Daniel Craig Movie:

Editorial Review:
Style trumps substance in Renaissance, a 2006 French film whose breathtaking visuals largely overcome its shortcomings in the areas of story and character development. Detailed in a lengthy and absorbing "making of" featurette, the film's look is a combination of CG animation, motion capture, and a palette consisting solely of black & white (there are a few splashes of color late in the proceedings, but no gray whatsoever). And while it has a few obvious antecedents (the filmmakers readily acknowledge the influence of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, not to mention the much earlier, Expressionist work of Fritz Lang and Orson Welles), Renaissance, with its commingling of heavily processed live action and graphic novel sensibilities, looks very little like anything you've ever seen before. The setting is Paris in the year 2054, and it is here that director Christian Volckman and his crew do their best work. The French capital is certainly recognizable (the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre's Sacre Coeur are two familiar landmarks), but its classic architecture is glazed with all manner of futuristic touches, from vast glass penthouses to layers of transparent walkways outside Notre Dame Cathedral; and with the preponderance of the action taking place at night, frequently in the rain, the City of Light more often suggests a very literal representation of film noir. As for the story, it's nothing special. Hard-nosed police Captain Barthélémy Karas (voiced in this English version by Daniel Craig) is searching for a female scientist who works for Avalon, one of those sinister mega-corporations that seem to run everything in movies like this; seems the woman, who has been kidnapped, possesses what's referred to as "the protocol for immortality," and Avalon, which promises good health, beauty, and long life for all, desperately wants her back. The characters are a bit stiff (physically and otherwise), the dialogue is occasion! ally stilted, and the film is sometimes so dark that it's hard! to tell what's going on. But most of Renaissance looks so amazing that such deficiencies can easily be ignored, at least the first time through. --Sam Graham

Renaissance Reviews:
Love & Animation
2008-09-07 - I purchased this as a gift for a for a woman I love who loves animation, because I thought the style and technique were brilliant and she would enjoy it. Maybe one day they'll release it on Blu-ray.

Renaissance
2008-08-04 - Renaissance is another of those French imports in the mode of the "Triplets Of Belleville;" both of the artsy-fartsy school of animation; equally pretentious; equally putrid. It too is totally in black and white; absolutely no grays. It is actually difficult to watch, physically. So it is not only poor in content, it's annoying too. But the critics liked it, generally, so I watched for a while. Finally, I gave up. As I remember, the critics liked the "Triplets," too. I should have known better. Aag!

Worth A Look At
2008-07-29 - It's like nothing you've ever seen before, but like a lot you've seen before. The picture is a stark, visually striking solid black and white. No shades of grey. It was made using motion capture with live actors on a soundstage along with CG animation. As the Amazon review states, "with the preponderance of the action taking place at night, frequently in the rain, the City of Light more often suggests a very literal representation of film noir." That's the main idea in a nutshell. Although that's kinda odd since film noir is precisely about ambiguity and dealing with those shades of grey in human affairs. And I should say the solid white is very bright and I don't mean that metaphorically. I had to lower the brightness level on my TV because it was hard to look at.

The influences are obvious, coming from well known graphic novels, sci-fi film classics, and film noir. The story, characters, and overall mood are familiar, as is, to an extent, the futuristic city-scape environment (not that that's a bad thing)- but this black and white comic book visual style hasn't been realized in a film before. Also to be appreciated is the fact that this is a western-made animated film for adults which is still fairly rare even though clearly there is an audience.

The story is adequate, characters not always the most compelling. Highly recommended for those interested in a unique visual experience.

Dark and Stylish Thriller Ultimately Lacks Credible Story
2008-07-07 - "Renaissance" is so stylishly done and so startling visually that one finds one's self hooked from the opening moment. Unfortunately, because of this the failings of the storyline itself make the let-down that much more painful when it comes.

Do not get me wrong -- I enjoyed this movie. I am glad I own the DVD. But I still cannot help feeling that when the big secret is revealed -- that the kidnapped scientist has discovered the secret to immortality -- to have the sympathetic protagonist cry out: "she is dangerous! Don't you see, without death life will have no meaning!" ...well, perhaps it is because I am old enough to have a sense of my own mortality that this line of reasoning makes no impact upon me. If the film is supposed to persuade me that NOT DYING is a bad thing, then it will need to make a stronger argument in order to succeed.

So, if you are seeking a futuristic adventure with a plot driven by an intellectually justifiable idea, then this is not the movie for you. However, if you have never quite shaken off your sense of awe at the cityscape of near-future Los Angeles as imagined in "Blade Runner" then the harsh black-and-white near-future Paris of "Renaissance", with its fluid point-of-view magnifying the viewer's overall sense of disorientation, will not disappoint you.

I really dont know what to make of this film
2008-06-19 - It had an interesting style (CGI) that is very similar to that seen in Spiderman: The New Animated series. That being said, one thing that really bothered me was the shiny appearance of the characters. It definitely annoyed me for some reason.

As far as the story goes, it is essentially nothing entirely new to the sci-fi genre. A cop looks for a kidnapped scientist. The scientist is trying to find the secret to eternal life. It is interesting but nothing that will really pull you in.

For a movie set in such a visually stylized universe, it lacks musical style. As a matter of fact, I cannot seem to remember whether or not the film had music in it. For me, the soundtrack is a very important part of the movie experience, and it really can make an average movie above average.

I did enjoy this piece, as its style is unique and I can appreciate that.
Go ahead and buy it if you are into CGI films or science fiction in general.