transforms animation into the future

Rating: 10/10 (5 November 2004)

One of the best action films I've seen in a long time. I've read many suggestions that it is borrows from Spy Kids, James Bond, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yes. Yes. And yes. But personally, I thought differently. Remarkably, I had the same response to this film as I had when I first saw Star Wars. For those of you who have seen this movie, your response to that statement might be, "huh?" Let me explain. When I originally saw Star Wars, several things happened: first , I was absorbed into a world so different than my own, but when all was said and done , it became as real as anything I've ever experienced. Secondly, we all knew then and there that this was the future of special effects. Thirdly, be it ultra cool Han Solo; wanna be hero Luke; or uber-female Princess Leia, many people could identify with the characters. This film transforms animation, like Star Wars did for it's genre, from the present into the future. It does so because everyone involved aspires to excellence. They succeed by creating animated landscapes incredibly rich in detail, by developing movement and action that is, at times, simply exhilarating, and by brilliant "acting" so rich with nuance, humor, and emotion that voice and drawing merges into a full fledged human. In fact, when I think about it, other than Harrison Ford, the one lingering difference between Star Wars and this film , other than the obvious - plot, was that the acting was better in this film. If you saw Star Wars ... and you did ... you saw the future of science fiction. If you see this film, you will see the future of animation. And the force is with them both.