Movie Review: "Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything"

On Friday, I took my daughter on a Daddy-Daughter date to go see the new Veggie Tales movie, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." Now, I've always been a big fan of Veggie Tales, even before Brooke came along. I guess that shows you my maturity level! I really enjoy the satirical humor of Veggie Tales and the way they can express simple and Godly truths in a way that both kids and adults can enjoy.

I really enjoyed this movie. In fact, I enjoyed it a lot better than Jonah, which was a little heavy-handed at points. This movie was obviously envisioned after the enormous success of the Pirates of the Caribbean series and the resurgence of pirates into our collective consciousness.

The overall theme was that anyone can be a hero, if they just do what is right -- even cabin boys who want to be pirates at a Pirate Dinner Theater. I thought the point was made perfectly without being too preachy or too heavy handed. When faced with difficult tasks, when faced with enormous challenges that seemed too great to conquer, these want-to-be-pirates continued to move forward and do what was right, even though the chance of failure loomed. In the end, of course, they became the heroes they longed to be, both for the princess and for their own loved ones.

This is a movie that adults will like, too. It seemed to me a blend of two popular movies: "Pirates of the Caribbean," and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" It had a great mix of jokes and satire based on these movies which were obviously aimed at the adults in the audience.

The only fault that I had with the movie was the obvious lack of reference to God or spiritual assistance. I know that Big Idea, the parent company of Veggie Tales, was sold a couple of years ago, and we may be seeing the fruit of that purchase now. The earlier Veggie Tales programs, including the movie, "Jonah," were obviously Bible-based or had obvious spiritual references. This movie does not, although the morals that are taught and the overall lesson are in line with a Christian world-view.

Overall, I'd give this movie a high rating, and would not hesitate to purchase it and recommend it to others at church. It would be a great summer movie for vacation Bible school or some other youth gathering.