The Agency's Posts

HAVING IT ALL: 10 WAYS HOLLYWOOD'S POWER WOMEN MAKE IT ALL WORK: Super-busy A-list producers, studio executives, agents and managers swear by these strategies for....
Read More>

The Book Thief Entertains and Educates: In recent years, Hollywood, for better or worse, has played a significant role in educating the....
Read More>

The Big Picture Strikes Back: By A. O. SCOTT Like a character who develops a discreet but noticeable cough at the end of....
Read More>

It's All About the Squinch!: Ever wondered if you're missing out on some of the basic tricks of modeling, and if you could be....
Read More>

Last Chance to sign up for this Workshop!: LAST CHANCE to sign up!"Work as a Model" Commercial Print Workshop on November 23rd....
Read More>

Review: 'Ender's Game' captures the now in its futuristic tale: The 1985 youth novel 'Ender's Game' uses a tale of a misfit hero to relay enduring truths about....
Read More>

Nicole Kidman: From 'intoxicating' fame to low-key Nashville life: Nicole Kidman had her share of an "intoxicating" level of fame when she was married....
Read More>

Lisa Kudrow calls nose job at 16 'life-altering,' talks 'Friends': While other kids were out getting their driver licenses when they were 16, Lisa Kudrow did....
Read More>

As Elton John in 'Rocketman,' Tom Hardy's big switch: After playing beefy tough guys in films such as"The Dark Knight Rises"and"Bronson
Read More>

Paul McCartney sounds revitalized in 'New': 71-year-old Paul McCartney comes off effortlessly contemporary as well as hummably Beatle-esque....
Read More>

Robert Redford shows why he's a star in 'All Is Lost': "All Is Lost" begins in darkness. There is a voice, though. Weary, almost apologetic,....
Read More>
With 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits,' the treasure's in the details
Posted on: 04/26/12
Share/Save/Bookmark
 High seas farce plunders laughs from a silly and frantic plot about pirates


Maniacally inventive and tightly packed, if not overpacked, "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" comes from the Aardman animation folks behind Wallace & Gromit, "Chicken Run" and, more recently, "Arthur Christmas." Their latest may be easier to admire than to love; it's more tone-funny and incidental-muttered-aside funny than, for example, your averageDreamWorks smash, where every other comic beat ends with a cartoon animal getting bashed in the nethers and then quoting some inappropriate gangster movie.

But a few hours after seeing the 3-D version of "The Pirates!" I was smiling at the memory of the best bits, some so fleeting they practically dare an audience to catch them on the fly. Director Peter Lord works in an interesting mixture of stop-motion and digital animation. Also, I like the notion of high seas scalawags who are essentially lousy at their jobs, and who may plunder and occasionally kill, but are sociable and easygoing and take their cue from the good-time bloke running the show, the Pirate Captain voiced by Hugh Grant.

The Pirate Captain boasts an oft-admired "luxuriant" red beard and a unique shipboard mascot, a "big-boned" parrot named Polly who is actually a dodo. The plot, adapted by screenwriter Gideon Defoe from his 2004 jape "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists," is a silly thing, involving the Captain's quest to become Pirate of the Year. Spying the dodo, naturalist Charles Darwin ("Chuck" to the Captain; the Captain also calls the diabolical villainess Queen Victoria "Vicky") plots a kidnapping so he can present his finding to his peers and win his own share of glory.
 

On the page, Defoe's story is wonderfully dry and consistently droll. The movie has those same qualities, though the scale of the action feels a bit frantic. Some of the high-velocity set pieces are tiring and tend to sit on the fun. (The soundtrack at the screening I attended was set at "Xelerator hand dryer" levels.) The visual detail in "The Pirates!" is really something, yet I wonder if all the bustle tends to encourage younger viewers to tune out rather than lean in.

That said, the Aardman people can always be counted on for such felicities as Darwin's simian factotum, the silent Mr. Bobo. The monkey communicates by way of flashcards. Alarmed by the latest turn in the plot, he flashes a card saying "BUT ..." and then, exhorted to shush by his employer, he quickly flashes a second card reading "but ..." At the scientific discovery competition, the settings on the applause-o-meter include "rather fusty" and, on the high end, "ladies fainting." Uneven but rollicking, "The Pirates!" has a personality to call its own. The paperback edition of Defoe's book, delightfully, is appended by a faux-list of other titles in the "Pirates!" series. Among them: "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Your Mother"; "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Risk Management"; and "The Pirates' Rainy Day Indoors."

 
COMMENTS
Be the first to post a comment!


Post A Comment:




  • It's 2020! Start booking roles in commercials, fashion, films, theater and more with The Agency Online!

  • NEW WORKSHOP with Barbara Barna & Sean De Simone!

    Hi Everyone and Happy Summer! Sean at Sean De Simone casting and Barbara Barna are teaming up for a super informative and fun Hosting for Home Shopping workshop. A great opportunity for established or experienced TV Hosts and Experts interested in learning how to get noticed and how to get in....
  • MASTERCLASS W. Robin Carus & David John Madore

    A Special Offer for the Agency Community, from one of our favorite NYC Casting Directors! EMAIL FacetheMusicWithUs@gmail.com Or Eventbrite To Sign Up! Class Size is Limited.
  • Don't Fall Into The Comparison Trap

    Hi Everyone! As the second installment in an ongoing series of features by the Agency's amazing community, here's some sage advice from our own Regina Rockensies; a humble (& awesome)veteran we've had the pleasure of working with for a long time. Have an excellent week! : ) - The Agency....
  • One Model's Agreement

    Hi Everyone! As the first piece in an ongoing series of original articles by the Agency community, here's a short reflection on some of the values of professional acting & modeling that we can all keep in mind for our next casting. Good luck on your castings &shoots this week! : ) -....




 
home       castings&news       privacy policy       terms and conditions      contact us      browser tips
Official PayPal Seal