oh dear oh dear. it all looks so lovely and even though matt damon sounds as though he really was in a studio, the sound and music are great. but my god, the script and worse (even) the story...!
a great mixture of computer animation and cartoon action really dazzle the eye and can begin to lull you into a false sense of security...right up to the point in which people begin to actually talk to each other. 'character is action' (so said f.scott fitzgerald) and this is true whether you're talking about the film which managed to close down fox's animation department (i can only hope that they threw away the scriptwriters too) or the film is a 30 second short. and what characters we are given here...
this follows the same well trodden disney path in managing to make any non-human character a grotesque stereotype in the most cliched and lazy way possible. a good case (even apart from the floppy fringed, square jawed all-american hero lead character) is the intelligent buggy character. how likely is it that in a thousand years if youre intelligent not only will you still be a nerd...but that you'll wear glasses?! not really is it. ooops, almost forgot to mention the feisty leading girl, managing to hit all her marks as action girl...with attitude (stop me if you've heard of all of these characters before). the human characters are just as bad. they are all cliches, the bad guy with the change of heart, the evil, wicked fairy queen...ooops, i mean pure energy queen. i can't even begin to imagine what the bad guys motivation was for chasing these layabouts, boredom perhaps.
and then there was the story, or more correctly the non-story. it managed to go all the way from a to b...stopping everywhere in between. part star wars (cliched 'good' vs. nasty old 'evil') and part star trek (cliched characters and cultural propaganda) and is as bad as both of them. no surprises, no twists, no character development (certainly not the leads volte-face in deciding to save the human race...gee thanks mate). just soooo predictable, unengaging and that word again...lazy. heres an idea to anyone who wants to make a good film (notice, good, not just a film but a good film): write a good script. thats it. if you do that then you have a chance. but if you dont have that then you are doomed regardless of whatever else you do.
im sure that many people reading this will think 'give it a break, its just...' and as soon as that word is used then you have no leg to stand on. because if this is a cartoon which wishes to be a film then it must be judged on its merits, i.e. as a film. and it is lacking, badly lacking. it is a film with a story that 6 year olds could follow. forget what it looks like. close your eyes and listen to the dialogue (but not for long, you may go deaf...if you're very lucky) and then tell me if its a good film. maybe fox were really pitching at the family territory with this film but the problem is that the market for this type of film (animated/manga) is just a little too old and sophisticated to really care about a boy who just wants to *sniffle* see his dad again. Akira is being re-relased on DVD in july, THAT is what an animated film should be. that is not to say they should all be disturbing (perfect blue) or violent (ghost in the machine) but to be taken seriously they have to be good. this is not, this is rubbish and should be treated as such. judge with your mind, NOT your eyes. 1/10
a great mixture of computer animation and cartoon action really dazzle the eye and can begin to lull you into a false sense of security...right up to the point in which people begin to actually talk to each other. 'character is action' (so said f.scott fitzgerald) and this is true whether you're talking about the film which managed to close down fox's animation department (i can only hope that they threw away the scriptwriters too) or the film is a 30 second short. and what characters we are given here...
this follows the same well trodden disney path in managing to make any non-human character a grotesque stereotype in the most cliched and lazy way possible. a good case (even apart from the floppy fringed, square jawed all-american hero lead character) is the intelligent buggy character. how likely is it that in a thousand years if youre intelligent not only will you still be a nerd...but that you'll wear glasses?! not really is it. ooops, almost forgot to mention the feisty leading girl, managing to hit all her marks as action girl...with attitude (stop me if you've heard of all of these characters before). the human characters are just as bad. they are all cliches, the bad guy with the change of heart, the evil, wicked fairy queen...ooops, i mean pure energy queen. i can't even begin to imagine what the bad guys motivation was for chasing these layabouts, boredom perhaps.
and then there was the story, or more correctly the non-story. it managed to go all the way from a to b...stopping everywhere in between. part star wars (cliched 'good' vs. nasty old 'evil') and part star trek (cliched characters and cultural propaganda) and is as bad as both of them. no surprises, no twists, no character development (certainly not the leads volte-face in deciding to save the human race...gee thanks mate). just soooo predictable, unengaging and that word again...lazy. heres an idea to anyone who wants to make a good film (notice, good, not just a film but a good film): write a good script. thats it. if you do that then you have a chance. but if you dont have that then you are doomed regardless of whatever else you do.
im sure that many people reading this will think 'give it a break, its just...' and as soon as that word is used then you have no leg to stand on. because if this is a cartoon which wishes to be a film then it must be judged on its merits, i.e. as a film. and it is lacking, badly lacking. it is a film with a story that 6 year olds could follow. forget what it looks like. close your eyes and listen to the dialogue (but not for long, you may go deaf...if you're very lucky) and then tell me if its a good film. maybe fox were really pitching at the family territory with this film but the problem is that the market for this type of film (animated/manga) is just a little too old and sophisticated to really care about a boy who just wants to *sniffle* see his dad again. Akira is being re-relased on DVD in july, THAT is what an animated film should be. that is not to say they should all be disturbing (perfect blue) or violent (ghost in the machine) but to be taken seriously they have to be good. this is not, this is rubbish and should be treated as such. judge with your mind, NOT your eyes. 1/10