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The Pirates! Band Of Misfits

THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS directed by Peter Lord, co-directed by Jeff Newitt, written by Gideon Defoe from his novel, with the voices of Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton and David Tennant. A Sony Pictures release. 88 minutes. Opens Friday (April 27). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNN


Never mind the awkward title. The Pirates! Band Of Misfits is as energetic and fearlessly goofy as anything bearing the stamp of Aardman Animation.

And that’s saying something, given that Aardman’s body of work includes such inspired entertainments as Chicken Run, Flushed Away, Arthur Christmas and the Wallace & Gromit oeuvre.

Chicken Run co-director Peter Lord’s delightful stop-motion adventure sends an affable Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) and his jolly crew (including Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson and Anton Yelchin) on an adventure with scientists.

The ship’s parrot brings our heroes to the attention of both Charles Darwin (David Tennant) and Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) and the story’s cracked alternate history gets funnier as it goes along. So does the film itself, sailing merrily through a series of inspired set pieces while the cast lustily recites some very silly dialogue.

And it’s shot in 3-D, which offers a better perspective from which to notice the sight gags crammed into every corner of the frame.

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