- davidahallnum5
Pirates: Band of Misfits 3D Blu-ray Review
(OR "PIRATES: IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS" AS IT'S KNOWN IN BRITAIN)
MOVIE REVIEW
Pirates: Band of Misfits is a 2012 stop-motion animated adventure comedy brought to us by the good old folks down at Aardman. It follow a pirate captain simply known as Pirate Captain who seeks to enter for the much coveted Pirate of the Year award. According to the Pirate Captain, every time he's entered, he's failed to win. So, he must have a really good chance this year. Eager to start pirating, he and his team sail the seas with no luck, until they reach the Beagle and meet Charles Darwin. While the pirates are initially dismissive him, Charles quickly discovers and tells the pirate crew that their parrot Polly is actually a Dodo bird, a species of bird long thought to have been extinct. This leads to a partnership between the scientist and the Pirate Captain that takes them over to London in an attempt to combine their forces to win a science competition and win an enormous prize that'll be sure to snag Pirate Captain that award for good. The major trouble is, though, Queen Victoria has a deep rooted hatred for pirates, which means if those pirates want to get ahold of that booty, they'll have to really be on their game.
I've said it before in my Arthur Christmas review and I'll say it again. Ever since Aardman dropped out with Dreamworks after the colossal bomb that was Flushed Away (which was still a funny movie, by the way), it seems no one since then has been keeping an eye on them. And that's a real shame, too, because even after that whole ordeal and their switch to Sony Picture Animation, it appears Aardman hasn't lost an ounce of their wit. In between this and Arthur Christmas, we've seen how the studio can still put out material that's one or two cuts above your average kids movie. Now, I don't quite know if I can put this film on the same level as Arthur Christmas. But on its own, it's still a fun romp from beginning to end.
As you can tell from the synopsis, Pirates: Band of Misfits is a spoof of pirate movies and common pirate tropes. But it also takes aim at all things Victorian Era related, whether that be Charles Darwin, scientific discovery, the style of old maps, Jane Austin, and even, you guessed it, Queen Victoria. And the film has a lot of fun in doing so. Even if there's a gag that falls a bit flat, the premise is still enough to keep you smiling the whole way through. But when the gags do land, they can certainly invite a good chuckle. The voice cast is also on point for this film. Hugh Grant in particular plays Pirate Captain with all the flare and comedic talent that matches his expression on-screen. And everyone else does a top-notch job of selling the comedy aspect of the film. There aren't really any heartwarming overtones or subversively well-told messages like Arthur Christmas delivered (alright, I'll stop using that film as a reference point). Instead, Pirates's focus is simply on having a good time, and it does that well.
Something that's also well worth focusing on is the stop-motion animation that Aardman has become so known for. It's a little hard to get your heads around, but this film marks the first time Aardman went back to doing stop-motion again since Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. And the technological advances in that type of animation since Wallace and Gromit really show. The picture is very smooth and there's a lot less errors to be found. However, it still retains that classic Aardman charm that brings the characters to life. Funny enough, this film was release in the exact same year we got Frankenweenie and Paranorman, a couple of stop-motion movies that used there animation to enhance their surreal, creepy aesthetic. Meanwhile, Pirates: Band of the Misfits comes around proving that stop-motion can also be used simply for good comedy and quirky characters. I bring that up because it's incredibly rare nowadays that not only we see a stop-motion movie at all, but also that we get one that's just a humble comedic endeavor. It's a real dying breed and I wish we saw more of it today.
If I had one thing to complain about with the film, it'd probably that it's not one of Aardman's outright funniest flicks. Don't get me wrong, there's still much to appreciate here. It's much more clever than half the films you see coming from Dreamworks nowadays (heck, it's more clever than 98% of films you see from Disney nowadays). Still, whereas films like Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit are so dense with small details and always consistently and frequently drawing huge laughs, Pirates: Band of Misfits is a bit more amusing than downright gut-busting. The gags, especially in the second half, are definitely enough to carry the film. I just wish there was a bit more of them. Does that mean I don't recommend the film? Not by any stretch. This is still one of the better kids movies out there. Like I said, the premise alone is clever enough to sustain the movie, the twists it takes are funny, and the gags more often than not draw a laugh. Not only that, but it's status as a stop-motion movie really speaks to how underutilized the animation is in our culture. But even on a surface level, it's a fun time for kids and adults alike and a true underrated classic. If you're seeking a lightweight comic relief from the trying times of our current world, this is one ship that I highly recommend boarding.
OVERALL FILM RATING: 3.5/5
3D REVIEW
Fun fact, The 3D Dinosaur doesn't talk about any movie unless it's 3D (which would be the only reason I'd vouch for a 3D conversion of The Shawshank Redemption). And another fun fact, over the course of two years, 2011 and 2012, Aardman has brought us two 3D features in keeping in with the (at the time) new 3D trend. I've already reviewed Arthur Christmas and determined it was a very solid 3D experience. So with Pirates: Band of Misfits being the second 3D film in Aardman's catalogue, the question is how well does it hold up? Has Aardman put more effort into the 3D aspect of the movie than they have with Arthur Christmas? And how well does the stop-motion environment lend its way to some interesting 3D? The answers to these questions over the years have been pretty mixed to negative. Personally, I'm a guy who tries to be optimistic about most 3D presentations. So my reactions landed on the mixed side of the spectrum.
Let's talk about the good first. For one, the stop-motion characters and the world around do stand out somewhat in 3D space. Throughout the film, we can clearly see the space between the people and whatever's behind them, whether that be buildings, ships, piles of gold, windows in a cabin, or other such places. And there are some moments of good 3D composition. There's at least a couple of shots looking through telescopes, there are some neat scenes involving large crowds where everyone's head stands in it's own 3D space, and we get some shots from heights have decent depth that enhances them. Pirate ships also carry interesting shape in 3D with their ropes, steering wheels, rails, and shots that look out at the seas.
As for 3D fun, there's thankfully quite a bit to mention. The most noteworthy ones are several of the film's more gimmicky shots involving characters sticking swords out at you, people swinging into the room, characters looking out of telescopes, a crew throwing pies in your face, some debris, shattered glass, a pan, and of course, a monkey holding you at gunpoint. But even beyond that, the extra dimension does help add an extra layer of fun to various other shots in the film. There's one brief shot where a man falls down a large pipe, one where we see four characters divided into four different screens (reminding me of a few similar shots in the 3D masterpiece Into the Spider-Verse), a few where a whale comes of the ocean and charges towards an establishment, and one where a character is standing on a ghost ship and the it becomes transparent right under him. One pretty fun scene occurs when several characters are falling down a flight of stairs in a bathtub while trying to avoid a falling Easter Island head.
So with that out of the way, you can see why I wouldn't exactly call this film a 3D dud. But sadly, the one thing that stood out to me throughout most of the runtime was just how shallow the presentation was. This isn't the kind of flat 3D where the environment itself is close up most of the time. This is the kind where the parallax throughout the film is kept very minimal. In fact, there are some shots where the picture looks almost 2D. This occurs in literally the first shot of the film when we start out from city landscape shot that moves inward to reveal the camera is behind a window and looks down unto a large dining room Queen Victoria is sitting in. This could've been a mind blowing 3D shot, and there is some separation between the window and the city outside of it. But once it moves inward, it goes strangely flat. Luckily, the entire movie isn't flat. But it's way more shallow than it deserves to be. There's seldom a shot where the image is ever goes hyper-stereo. It has just enough depth to make the 3D environment discernible, but it never goes much beyond that.
Another thing to mention is besides the shallow field of depth is that besides the few gimmicky shots from earlier, there doesn't really seem to be all that much of an attempt to really use the 3D all that much. While there are the adventurous moments out on the sea that at the least bring some sense to the presence of 3D, a good chunk of the film is actually spent indoors or in pretty modest places. Of course, the focus of the film, especially in scenes like these, is to deliver the comedy well. But it seems like in doing so, they ended up sacrificing some places for good 3D composition. It's places like these where the 3D is not really necessary to the experience. I could probably excuse this if it were something like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes were in spite of the shallowness, the environment lent itself naturally to an interesting 3D viewing. And while the stop-motion characters do take on a neat 3D presence, it quickly gets old and isn't enough to carry the film.
So yeah, Pirates: Band of Misfits is not by any means a 3D atrocity. Nothing is in wrong 3D space (thanks to its natively shot 3D), the depth throughout is substantial enough to justify the term "three-dimensional", and there are even quite a few moments where the 3D provides some good fun. That being said, the great parts are fewer and farther between than most other kids films on the market. And the pervasively shallow presentation might be enough to turn most people off to purchasing the 3D Blu-ray. As for me, I really only recommend it if you're a die-hard 3D fanatic. Is it still worth picking up if you're a casual 3D consumer? Well, that depends if you're willing to put up 75 minutes of less-than-interesting 3D to get to 10 minutes of genuinely fun 3D.
3D RATING: OK
OTHER SOURCES THAT REVIEW THIS MOVIE'S 3D:
High-Def Digest's Review: https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/7030/pirates_misfits_3d.html
FINAL THOUGHTS
While it's probably not one of the most hilarious outing by Aardman, Pirates: Band of Misfits is still a clever, witty, and consistently smile-inducing flick that equally entertains children and their parents. It proves Aardman still hasn't lost their charm and ability to poke fun of anything with a lighthearted tone and plenty of British humor. It's a shame this and Arthur Christmas don't get talked about any more than they do. They not prove not only that kids movies can be creative and witty, but also that stop-motion should still have a place in modern cinema. I pressure you to check it out if you ever get the chance. As for springing for the 3D Blu-ray? I'd say take it or leave it. You won't be missing much by checking Pirates: Band of Misfits out in 2D. But if you do go for the 3D version, there's not much to offend you either. And there are a couple places of decent pop outs. For some, that'll probably be enough to warrant a recommendation. For most people, though, I'd probably suggest checking out one my other 3D Blu-ray reviews for a kids movie that'll provide a truly memorable 3D experience.
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