The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012)
Movie · 2012 · Animation, Adventure, Family, Comedy · 1h 28m · PG · English
Curator score: 4.9/10 (133.7K ratings)
It's a plunderful life.
Overview
The enthusiastic Pirate Captain, along with his rag-tag crew, sets out to beat his bitter rivals. The chaotic adventure takes them from exotic shores to Victorian London, and from a haplessly smitten scientist to a diabolical queen.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.9/10
IMDb: 6.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.40/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Metacritic: 73
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Peter Lord
Production
Aardman, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation
Cast
Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek Pinault, Lenny Henry, Brian Blessed, Russell Tovey, Brendan Gleeson, Ashley Jensen, Ben Whitehead, Mike Cooper, David Schneider, Tom Doggart, Sophie Jerrold, Sophie Laughton, Peter Lord, Kayvan Novak, David Schaal
Curator Review
Verdict
Aardman’s stop-motion pirate romp is breezy, clever, and packed with visual invention. It plays like a family adventure with a very British sense of absurdity, turning historical figures, sea-faring clichés, and slapstick into a fast, charming crowd-pleaser.
Best for
fans of stop-motion animation
viewers who like British comedy and wordplay
families looking for a light adventure
people who enjoy historical parody
audiences who want a witty, energetic kids' film
Skip if
you want a serious pirate epic
you dislike broad, pun-heavy humor
you prefer emotional depth over gag density
stop-motion animation feels too stylized for you
Overview
This is Aardman doing what Aardman does best: dense visual comedy, elastic character animation, and a script that treats nonsense with total confidence. The pirate crew is delightfully ragged, and the film keeps finding new ways to turn familiar adventure beats into jokes about incompetence, vanity, and Victorian propriety.
Worth noting
What gives it extra charm is the way it collides swashbuckling fantasy with real-world figures and settings. That contrast keeps the movie feeling playful rather than generic, and the stop-motion craft makes even the throwaway gags feel handmade and specific.
Bottom line
It is not the deepest or most emotionally resonant animated film of its era, but it is consistently funny and easy to enjoy. If you like your family movies with a little chaos, a lot of British wit, and a strong sense of visual timing, this is an easy recommendation.
Top Letterboxd reviews
James (Schaffrillas) (4★) · 2639 likes
Me: "So this is the movie where the 'Well yes but actually no' line is from, right?"
The movie: "Well yes but actually no"
adambolt (3.5★) · 1987 likes
massive props for making charles darwin an incel virgin
mia lee vicino (3.5★) · 861 likes
to all the fools who were surprised that Hugh Grant had the acting range for Paddington 2 ... uh did you not see him play a claymation pirate in 2012?? Hugh BEEN Grant
Wesam Aman (4.5★) · 592 likes
The virgin Charles Darwin vs the chad Pirate King
Matt 😎 (4★) · 487 likes
“I’ll never get a girlfriend. I am so unhappy.” -Charles Darwin