Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Pirates! Band of Misfits 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Bland 3D can't lessen a fun little movie.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 23, 2012

Before now, the only time "Pirates" and "misfits" were used in the same sentence was in reference to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Major League Baseball's plunderers of blunder, the organization that hasn't whiffed success (let alone a winning record) since nineteen-hundred and ninety-two, before there was Balco, buffed-up Barry Bonds, The Florida (Miami) Marlins (two World Series wins since the Buccos were last any good), the Colorado Rockies (one World Series appearance since the Buccos were last any good), the Arizona Diamondbacks (one World Series win since the Buccos were last any good) and the Tampa Bay Rays (a surging model of small-market consistency and an annual playoff contender). The Pirates have been the laughing stock of pro sports, racking up 19 consecutive losing seasons, highlights of which include inept general managers more concerned with hair than team; "Operation Shutdown;" a "Freak Show" loser that almost made the playoffs on the back of folks like Kevin Polcovich (who?); a base-stealing manager and his computer-generated lineups; a zombie skipper in a baseball uniform; countless trade, draft, and "Rule V" blunders; mascot camels named Doug; and a shiny new ballpark with no honest team to play in it. Now, it's the era of Jerry Meals and Zoltan Z's and a manager stubbornly playing washed-up veterans over better, younger players, somehow guiding the ship to a winning record (knock on wood) despite a whole lot of in-game flubs. So that's what comes to mind with the words "Pirates" and "misfits," but now there's a new entity that's actually entertaining and fun and worth a few hard-earned dollars: it's The Pirates! Band of Misfits, a stop-motion animated Adventure film fit for the entire family, the movie telling the tale of a nobody Pirate Captain determined to win a coveted award and, at the same time, maybe meet up with a famous naturalist, save an endangered species, and put the Queen of England in her place.

I'm a better pirate than I am a 3D character, and I'm not a very good pirate!

In the year 1837, Her Majesty The Queen's Royal Navy controls almost all of the world's waters, but they're struggling to get the pirate situation under wraps. That infuriates Queen Victoria (voiced by Imelda Staunton), because she hates pirates! One particular pirate, one of many men of whom the queen disapproves, is a rather poor Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) who steers a dilapidated vessel and commands a ragtag collection of sailors, including a funny- looking mascot parrot named Polly. He's also a dreamer, and he dreams big. He's been trying to win the coveted "Pirate of the Year" award for twenty straight years and failed every time. It's an annual prize given out to the Captain with the most booty to his or her name. Captain and crew arrive on the dangerous Blood Island to fill out the necessary paperwork, but it soon becomes clear that the good Captain stands little-to-no chance of winning. Enter his three chief rivals -- Cutlass, "The Butcher of Barbados" (voiced by Salma Hayek) and holder of a massive gem; "Peg Leg" Hastings (voiced by Lenny Henry) and his stash of gold; and "Black Bellamy" (voiced by Jeremy Piven), a sailor who crashes the party from inside a whale and alongside a pile of gold -- all with significantly more treasure, bling, and ability, each a worthy candidate to run away with the prize and all practically shoe-ins to top the dear Captain.

Captain sulks in his misery, loses his confidence, and wallows in his pending defeat, but when he's taunted one too many times, he decides to prove his critics wrong and win the contest after all and against all odds. A re-energized Captain sets out to collect all the booty on the high seas, but he runs into a tiny little problem: nobody has any booty for him to plunder. That or he's just a really bad captain. He raids a ghost ship, a plague ship, and a sightseeing ship, all of which have nothing to offer him. It seems, once again, all hope is lost, but a routine boarding of another random vessel proves quite fortuitous. The Captain's latest target, as luck would have it, is the Beagle, a vessel carrying none other than renowned Naturalist Charles Darwin (voiced by David Tennant). His vessel, no surprise, carries no worthwhile treasure, but just as the crew is set to depart and Darwin finds himself at the end of a plank, the scientist points out that the crew is already in possession of a great treasure which could turn the tide of the Captain of the Year race and also prove a boon for the scientific community. There's only one problem: the crew will have to sail to London and into the very heart of the anti-piracy, Queen Victoria-ruled world if they are to cash in and win the prize the Captain so persistently seeks.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits offers good, clean family fun. The movie serves up a typical kid-oriented grab bag of animated Comedy goodness, packed with filler and largely forgettable characters and situations. Yet for all the stale ideas and usual sorts of whacky animated movie adventure elements, the picture manages to grab and keep one's attention even through the predictably zany antics that shape the movie from start to finish. Character arcs are expectedly generic -- the Captain for instance, has his ups and downs and moments of sheer silliness but finds that extra gear when he's forced to morph into a hero he never knew he could be, or even wanted to be -- and it's never a surprise where they or the movie are headed or what's to happen in the climactic moments. Yet there's a baseline charm to them, an appeal and draw towards the simplicity that aims only to entertain audiences, to earn some laughter from the young ones, to paint a silly picture of high-seas adventure and land-based fun where clear-cut good and evil collide and a few messages on conservation and preserving life are triumphed. In fact, The Pirates! Band of Misfits rips off an idea from a certain Matthew Broderick/Marlon Brando Comedy from years back, but chances are the little ones haven't seen it and won't care. It gives the movie a good dynamic and somewhere to go, a villain who becomes a little more dislikable and a couple of heroes who learn that wealth isn't just about the amount of gold down in the hold. The voice cast is excellent and there are plenty of recognizable names dotting the roster. The stop-motion animation impresses with its stability and amazingly intricate detailing from top to bottom, in every environment and on each character. It's an all-around entertaining little movie, perhaps not buried treasure but a shiny source of fun that shouldn't be missed.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Pirates! Band of Misfits arrives on Blu-ray 3D with a fairly lackluster presentation. To be sure, the general attributes which rated so highly on the 2D-only version of the film carry over here. The Pirates! doesn't suffer a bit in 3D in terms of stability, detailing, and color. It remains an animation rock, yielding substantial details around most every frame. The models are replicated with startling precision, with every little nuance on characters, clothes, structures, and the like precise right down to the faintest line, speckle, and insignificant texture. Wooden boards, stone roads, tiled floors, and similar manmade environmental objects look fantastic. Colors are strong, a hair dim, perhaps (as was the case with the 2D transfer), but nicely balanced and true, whether an orange beard, the Captain's red overcoat, or blue ocean waters. Similar to the 2D transfer, banding is practically nonexistent even under the most challenging circumstances. The film looks great, but unfortunately, the 3D elements don't do much to boost it into the next level of animated excellence.

Though Sony's 3D transfer serves up sufficient general depth, there's just not much aggressive 3D content to enjoy. Most shots yield a somewhat perceptible sense of space between objects, looking off into the distance no matter how relatively short or long, but the slight added depth isn't really enough to warrant a watch (or a 3D purchase). Sadly, there's not much else, and nothing that truly dazzles in the third dimension. There are a few good 3D-specific effects. The Captain brandishes his sword and points it towards the audience near the beginning, but the effect is minimal. Cutlass pushes a diamond towards the audience upon her introduction, but again only to noticeable, not "eye-popping" effect. Fake eyeballs pop out of a Pirate flag right before the pirates board the Beagle, which represents probably the single-best 3D effect in the film. There's some scattered debris that efforts to pop out of the screen throughout, and a few minor but impressive moments such as when the Queen holds a pair of sunglasses in front of her eyes in the final act and viewers can really see and feel the spacing between the glasses and her eyes. Otherwise, there's just nothing to get the blood pumping. This is a pedestrian 3D image that doesn't approach the excellence of the finest Blu-ray 3D discs. It's a serviceable 3D watch, but chances are 3D veterans won't be too thrilled with the end result.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Pirates! Band of Misfits floats onto Blu-ray with a wonderful DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, the same found on the 2D-only release. The track plays big, spreading out easily across the front end while employing rich, detailed sound through the entire range and across a number of sonic elements. Cramped and well- spaced elements alike enjoy the same quality detailing and placement, whether the somewhat closed-in "Ham Nite" aboard the Captain's vessel or the bigger, rowdier bar in which he signs up for the contest. Listeners always feel a part of the environment, even if the rear speakers don't quite play with as much volume or information as they might should. Music is well-spaced and crisp, too. The Rock-inspired tunes that play throughout the movie feature excellent clarity and a good, balanced low end. Bass rattles in several instances, notably when the whale crashes into the bar and introduces Black Bellamy. Crashing waves punish the soundstage, cannonballs whiz across from one speaker to the next, and other action/comedic mayhem moments are played with an energetic cadence and superior clarity. Dialogue is smooth and center-focused, but nicely reverberates when the situation dictates, such as heard later in the movie at the scientific symposium and awards show. This is a good, entertaining track that's just about everything an animated movie sound presentation should be.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Pirates! Band of Misfits contains a nice array of extra goodies aimed at both kids (games) and adults (technical making-of pieces). All of the supplements are located on the included 2D-only disc. 3D previews are available on the 3D disc.

• Audio Commentary: Director Peter Lord, Co-Director Jeff Newitt, and Editor Justin Krish deliver a rather dry commentary. It's informative and detailed, but not quite in tune with the light humor that dominates the movie. Discussions include characters and character design, technical details of the filmmaking process, the intricacies of the animation, and more. With optional English and Spanish subtitles.
• So You Want To Be a Pirate! Short film (1080p, 18:07).
• Pirate Disguise Dress-Up Game (1080p): Players must "look for the example disguise and try to match each wacky ensemble before time runs out." Play is via the remote control's arrow buttons as users scroll through three options (head, torso, legs) to match the picture on the right.
• From Stop to Motion (1080p, 20:52): A fascinating and detailed examination of the filmmaking process. The filmmakers discuss constructing the world around the characters, character design, penning the story, the animation process, crafting the puppets and building the miniature sets, the process of swapping mouths on puppets for accurate dialogue performances, voice acting sessions, live performance foundations, crafting the ship and placing it in a digital sea, assembling the sound effects, and crafting the music.
• Creating the Bath Chase Sequence (1080p, 8:22): A focused examination of the process of making one of the film's most complex scenes.
• Peter Lord Short Films (1080p): Wat's Pig (11:25, also available with optional director's commentary) and War Story (5:27, also available with optional director's commentary).
• Previews (3D): Additional Sony titles.
• DVD Copy.
• UV Digital Copy.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Pirates! Band of Misfits is a pleasant, jolly-good movie. It's not really original -- the story rips off older, better movies and the characters are animated movie-generic -- but a movie like this aims for sheer entertainment value above all else, and in that capacity The Pirates! is a success. It'll likely dazzle the kids and satisfy adults. It's very well put together, painstakingly so by the looks of it, and it's perfectly voiced and brilliantly polished. It's not a new animated classic, but it should hold some replay value and entertain the kids on more than one occasion. Sony's Blu-ray release of The Pirates! Band of Misfits carries over the same strong general attributes that make the 2D transfer a dazzler, but the 3D elements are uninspiring at best. The soundtrack is excellent, and the extras are good, even if there are no added 3D goodies. This is certainly not the worst 3D release out there, but frugal buyers might want to skip and purchase the 2D-only disc, which comes highly recommended.