The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists Review - Worth it's Weight in Doubloons

Although it's been out a few weeks now over here in the UK (but it's not released stateside until the 27th of this month), I only got the chance to see Aardman's latest feature film: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists on Wednesday, and it was well worth the wait.

The Pirates! is Aardman's first stop-motion animated film since 2005's Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and is directed by Chicken Run helmer, Peter Lord. And whilst The Pirates! retains the trademark British wit and endearing characters that made their previous films such hits with audiences and critics, it also - following in the footsteps of 2007's Flushed Away and last year's Arthur Christmas - broadens its style somewhat, boasting a lot more action and spectacle than the more simplistic Wallace and Gromit or Chicken Run.

New The Pirates Clip - We Laugh in the Face of Danger

Aardman have just released a new clip (above) from their next stop-motion animated film, The Pirates. Branded here in England as The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists (and The Pirates! Band of Misfits internationally), the film will be Aardman's first stop-motion film since 2005's Oscar winning The Curse of the Were Rabbit; it also mark's Chicken Run director Peter Lord's return to the director's chair.

The clip displays the trademark style and British wit of the animation giants that has made them a huge hit with critics and fans alike over the years, and also the luscious animation on display in the film.

The Pirates will be released in conjunction with Sony Pictures Animation on 28th March here in the UK, and 27th April in America.

The Pirates Trailer

Aardman and Sony Pictures Animation have finally released the trailer for The Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists, the next stop motion film from the British film giants behind Wallace and Gromit is due in 2012 and this trailer is phenomenal.

I'm sure Arthur Christmas will be great, however, Aardman's true talent is stop motion, this shines through in this trailer; it's funny, action packed, clever, satirical and the music and visual style are both fantastic. As I've heard from various sources, the scale of this movie is huge, it certainly seems like an epic film.

Likewise, the voice cast (led by Hugh Grant) seems top notch. Roll on 2012 and The Pirates.

The Pirates Voice Cast Revealed

Just as I'm beginning to get restless with the lack of updates on Aardman's second feature film with Sony Pictures Animation, due out next year, The Pirates: In An Adventure With Scientists, we get a huge block of news concerning the film.

Aardman and Sony's first feature film, due out on 11th November over here in the UK, Arthur Christmas, has an all star cast of such talented actors as Hugh Laurie, James McAvoy and Jim Broadbent, however The Pirates, if anything outshines that. The Pirates is due to star a veritable smorgasbord of British talent, led by Hugh Grant.

Hugh Grant takes the lead in his first ever animated role, the star of Love Actually, Notting Hill and Did You Hear About the Morgans? will bring a great British feel to the already quintessentially British Aardman. Grant is flanked by some equally fantastic talent, in the form of Martin Freeman (The Office, The Hobbit), David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Ashley Jensen (Extras, Ugly Betty), amongst others.

It truly is an all star cast that will only serve to boost an already fantastic sounding film, below is the announcement (courtesy of Aardman's website) in which you will find the entire all star cast:

Hugh Grant, starring in his first animated role, is the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas.  With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award.  It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.  Along the way they do battle with the pirate-hating Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a young Charles Darwin (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure!



The film sounds fantastic (you can see an image from it at the top) and I cannot wait to see the next stop-motion film (with Arthur Christmas being computer animated) from the geniuses behind Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.