Pirate Captain's loyal but ragtag crew set sail for a treasure hunt with an odd bird on board in Aardman Animation's The Pirates! Band of Misifts.

Aardman gets back to its roots with an amusing trifle. Elizabeth Kerr reports.

Aardman's claymation animations may not be to everyone's taste in this age of all things CGIed and computered to death. But the UK studio has managed to forge a place for itself on the animated landscape that is still dominated by the perception that Pixar and Studio Ghibli (Miyazaki Hayao's producer) are the only purveyors of clever cartoons. Claymation is old school when it comes to the format. Nonetheless, Aardman is now the proud owner of a recognizable look to go with its distinct sensibilities.

Aardman really busted out with the hilarious Chicken Run in 2000, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit later on and assorted television series. Arthur Christmas, however, took the studio away from its snarky bread and butter, and those who prefer the defining, if Hollywoodized, retro claymation of the studio's early films will be pleased with The Pirates! Band of Misfits. It does provide a change of pace from the uniformity of high-grade CGI, and writer Gideon Defoe (upon whose book series the film is based) does his best to ensure no target is left behind. Is it perfect? No, but during blockbuster season it's a welcome alternative that will amuse kids and adults equally.

Slightly dimwitted Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) is out to win the coveted Pirate of the Year award despite being in competition with better-equipped rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek). The biggest threat to them all is the anti-piracy Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) who has a hidden agenda of her own. Yes, you read that right. We make an appearance. It's a clever bit of historical re-imagining (think Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) that could go much farther than it does, but works nonetheless. The more 19th century history you know, the funnier the film will be. Charles Darwin (David Tennant) makes and appearance when, in an attempt to impress the judges Captain boards his ship. That leads to a treasure hunt of sorts involving the extinct dodo, and eventually to the impressively rendered high seas action.

Incredibly rich images are wrapped around a silly story peppered with ironically named archetypes (Pirate With Gout, Pirate King, Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate and so on) that, in the end, create a gentle parody of the inherent silliness of pirate movies. The Pirates! Band of Misfits is also intensely British despite its Hollywood wholesome tone, and co-director and Aardman co-founder Peter Lord clearly has a keen sense of what goes into an Aardman product. The images are intricately detailed, the impeccably paced dialogue rarely slows down and the screen is filled with action while never tipping over into overwhelming. There's a bit too much of the familiar slapstick that doubles for comedy in animated family films these days, and the ultimate message is the same one found in middling fare like the Ice Age and Madagascar films: it's all very pro-traditional family and pro-old-fashioned values that represent it. But Lord injects just enough snap into Band of Misfits that you can forgive its trespasses. Hey, it's summertime.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens in Hong Kong on July 26.

(HK Edition 07/28/2012 page4)