The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything

The title is funny only if you accept the implication that this is an ironic and whimsical twist in the tradition of movie plots: action heroes with no action. But in fact, this movie is merely the latest in an endless string of derivatives from The Seven Samurai, the prototype of all movies about a band of unqualified misfits called upon to save a small community. In a drama, the misfits are fighters past their prime; in a comedy, the misfits are entertainers mistaken for real heroes.

There’s nothing wrong with making use of a template with a long history of success.
But there is something grating about announcing your use of that template with a self-congratulatory title that implies you’ve come up with something original. ‘

Of course, this is a movie for kids, who won’t know any better. And maybe the gleeful commercial cynicism of the title masks something original and heartfelt. But I doubt it.

The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything trailer