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Year of the Fish (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:12
Rotten:10
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: This modernized and rotoscope-animated update on the Cinderella story is charming at times and visually impressive, but audiences may find it to be too coarse for children and too superficial for adults.
Theatrical Release:Aug 29, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: A modern Cinderella story set in New York City's Chinatown, Year of the Fish is a classic tale retold through the eyes of a young woman struggling to find a new life in the United States. Director... [More]
Reviews for Year of the Fish
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 3/4 |
The director-writer, David Kaplan, is able to hold our attention, and the film's unusual look lends a magical feeling. Full Review |
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 2/4 |
Without the animation layered on top of the action, the film would be thoroughly lacking in dramatic interest. Full Review |
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A re-imagining of Cinderella set in a massage parlor in New York's Chinatown, David Kaplan's film juxtaposes grime and exploitation with winsomeness and superstition. Full Review |
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2/4 |
Apart from the debut of appealing An Nguyen and a pet fish instead of a magic slipper, there's nothing particularly innovative here, and the film's seedy milieu ensures that it's anything but a kid-friendly fairy tale. Full Review |
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B- |
Year of the Fish is an eye-opener for those unfamiliar with the tribulations many immigrants endure on their road to American citizenship. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Charming and dreamlike, Year of the Fish wrings every dime out of its low budget with wonderful performances that are by parts adorable, sharp and sweet and certainly worth a look. Full Review |
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C- |
Although writer/director David Kaplan attempts to elevate his amateur narrative attempt with the same rotoscoping animation technique that Richard Linklater used to great effect with "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly," the effect comes across as overwro Full Review |
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2.5/5 |
The result [of the animation technique] is similar to the look of Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly, but much softer and more fluid. It's ideal for the storybook plot and quite dazzling at times. Full Review |
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2/4 |
That kind of broadness plays fine in Disney movies, but feels deeply when applied to the world of undocumented sex workers, urban poverty and economic exploitation that looks a lot like 21st-century slavery. Full Review |
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2/4 |
Too raw for kids and too simplistic for adults. Full Review |
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3/5 |
David Kaplan's sweet, if superficial, fairy tale won't change the world, but it makes nice use of its setting (Chinatown) and visual style (rotoscope animation). Full Review |
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4/5 |
An adult fable told with childlike simplicity, Year of the Fish updates an ancient Chinese version of the Cinderella story with imagination, charm and just the right amount of sweetness.
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6/10 |
Kaplan keeps the story breezy and brisk, and provides his down-to-earthily modern fairy tale with an appropriately other-worldly visual style. Full Review |
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B- |
To some degree, it's trying to find the magic in the everyday, but the attempts to ground it are cringe-inducing and problematic. Full Review |
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2/6 |
Even animation addicts might find their eyes glazing over at this digitally rotoscoped Cinderella story set in an oh-so-magical modern-day Chinatown. Full Review |
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Year of the Fish does feature more than enough clever moments and ideas to compensate for forcing audiences to sit through yet another tale of a woman who needs a man to rescue her from a life of drudgery. Full Review |
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Year of the Fish is the kind of really bad movie it takes a lot of misplaced conviction to make. Full Review |
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Unfortunately, much of the novelty in 'Year of the Fish' is eclipsed by ethnic stereotypes and an oppressive score Full Review |
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2/4 |
HBO's 1990s cartoon series Happily Ever After multiculturalized traditional fairy tales, and Year of the Fish may as well be a live-action episode of the now-defunct program. Full Review |
CommentLatest News for Year of the Fish
August 17, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
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