In the labyrinthine streets of 21st century Paris, where every move is monitored and ever action recorded, a mysterious kidnapping sets into motion a catastrophic series of events that could ultimately prove the downfall of civilization. The year is 2054, and the Avalon Corporation has securely woven its way into every aspect of modern living by making youth and beauty the most valued commodity around. Troubles arises in the City of Lights when a high-profile scientist named Ilona (voice of
Romola Garai) is kidnapped, and policeman Barthélémy Karas (voice of Daniel Craig) is assigned the task of solving the case. As his investigation leads Karas down a menacing path where death lurks around every bend, he soon discovers that events that took place in 2006 have cast a dark shadow over the future of humankind. A film that mixes Blade Runner aesthetics with stark, Sin City-style visuals, Renaissance was filmed using motion-capture animation and features extravagant production design by Alfred Frazzani (Immortel Ad Vitam). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
It's a testament to the production design that one quickly gets caught up in the story without ever completely losing the "ooh-ahh" factor. Ominous, wall-to-wall music bolsters the appropriately uneasy mood, and the bittersweet conclusion is satisfying.
It's unfortunate that it's all in the service of a story as dull as it is complicated, though if you can make it to the end without drifting off, there is a small reward.
The script's fusion of B-movie crime cliches and dystopian futurism, if not exactly original, is nonetheless vigorously engaging, and the English-language voice cast is good enough to make the existential noodling seem like real dialogue.
Like most cyberpunk, this film has a stellar premise. However, also in the tradition of cyberpunk, its storytelling and presentation is as murky as its production design.
There are no grey shadings in the film's visual palette to match the characters' more equivocal moralities, and the result is a dark, dark world occasionally exposed to the most harsh and unforgiving of lights.
a film that can be appreciated, idolized even, for its stunning visual artistry, as well as admired for its unsentimental homage to the film noir genre it reproduces with such precision
An interesting script but the high contrast black & white animation is distracting and tiresome. Slightly above average graphic novel-ish sci-fi crime noir.
January 5, 2009
Randy Tippy
Super Reviewer
A graphic novel in movie form that works really quite well in providing a cool, dark, film noir atmosphere. It helps having the new James Bond to provide the lead voice too. The sci-fi story is a fairly good one and quite appropriate to the style of the movie. However, the plot can drag a bit at times.
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