The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012)
Country: GB/US
Technical: col/2.35:1 88m
Director: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt
Cast: Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant
Synopsis:
An incompetent pirate captain and his crew of misfits strike at their chance for the coveted 'Pirate of the Year' award when their fortuitous captive, Charles Darwin, informs them that their ship's mascot is not a parrot but a dodo the Royal Society would swoon for. Unbeknownst to them, Darwin has no intention of following through and Queen Victoria has a penchant for rare delicacies on her dinner menus.
Review:
The film was initially entitled Band of Misfits, and the search for a suitable moniker (clearly the extant one is not much better) betrays a weakness of narrative in this otherwise amiable romp from Aardman, the production stable that brought us Wallace and Gromit. The animation is superb and evidence of untold hours of toil, the voice cast do a swell job led by Grant, and there is plenty to draw the eye in the detail of the mise en scène, with a sprinkling of jokes and references for older viewers (The Elephant Man being the most left of field). However, there is sadly little for some of the characters to do and the story mechanics lack the interlocking ingenuity of the Nick Park films.
Country: GB/US
Technical: col/2.35:1 88m
Director: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt
Cast: Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant
Synopsis:
An incompetent pirate captain and his crew of misfits strike at their chance for the coveted 'Pirate of the Year' award when their fortuitous captive, Charles Darwin, informs them that their ship's mascot is not a parrot but a dodo the Royal Society would swoon for. Unbeknownst to them, Darwin has no intention of following through and Queen Victoria has a penchant for rare delicacies on her dinner menus.
Review:
The film was initially entitled Band of Misfits, and the search for a suitable moniker (clearly the extant one is not much better) betrays a weakness of narrative in this otherwise amiable romp from Aardman, the production stable that brought us Wallace and Gromit. The animation is superb and evidence of untold hours of toil, the voice cast do a swell job led by Grant, and there is plenty to draw the eye in the detail of the mise en scène, with a sprinkling of jokes and references for older viewers (The Elephant Man being the most left of field). However, there is sadly little for some of the characters to do and the story mechanics lack the interlocking ingenuity of the Nick Park films.
Country: GB/US
Technical: col/2.35:1 88m
Director: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt
Cast: Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant
Synopsis:
An incompetent pirate captain and his crew of misfits strike at their chance for the coveted 'Pirate of the Year' award when their fortuitous captive, Charles Darwin, informs them that their ship's mascot is not a parrot but a dodo the Royal Society would swoon for. Unbeknownst to them, Darwin has no intention of following through and Queen Victoria has a penchant for rare delicacies on her dinner menus.
Review:
The film was initially entitled Band of Misfits, and the search for a suitable moniker (clearly the extant one is not much better) betrays a weakness of narrative in this otherwise amiable romp from Aardman, the production stable that brought us Wallace and Gromit. The animation is superb and evidence of untold hours of toil, the voice cast do a swell job led by Grant, and there is plenty to draw the eye in the detail of the mise en scène, with a sprinkling of jokes and references for older viewers (The Elephant Man being the most left of field). However, there is sadly little for some of the characters to do and the story mechanics lack the interlocking ingenuity of the Nick Park films.