Without death, life is meaningless.
✯✯ 1/2
The animation style works for most of the film, however. It does a great job at setting the dark, noirish tone that is retained throughout the plot (more on that in a moment). I believe that this film could greatly benefit from a live-action remake, maybe even with Craig reprising his role as the protagonist. The animation style simply got in the way during some key scenes that made me wish some of it was live-action instead of cel-shaded monochrome.
The plot itself begins with a fantastic bang, and then fizzles in the second act. Fortunately, by the time the twists and turns are uncovered in the finale, things pick up significantly. Craig himself does a fantastic job at voice acting, although most of the characters had awkward lip-synch issues (I'm not sure if this is because it was dubbed from a French version or not, but if it is, it's easy to tell, as is the case with most foreign films). There are certain moments when the plot gets so convoluted that you won't be sure exactly what's going on. Sometimes the plot itself is advanced without any real explanation as to what happened, almost as if the director was rushed to finish a particular scene in time. It felt pretty sloppy, and I probably would have ended up absolutely hating this film if the third act hadn't picked itself back up so well.
In 2006, Daniel Craig was beginning to become better known to the general public through his freshman outing as James Bond in Casino Royale. But what many may not know is that he starred in a smaller, much less known film earlier that year, released from France. Co-starring a former Bond villain (Jonathan Pryce), Renaissance is a stylish sci-fi neo-noir thriller that draws viewers in through its unique animation style, which honestly is far more suitable for a video game than a feature-length film. It looked cool a lot of the time, but there were moments here and there where the animation just got in the way, and it was a bit difficult to see exactly what was going on.
One quick thought: Has anyone ever noticed that almost every film set in France has the main characters (who are supposed to be French natives) speak with British accents? It felt a little out of place, although I can't blame the director for letting it be. It would get pretty annoying listening to 100 minutes of thick French accents faked by British actors in the first place, let alone a bunch of native French accents. It goes with the territory, I suppose.
Even though it suffers from a convoluted plot that is nearly impossible to follow (even if you are paying complete attention), Renaissance is a fairly thrilling sci-fi neo noir that makes good use out of all the flair and panache it can get. Craig and Pryce's performances really help the film stay afloat, and make some of the duller scenes a little more bearable. I vaguely recall watching either this entire film or bits and pieces of it a few years ago, although I can't remember watching it coherently. Maybe it's because it isn't really a memorable experience, outside of the unique animation style. The plot was fairly dull overall, and I just didn't see a lot in this film that will stick in my mind over the next few years. I'll probably find this on Netflix again in a few years and think, "Oh I've been wanting to watch this movie forever!" and then get disappointed when I go to log it on Letterboxd and see that I have, in fact, already seen it before. It's just not that great of an overall experience, but a commendable effort nonetheless.
Even though it suffers from a convoluted plot that is nearly impossible to follow (even if you are paying complete attention), Renaissance is a fairly thrilling sci-fi neo noir that makes good use out of all the flair and panache it can get. Craig and Pryce's performances really help the film stay afloat, and make some of the duller scenes a little more bearable. I vaguely recall watching either this entire film or bits and pieces of it a few years ago, although I can't remember watching it coherently. Maybe it's because it isn't really a memorable experience, outside of the unique animation style. The plot was fairly dull overall, and I just didn't see a lot in this film that will stick in my mind over the next few years. I'll probably find this on Netflix again in a few years and think, "Oh I've been wanting to watch this movie forever!" and then get disappointed when I go to log it on Letterboxd and see that I have, in fact, already seen it before. It's just not that great of an overall experience, but a commendable effort nonetheless.