This is one of the most visually stunning movies I've seen in a long time. The production stills and poster really do the movie a disservice by emphasizing the "pure black and pure white" nature of the animation. While the characters are, in fact, animated in only black and white (no greys) the backgrounds are rendered with an amazing level of detail in various shades of grey as well as pure black and white.
There are too many breathtaking shots to name, but some of my favorites were (1) The "magical forest" where the Ilona wakes up, (2) the Avalon president's office, which is in a grey glass cube overlooking the city, and (3) the car chase that climaxes at the foot of Notre Dame. While there is an obvious (and superficial) visual resemblance to Sin City, I found that I was most often reminded of the original V For Vendetta: the combination of high-contrast, photo-based backgrounds with more "cartoony" foreground characters is very similar to the look that David Lloyd achieved in that classic comic book.
In a movie like this, the animation style could easily become just a gimmick, but the makers of Renaissance have managed to keep the visuals interesting without distracting from the storytelling.
The story itself is your typical futuristic sci-fi mystery. Nothing great, nothing terrible. The acting is well-done. The real reason to watch this movie (preferably on a big screen) is to be blown away by the graphics. While the technologies in use here (3d rendering, motion capture, etc) are nothing they are used in this movie to make one of the most original and creative visual statements I've seen in years.
There are too many breathtaking shots to name, but some of my favorites were (1) The "magical forest" where the Ilona wakes up, (2) the Avalon president's office, which is in a grey glass cube overlooking the city, and (3) the car chase that climaxes at the foot of Notre Dame. While there is an obvious (and superficial) visual resemblance to Sin City, I found that I was most often reminded of the original V For Vendetta: the combination of high-contrast, photo-based backgrounds with more "cartoony" foreground characters is very similar to the look that David Lloyd achieved in that classic comic book.
In a movie like this, the animation style could easily become just a gimmick, but the makers of Renaissance have managed to keep the visuals interesting without distracting from the storytelling.
The story itself is your typical futuristic sci-fi mystery. Nothing great, nothing terrible. The acting is well-done. The real reason to watch this movie (preferably on a big screen) is to be blown away by the graphics. While the technologies in use here (3d rendering, motion capture, etc) are nothing they are used in this movie to make one of the most original and creative visual statements I've seen in years.