The Pirates! Band of Misfits | Film review

After a seven-year lull from stop-motion features, Aardman Animations returns. Though the studio has moved away from its Wallace-and-Gromit safe zone, this riotous creation contains clear surrogates. The Wallace-like Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) is an inept but lovable protagonist whose right-hand man (Martin Freeman) must be both smart and forgiving enough to continually save his hide. The unlikely villains—Charles Darwin, Queen Victoria and a silent scene-stealer, Mr. Bobo (a cunning chimp)—vie for the crew’s beloved dodo. The highlights include astonishingly detailed sets (de rigueur for Aardman) and a housebound chase—on a treacherously winding staircase—that equals the climax of “A Close Shave.”