovely rendering and great facial expressions, particularly by Maximus, one of the king’s horses, who steals the show every time he appears on screen. There are more than a few chuckles and things move along at a pretty good clip. All in all, a very entertaining outing.

CLASSIFICATION
for brief mild violence.

TOY STORY 3

Animated adventure

PRINCIPAL VOICES
John Morris: 17-year-old Andy
Laurie Metcalf: his mom
Tom Hanks: Woody the Cowboy
Tim Allen: Spaceman Buzz Lightyear
Joan Cusack: Jessie the Cowgirl
Don Rickles: Mr. Potato Head
Estelle Harris: Mrs. Potato Head
Jodi Benson: Barbie doll
Wallace Shawn: Rex the Dinosaur
Blake Clark: Slinky Dog
John Ratzenberger: Hamm the Piggybank
Ned Beatty: Lots-o-Huggin’ Bear aka “Lotso”
Michael Keaton: Ken
Teddy Newton: Chatter Telephone
Emily Hahn: Bonnie
Timothy Dalton: Mr. Pricklepants
Kristen Schaal: Trixie the girl Dinosaur

REVIEW
Although less witty than the first two installments and without the double entendre for “adults only” it more than makes up for these shortcomings with a more interesting story, one filled with adventure, comedy and romance.

As usual the animation is nothing short of perfection, something we’ve come to expect from Pixar Studios.

One caveat: the garbage collection center sequence may be too scary for some kids but it’s hard to tell for sure in a darken movie theatre: if so, they all seem to have recovered by the time the end credits appeared.

CLASSIFICATION


P.S.
Save yourself some money and don’t bother seeing it in 3-D as there only one or two scenes where it adds anything to the viewing experience and as with all 3-D it suffers from a less brilliant palette than in the traditional format.