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I saw this movie the day it came out; I have been a fan of VeggieTales for years, and trusted that the second Big Idea full-length film would be as entertaining as anything else they had made.
I'll start out my post, which so far has not indicated whether I hold a favorable view of the movie (and I intend to keep it that way for a while longer), by saying that this is by far the darkest tale ever to be told by the Veggies. There were actually villains in this one! And for the first time since the Lord of the Beans (and even then nobody actually hurt anyone), we actually see swords used as weapons, cannons blowing up ships, and even drinking pirates (though they are more into root beer than any alcoholic beverage). The movie is the story of three "heroes" who have employment problems, and even go so far as to show Pa Grape have a family that doesn't even look up to him! (Until the end, that is.)
The story is somewhat linear, but you're not to expect something kids can't handle in VeggieTales. It is nevertheless a film that is hard to keep up with if you fall asleep, but even with only four hours of sleep the previous night and at a late-night screening, I was kept wide awake throughout the movie.
When I saw the trailers for this movie, I quietly wondered to myself whether it was really all about screaming cowards. The first trailer showed the action that didn't spoil the plot, and this mostly consisted of either Larry, Mr. Lunt, or Pa Grape (Elliot, Sedgewick, George) running from something or another and screaming their heads off. This is not what the movie is about. There are brave stands, smart and clever turns, and plain ridiculousness ("and that's coming from someone who just swam 92 nautical miles without any arms or legs!"). The story is as dramatic and dark as you can get for VeggieTales, kid-friendly and yet more targeted for a "general audience" than just the youngest of the attendance.
Now, Big Idea has always proud of being morally committed in their shows. All of their productions have religious values and they advertise "Sunday morning values" with the "Saturday morning fun." This movie, however, has no direct and obvious reference to God. At face value, its moral significance is not much higher than any other mainstream 3D animated film. However, the religious tone is there. It's just more subtle and not blatant. The good king and his "helpseeker" are portrayed as the symbols for God, and the king's concluding speech after awarding the "heroes" medals in a Wizard-of-Oz-like style speaks more profound truth than many would like to realize. I imagine there will be Evangelicals mourning over the lack of super obvious preaching in the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, and the secular and non-Christians will be divided on whether this is an attempt to be sneaky or friendlier to a broader audience. The message is more than "heroes are those who are willing to do what's right no matter how hard it may seem," which is what is advertised. Phil Vischer is right when he says that it means much more to you than you think it will... coming from vegetables.
Where the movie is most notable is its clean, but nonetheless intense humor. Combining ridiculous nonsense, subtle irony, clever puns, and satire, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything is monolithic in terms of hilarity. The funny scenes are difficult to balance with the serious, life-lesson virtuous parts, but somehow they manage to pull it off.
So now that it's basically futile to withhold my opinions of the movie, I'll go into what I personally think of the second VeggieTales movie:
Overall, this movie is well-done, though I'm sure the lack of blatant religious references will make some believe that Big Idea is straying from its mission statement. I appreciate that they made this movie more available to a general audience, making it a potential not-off-limits film for people who aren't Christian. It also isn't a bad movie for teens and adults, with enough action and humor to please a non-kiddy crowd.
My favorite part of the movie was probably the Jolly Joe's song, which was a satirical cowboy-style melody with pirate-themed lyrics that emulated the spirit of Tortuga. That, followed closely by everything we see of the king. The rest was thoroughly enjoyable, but my least favorite part was most definitely the "Rock Monster" song during the credits, which was, albeit cute, a dumb copy of an even dumber song. I just can't stand music, no matter how funny, that forsakes rhyme, melody, and reason.
Unfortunately, there's no "credits song" at the end of the movie, so staying after that was not really worth it.
Am I the only one who has seen it (or plans to see it)? It actually is a very good movie, even if it diverts from VeggieTales as a whole.
Posts: 1029 | Registered: Apr 2007
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The pirates themselves don't, no. But I think that rock band or whatever does during the credits. I remember being not as impressed with this movie's credits as the last one.
Posts: 1029 | Registered: Apr 2007
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Today my seven year old opened the door and said "It's a beautiful day... I mean, a handsome one!"
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Tatiana: By "them" do you mean the VeggieTales films, and "that" you mean the credits?
If that's what you mean, the answer's no. In my first post I tried to make it clear only by the end that I was impressed by the movie, but not with the credits. And of course it's really the movie that matters.
Posts: 1029 | Registered: Apr 2007
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Gotcha. Sometimes I have difficulty with this sort of thing when people use too many pronouns. I can catch subtlety if there aren't too many nouns to choose from.
Posts: 1029 | Registered: Apr 2007
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quote:Originally posted by C3PO the Dragon Slayer: Tatiana: By "them" do you mean the VeggieTales films, and "that" you mean the credits?
If that's what you mean, the answer's no. In my first post I tried to make it clear only by the end that I was impressed by the movie, but not with the credits. And of course it's really the movie that matters.
Don't you rememeber "It doesn't do anything. That's the beauty of it?" from this movie.
Posts: 1794 | Registered: Jul 2002
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