THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS

Peter Lord is no stranger to the Academy Awards. Known for directing the stop animated clay creations “Wallace & Gromit”, Lord has won three Academy Award nominations for his short films including two wins (“The Wrong Trousers” and “A Close Shave”), and one Academy Award for his feature film, “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”. To count out Peter Lord and his latest creation, “The Pirates! Band Of Misfits” is ill-advised.  His first 3D adventure, the film has gotten positive reviews and exemplifies the art of clay-mation.

How does it stack up against the competition this year? Well it’s a clay-mation heavy year, with three of the five nominees being some mixture of stop animation, with “Frankenweenie” and “ParaNorman” both presenting to be stiff competition. Then, having the Disney/Pixar giant “Brave” in the ranks (despite its lesser acclaim during this year’s awards season), “The Pirates! Band Of Misfits” faces a slight uphill battle.

Will I place my money on Peter Lord’s latest film? Probably not. If the critics’ awards this season were any indication, “Frankenweenie” and “ParaNorman” are both far bigger competitors for the award than this one. That, and never counting out Pixar’s Oscar presence, I place “The Pirates! Band Of Misfits” towards the bottom of the ranks.

REVIEW

“The Pirates! Band Of Misfits” is your run-of-the-mill claymation film, with the recycled pirate story-lines of every other pirate lore related film of the past. Some of the humor is witty and enjoyable but for the most part, director Peter Lord sticks to his normal guns and delivers an average children’s film.

// Produced by Julie Lockhart, Peter Lord, & David Sproxton // Directed by Peter Lord & Jeff Newitt //

// Dated Viewed: Saturday, January 12th, 2013 // DVD //  37 films – 44 days //