Renaissance

The look of Renaissance is dramatic.

Herald rating: * * *

The look of Renaissance is dramatic.

The look of Renaissance - a French motion-captured animated sci-fi crime flick with some notable Brits voicing its characters - is startling. Its high-contrast back and white (but mostly black) delivers a kind of anti-animation.

That look can resemble a graphic-novel-with-movement - sometimes quite thrilling movement, like the best Parisian car chase since Ronin. And with his atmospheric depiction, director Volckman does for the French capital of 2054 what Ridley Scott did for Los Angeles in Blade Runner.

All of which is very cool. Even if the female characters look like they've leapt from the very 80s cover of Duran Duran's Rio album.

But Renaissance hasn't got the story-wattage to keep us gazing into its shadows and up its many blind alleys with much interest.

Its tale of a kidnapped brilliant young geneticist, the tough cop on her trail who encounters her protective sister, the mysterious high-tech corporation where she works, her doting mentor, and some business with the premature-ageing disorder progeria soon starts buckling under the weight of its convolutions.

While there's something disarming about the natural body movement of the animated cast, their lack of facial expression means they are soon blending in with their future-noir surroundings rather than engaging as characters.

Graphic novel nerds will find much to love. But too much of Renaissance is stylishly stupefying.

Voices: Daniel Craig, Ian Holm, Catherine McCormack Jonathan Pryce
Director: Christian Volckman
Rating: M (violence, offensive language, sexual references)
Running time: 105 mins
Screening: Rialto
Verdict: Visually impressive but narratively laborious French animated sci-fi action flick served with extra helping of noir