Renaissance: Critic Reviews

No one will be talking about the movie's banal plot, the trite dialogue, or any of the indistinguishable characters who offer a bleak futuristic vision of cinema that's all style, no soul.

The grim, dystopian world in this animated French film is the product of a computer technique that evokes the sharp, linear style of a graphic novel.

The feature is over-extended at its current length, but its look and style are intriguing; it is maintained with energy and panache -- and its self-belief is impressive.

This chiaroscuro thriller is more visually arresting than narratively convincing, and as the police procedural unfolds, what might have been a sly cautionary tale, a la this summer's A Scanner Darkly, becomes merely procedural.

A comic book -- mint condition, double-bagged -- that leaves you impressed only with its pristine hollowness.

It's film noir, with too much noir for its own good.

With its halfhearted script, stiff performances and overlong running time, this is the kind of movie that's simultaneously dazzling to look at, and increasingly tough to sit through.

Certainly one of the year's more luscious releases, offering not just the sleekest car chase but the most romantic of rainstorms.

For its retro-futurist look alone, this outdated thriller set in 2054 Paris is worth seeing.

Renaissance is more than mere eye candy. It sneaks into deeper, darker places - a dream world of shadowy menace.

The sophistication of Renaissance is all in its ultracool appearance, with little of interest beneath its glittering surface.

It might be hyperbole to call Renaissance unique, but it is very different from most films that open in theaters, and it's worth going a few extra miles to seek out, especially if this is a genre that holds appeal.

Renaissance is a dark joy to inhabit once you jettison the idea of a satisfying narrative.

It is more Sin City (the graphic novel) than Sin City (the movie)! Or at least on a purely visual level . . .

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.

...suffers from an unpleasant and relentlessly distracting animation style that ultimately renders its few positive attributes moot.

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.

The movie radiates a dark, eerie, mysterious, otherworldly quality, yet it isn't enough to sustain over an hour and an half of story.

Renaissance is a victory of style over substance and technology over art, but to score a real win, the filmmakers need to strike a better balance between the two.

The style doesn't just overwhelm the substance, it makes it irrelevant.

Lacks a beating heart at its core. It's all about its technical aspects and sense of cool, and that's just not good enough.