Sol Levante

The reason this less than 4 minute short gets 8 stars is because it is truly a revolution (more like evolution) of hand-drawn animation. The contrast, smoothness, detail, and vivid colors are amazing. Visually there is no other hand-drawn work out there. On the other side, it has no real begin, middle or end. It is just a demo of the abilities of the animators and production company.

Sol Levante is advertised as 4 minutes 32 seconds long... 3 minutes of which is animation and 1 1/2 minutes of credits. Story line is non-existent. There is no plot, climax or resolution. The animation is okay but no more exceptional than anything else seen these days. It most resembles a graphics class project than anything else. It might be considered a trailer for a film, but it isn't.

As an art film it's barely acceptable. As anything else it's a waste of time. I give it 3 stars because 1 & 2 stars I reserve for bad films... and this isn't a "bad" film. It's just unimpressive and without evident purpose. Being a "Netflix Original" I'm sure it will have a lot of viewers so someone is going to cash out. But again, what is Netflix thinking? This belongs more on YouTube film project lists than Netflix.

On the other hand it IS only three minutes long and at least qualifies as eye-candy. So I'm glad it didn't take 90 minutes to say nothing. ; )

Props for the amazing graphics and animation style, resembling final fantasy and game-movie scenes. Amazing colors and attention to details. Love the bright action adventure tone setup and really into learning this universe. Hence, great world building and monsterverse esque vibe. Despite all that, i still dont get the reason for this interesting short of zero storyline or zero dialogue. No character introduction, no reasonings just action after action. Awkward action transition, i just dont get what was happening. This probably the worst short or animation that i ever watched in terms of plotting. Gave extra stars for the amazing graphics and visuals. Musics were okay and generic sound effects. Not recommended if youre someone appreciate good story telling like me, recommended only if youre a total action geek.

Low reviews seem to come from people not realizing what this is and is not: this showcases a new technology that creators can use to hand draw this gorgeous animation. Appreciate the vivid colors, the movement, the action, the fine details...that are HAND DRAWN.

It's not some deep plot, character development-which should be seemingly obvious?

Highly recommend the behind-the-scenes! Looking forward to how this will transform anime.

After watching the behind-the-scenes artist recap (something I just came up with to somewhat describe what I watched), I now realize what this short "film" is. It's an animation equivalent to the first successful test of the first airplane, built and tested by Orville and Wilbur Wright. That plane, compared to modern aircraft, was a complete failure. But as we all know today, it was quite the opposite. It's flight only lasted 12 seconds and covered only 120 feet; but during that short time, it gave mankind a glimpse into the endless possibilities of air travel that we now enjoy as commonplace. Without going too far into a rant, I'll explain why I brought that up. This was apparently the first ever successful 4K, hand drawn and animated, anime ever made. It is a milestone in animation. While I could agree that some sort of plot would have made this short flex-of-a-film much more enjoyable (hence the 8 star review), it was not necessary, nor would it help further accomplish the goal of the creators. Sol Levante is a first ever test of the possibilities of 4K animation. To prove my point, please pause at any point in this short film (specifically the more intense scenes). You'll notice that each frame is an individual work of art; it is a moving tapestry of hard work by the visionary artists who conceptualized it. I've tried and failed to think of any other animation that has had such a successful attempt at this level of quality animation. The studio that created this is essentially saying, "Look at us. Look at what we can do. Now watch us do even better." I very much look forward to studios like this one further push the boundaries of animation and it's expressive art form to achieve their own equivalent as modern day Wright Brothers. It is a technological advancement as well as an artistic innovation. Sol Levante is a mostly successful, first ever attempt at the possibilities of animation. Appreciate it for what it is: a work of art.