Dir. Christian Volckman, 2006, France/UK/Luxembourg, 105 mins
Cast: Daniel Craig, Catherine McCormack, Romola Garai, Jonathan Pryce, Ian Holm, Sean Pertwee
Review by Hemanth Kissoon
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.” Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), Blade Runner (1982).
Like so much lacklustre sci-fi since, Blade Runner is owed a huge debt. This wooden, derivative French cartoon (voiced by British actors) is no different unfortunately. The Ridley Scott template has been used again by a creative team who are not nearly as creative.
Set in Paris in 2054, a scientist, Ilona Tassueiv (Garai) has been kidnapped, and her boss Dellenbach (Pryce), head of the huge Avalon corporation, has requested that top hostage retrieval cop Karas (Craig) find her. A future-noir animated in black and white using performance-capture takes place over a couple of days as suspect after suspect is uncovered in the search for the missing.
Renaissance holds the attention as a detective story, with the audience forced to not only try and solve the mystery but get their head round the future technology. Added to that is the impressive visual design where certain Parisian landmarks are interspersed with stunning new architecture. With that comes handsomely lit chase sequences across and under arguably the world’s most fashionable city and also geekily-cool invisible-suit wearing security guards.
The problem is that it’s all been seen before. The atmosphere and feel is straight out of Japanese animé, in particular Akira and Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell. The invisible-suits were seen in the latter. Oshii’s considerable influence is either consciously or subconsciously acknowledged with the ominous Avalon Corporation sharing the name with his striking live-action 2001 film. The production design is reminiscent of Blade Runner (see the giant television screens advertising products), the mix of building styles akin to Tim Burton’s Batman and Alex Proyas’ Dark City, and the use of holograms echo Total Recall and Minority Report.
The animation style is certainly different for those familiar with Disney and Hayao Miyazaki. It uses the same technique of animating over live-action performance, seen in Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings cartoon, The Polar Express, Waking Life and the upcoming Monster House and A Scanner Darkly. However, whereas Robert Zemeckis constantly tries to push himself with his use of camera movement, there is hardly any of that visual verve present here. Having a train slide across a frozen lake with the perspective moving elegantly in an out of the carriages in The Polar Express certainly raised the bar.
While Craig is charismatic, and Pryce and Holm suitably sleazy, the rest of the cast is hampered by clunky dialogue and cliché characterisation. I thought the “maverick cop” persona had finally had a nail in the coffin the last time a Steven Seagal film was given a theatrical release. I was wrong.
There is the strong hint of talent from everyone involved, with Renaissance seemingly having the potential to be something so much more, but it just feels like déjà vu.
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