Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! 3D

The Pirates! Band of Misfits [U.S. title and the on screen title in Finland] / Pirates! [title in Finland] / Piraterna!. GB/US 2012. PC: Aardman Animations / Sony Pictures Animation. P: Julie Lockhart, Peter Lord, Carla Shelley, David Sproxton. D: Peter Lord. Co-D: Jeff Newitt. SC: Gideon Defoe - based on his book The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists (2004). DP: Frank Passingham. PD: Norman Garwood. AD: Matt Perry. M: Theodore Shapiro. S: Adrian Rhodes. C: Hugh Grant / Aku Laitinen (The Pirate Captain / Piraattikapteeni), Salma Hayek / Amira Khalifa (Cutlass Liz / Ahnas Lissu), Jeremy Piven / Stan Saanila (Black Bellamy / Musta Bellamy), Imelda Staunton / Jaana Saarinen (Queen Victoria / kuningatar Viktoria), David Tennant / Antti L.J. Pääkkönen (Charles Darwin), Martin Freeman / Riku Nieminen (The Pirate with a Scarf / Huivipiraatti), Lenny Henry (Peg-Leg Hastings), Brendan Gleeson / Juha Muje (The Pirate with Gout / Kihtipiraatti), Ashley Jensen / Susa Saukko (The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate / Yllättävän kurvikas piraatti), Brian Blessed / Markus Bäckman (The Pirate King / Piraattikunkku), Russell Tovey / Samuel Harjanne (The Albino Pirate / Albiinopiraatti). 88 min. Released in Finland by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Finland. 2K DCP, 3D in XpanD, Finnish voice version viewed at Kinopalatsi 10, Helsinki, 12 May 2012.

The Finnish voice studio: Dubberman Finland Oy. Translation: Jari Siltakoski. D: Petri Hanttu. Prod. coord.: Jaana Ylikoski. S: Aku Hytönen.

Aardman Animation's first stop-motion clay animated feature in 3D, also extensively using computer graphics.

A parodic pirate animation about the vain Pirate Captain who wants to win the Pirate of the Year Award. Charles Darwin recognizes the captain's supposed parrot Polly to be actually the last living dodo. The captain sells Polly to Queen Victoria in exchange of a huge treasure. In the award event he is disqualified when it is revealed that he has also been pardoned by the Queen. The captain is reduced to knitting baby clothes on the streets of London until he realizes that his mission is to save Polly from Queen Victoria's exclusive flagship dinner with endangered species on the menu.

The movie is full of funny plot turns, witty ideas and visual gags, but there is even a sense of "more is more", that an already funny sequence has been filled with even more loud noise and funny aspects. I preferred the relaxed aspects of the movie such as the motif of the animated map with visual jokes.

The combination of traditional hand-made stop-motion puppet animation and CG effects such as the sea is successful. There was no problem with the 3D, and the image was bright enough.

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