Comment

Comment by matenzo on March 26, 2011 at 6:36am

I loved this movie but let's face it: It's just too French for most audiences, even European ones. Perhaps we've become too accustomed to the whole "feel-good" pixar routine. As delightful and fresh as it is animation-wise, the Illusionist is a major bummer story-wise.

 

I can't help but wonder if the arc about the illusionist handing over his magic hat has something to to do with the animators worrying (or facing) that the prominent era of 2D western animation is over. I dunno, the whole illusionist vs "Beetles" thing felt kinda lika a 2D animation vs Pixar routine to me. Probably cause I'm a 3D artist myself.

 

God them French know how to animate. This film was gorgeous. Every single frame was an illustration, and a stellar one for that matter. For me the animation is on par with the works of Holly monsters of animation such as Chuck Jones. It was simply flawless. 

Comment by John Henry Eden v2.0 on February 27, 2011 at 10:29am

@Michael Ross

...what an asshole. Haha!

Comment by Michael Ross on February 26, 2011 at 10:11pm

Okay, first and foremost, let me get this out of the way: I'm that asshole who hated Toy Story 3. It was dull and predictable, and the fact that the Oscars gave it a Best Picture nod (and in effect, an invitation to the people who made this and How To Train Your Dragon an invitation not to even bother showing up) is going to be a sore spot for me for life.

 

But I am NOT the asshole that thought THIS movie was better than Toy Story 3. I am absolutely with Cyrus on this one. This was a good, artistic movie. It knows exactly what it wants to do, and it does it very well. . . To a fault. The message is negative, but they hammer that message down SO HARD that by the time it's reaching its climax, the audience is shouting "OH MY GAWD LET UP A LITTLE!!!"

 

There are two movies that I could think to compare this to: Pom Poko, and Graveyard of the Fireflies. By comparison, I would put the Illusionist in between those two movies. It wasn't NEARLY as anviliciously depressing as Graveyard of the Fireflies, but at the same time, it made absolutely no secret of the direction it was going to take right from the get go, so there's still a tendency to watch it and think "why the hell am I torturing myself like this?" no hope for a future like the one Pom Poko so masterfully teased its audience with all throughout. Five minutes into it, you know how it's going to end.

 

So I guess you could say that the big problem I had with The Illusionist was the same big problem I had with Toy Story 3 -- it was so ridiculously predictable that I almost got kicked out of the theater for yelling "See, told you!"

Comment by Eugenio Padilla on February 22, 2011 at 6:47pm

i always though it was more of a 5 point rating system,

5-better than sex

4-full price

3-matinee

2-rental

1-some ol' bullshit

and well 0-fuck you

Comment by Mr. Whiplash on February 18, 2011 at 9:57am

Guess I got to be the film snob here and give a shout out to Jacques Tati, which is what the script for this movie is from and the movie basically has the same style as M. Hulot's Holiday, Mon Oncle, and his epic Playtime.

Comment by Mekklesack on February 17, 2011 at 3:57pm

"BETTER THAN TOY STORY 3!" /sits on paint brush. 

I'm interested, I have to know what gets said at the end! Nice review guys.

Comment by SirD. on February 17, 2011 at 3:01pm

I thought I had seen the trailer at one point and then nothing else.  Wow, I've got to see this now after this review.

Comment by Juan M. Balcazar on February 17, 2011 at 12:45pm

i love WATERSHIP DOWN!

 

i DEFNITLY WANNA WATCH THIS MOVIE

 

my rabbit is evil like that, but only cuz he's so spoiled

 

ja ja ja

 

:P

Comment by ghostwriter on February 17, 2011 at 5:52am

Looks like a beautiful film....it's coming to the Red River Theare in Concord NH....that's our Indi theatre so I'll check it out.

Comment by Star250 on February 16, 2011 at 7:48pm

Someone may have said this already but, like the triplets movie a lot of what they do is 3D cell shaded in such a way that blends into the 2D stuff (ex. the cyclist in "triplets" are 3D). 

 

Oh and all vehicles/objects with no real character are 3D when done by these guys.

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