I just got done watching a French film called Renaissance, so I thought I'd give you the skinny. Verdict: it's good enough, if you can forgive it a few flaws.
The skinny: The plot follows a French cop named Karas as he searches for a kidnapped researcher working for the corporation Avalon, which sells products offering "Health, Beauty, Longevity." He also runs across the kidnapped woman's older sister, who is something of a spitfire and, inevitably, the love interest, although her character really is very interesting. As Karas digs deeper, he uncovers conspiracy and corruption on all sides. And by the end... but why spoil it?
The film is rendered in black and white: pure-black and pure-white, with no grays. Think Sin City, but much harder on the eyes. Some of the shots are wonderful, but most of the time I was wishing I could just see the film without the effect, which hurt my head and had me confused some of the time about who exactly was doing what. The stunning visuals of the sprawling dystopian city of future Paris were also marred by this; some of the shots were great, but in many shots, I just couldn't figure out just what I was looking at. It created a very dreamlike, surreal atmosphere that I felt clashed with the film's gritty realism.
That being said, the characters were great. They were complex, serious individuals, but the film still allowed itself enough humor (although usually gallows humor) to make it work. Since the film was shot in CGI using motion-capture, the movements were photo-realistic (for the most part) and some of the subtleties of movement and expression looked great in the black-and-white style of the film. The faces of the main characters were well done. One of the advantages of CGI is that the emotions can be done so finely. Note the poster: that's the black/white animation when it's at its best. It really is beautiful, even hyper-realistic when it precisely highlights faces, bodies, and backgrounds. But a lot of the time, since it's all done digitally, the computer chose a black/white configuration that doesn't quite work. But again, when it does, hold onto your butts.
On the flip side, some of the characters looked rather poor, considering this was 2006 and therefore post-Final Fantasy: Advent Children, which in this humble reviewer's opinion is the best full-CGI film to date visually. The faces of the old characters, of which there are many, were particularly weird.
I should also warn you that the film's tag-line, "Live forever or die trying," doesn't apply to the protagonist's viewpoint. In fact, his is the opposite opinion. I found that mildly confusing.
THAT BEING SAID, (seriously, there were good points), the film's setting is beautiful. The science fiction stuff is something a little unrealistic, but it never takes away from the tone or plot. The plot itself is a little hackneyed, but the film pulls it off with style. I'd recommend seeing the film just for the visuals and some of the themes. When the film is working right, the tone is so right I could just drop myself right into it.
One last note: the very last bit of the film is highly confusing, and I have a feeling some studio bigshot added it because he wanted to adjust the ending a bit to suit his tastes. Without spoiling too much, hit the stop button when you see two characters talking against a white background after the movie has reached its conclusion. The film is effectively over: you can now finish your popcorn and leave the theater without being confused by that one last bit. The film ends perfectly if you end it there, with that ending being one of the best endings in science fiction I can think of.
I sincerely hope they make more movies like this. Adjust the color technique a bit, improve the character modeling, and kneecap whoever pinned on that ending bit, and you'll have a beautiful thing. Even flawed, this is definitely worth checking out.
Very last word, and then I promise I'm done: Fun game! Count how many shots of the Eiffel Tower this movie has. You can almost imagine someone jumping up and down shouting, "Hey! This is PARIS!"
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