As many a parent can attest, it's hard enough to get younger kids to try different foods, and that's particularly true when it comes to their first serving of vegetables. Of course, many of them eventually come around to eating and even liking them, although reheated leftovers are another matter altogether.
While involving a different sort of taste, the folks at Big Idea didn't have as much of a problem getting kids to like their different offering of vegetables. Of course, theirs were of the computer-generated variety, and they populated comedy videos that mixed Biblical tales and messages with a lively story, Monty Python type humor and fun musical numbers. They then followed that up in 2002 with "Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie," a big screen version of the same that went on to become a moderate-sized success.
Now, three of the characters from that film have been served up for a second helping of armless, legless vegetables in "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie." Unfortunately, rather than being crisp and appetizing to kids and adults like the first time around, this one feels far soggier and listless despite initially appearing like just another serving of what viewers consumed before.
While young kids and those with an appetite for the VeggieTales universe might eat this up, there's little here to satiate older kids or especially adults (despite the obligatory cultural references to the Love Boat, Edward Scissorhands and, of all things, Scarface and its oft-repeated line, "Say hello to my little friend" - albeit not quite in the same context here).
I was fairly shocked to go back and read my review for the first film. It's possible the material was that good, or that I was just in an unusually happy and/or more accepting mood for what was offered and thus cut it some (or a lot) of slack. Then again, perhaps I was suffering from a fever of some sort and/or this second big-screen installment has dropped in comparative quality as it simply didn't elicit anything resembling the same sort of positive reaction I had the first go-round.
In fact, and despite a lot of things occurring up on the screen (as the titular characters experience all sorts of travails in a number of "exotic" locales), those not enamored with this universe will have plenty of time to ponder how these characters hold their pirate swords sans any semblance of arms, hands or the like. In fact, anything that's "grasped" or "carried" simply floats nearby the possessor.
I know, I realize it's more than a little nitpicky to criticize such matters when we're dealing with talking and mobile vegetables (without legs, they're forced to bounce along). And the younger the kid and the bigger a fan they are of this particular little industry, the more they'll probably enjoy this offering.
Yet, the flat humor, mediocre action and adventure, and blasé story -- all courtesy of the returning directing and writing duo of Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer, (who also voice many of the characters) -- didn't otherwise hold my interest to any appreciable extent and simply isn't as tasty as the first serving. Accordingly, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie" rates as a 4 out of 10 simply for being a relatively inoffensive diversion for the little ones.
![[Logo]](/images/screenit_logo2.jpg){kind=logo}
