Reviews

I wasn't even sure I wanted to watch this film when it came on at 11:20 pm. I was tired and a little let down after having just finished watching Clear and Present Danger (had heard great things about it). But I decided to watch the first 5 minutes or so as the listing description claimed it to be an "Adult Claymation". I was intrigued as I do have quite an interest in claymation myself. The minutes rolled on by and soon half an hour had been and gone already.

Within that half hour I had felt happy, sad, sympathetic, uncomfortable, frustrated, confused the list goes on. This film has a marvellous ability to switch between moods in the blink of an eye in a way that doesn't seem obnoxious or intrusive. The subject matter made me squirm a little at first, however that is quickly accounted for and you are eventually put at ease. All I can say is give this film a chance. It drags on a little in places, well, it drags on throughout the entire film really. There is no action, only one particularly intense scene I can recall and due to the story there is very little character to character to dialogue. Yet somehow it is so gloriously intriguing you can get past that.

It's a bitter-sweet film that may leave some with a bit of a bad taste in their mouth having finished watching it. But to those willing to put a little effort in I can guarantee an enjoyable and incredibly deep watch.

It get's a 7 from me. Whilst there were no major issues there was also nothing that really stood out about this film other than the story. Animation was somewhat lacklustre even despite the gloomy setting of the plot, acting was a little frayed round the edges at times and I did find myself rolling my eyes to a few parts that were seemingly supposed to be emotional. However, it's a good all-rounder on all fronts bar the outstanding writing. If you are going to give this a go, make sure to have some tissues handy. You have been warned

I went into this film with minimal expectations and whilst I did enjoy the watch, as I expected I wasn't blown away.

The acting wasn't fantastic but bearable enough to want the good guys to win and the bad guys to fail. There were times when I couldn't help but smirk a little at some of the delivery but on the whole the leads gave great performances that, at times, were a little let down by a shaky script. The script again on the whole wasn't bad but it's weaknesses lay in the one liners. They fell far short of the mysterious or intimidating mark they were settings themselves at times however I was willing to look past them.

The special effects I can't really fault. They weren't nearly as 'in your face' as they could have been and that I appreciated. Perhaps had they have been put under more strain weaknesses would have been exposed however the extent to the effects didn't waver much beyond the standard wisps of particles or distorted images that resulted from the character "jumping". They did their job, and that was all they really needed to do. It seemed to be the whole ideology behind this film. "We finish at 5, let's get this done and we can all go home!". Nothing wrong with that, it still made for a good film, just nothing spectacular.

Really, the only reason I can logically give this film as low as a 6 was because of the story. It was simple enough to follow and very formulated which in itself isn't a bad thing. However a lot of it seemed highly contrived. I won't go into the details of what and when as I don't wish to spoil the film for anyone it was just there were a good few events that left me questioning just how logical these characters were being. Choices were made and problems were encountered that seemed to be there simply to allow the story to progress rather than to deepen it. As such you're left with a somewhat bad taste in your mouth as a new scene begins and, despite your best efforts, you cannot justify the events of the last one to yourself.

It's a popcorn movie. The kind of film you'd whack in the DVD player late one night when you've got some friends round and enjoy while it's on but leave to collect dust once it's finished. It won't go down in history as anything spectacular, but clearly it didn't expect itself to be. There was no pretence of a deep plot or particularly unique twists and as such it's very easy just to sit back and enjoy it while it lasts. Don't get too bogged down in the flaws and you'll find yourself in for a decent hour and a half.