I might have had my expectations too high when I walked into the theater. I hadn't done any reading and was under the impression that Tim Burton had directed it. So when it became obvious 5 minutes into the movie that once again I was going to be subjected to big budget stylistic environments and effects sans any kind of real mental engagement, I was pretty disappointed.
There were so many problems with this movie I don't really know where to begin without rambling. So instead I'll just say that the "good" is all about the visuals. The "bad" is all about my issues with plot and character development, audience education, cheesy dialog and unambiguous morality in circumstances that should force compromise at every turn. Being any more specific would result in a hideously long post, so here are my top 3 gripes:
Ultimately, I could probably sum up the mass of problems with "target audience confusion". On the surface, it seems aimed at a more mature set of folks (13 years +?) with its graphic wartime theme and truly creepy villains. The development of everything else and the simplistic dialog feels targeted at a younger audience. It probably could have worked well as either. Tone it down, keep it short and sweet for the 9 year old set or lengthen it and spend more time on story, characters, etc for the older crowd. It fails in targeting both.
There were so many problems with this movie I don't really know where to begin without rambling. So instead I'll just say that the "good" is all about the visuals. The "bad" is all about my issues with plot and character development, audience education, cheesy dialog and unambiguous morality in circumstances that should force compromise at every turn. Being any more specific would result in a hideously long post, so here are my top 3 gripes:
- The story advances too quickly early on for the sake of setting up the second half of the movie. It left me with an empty feeling akin to throwing away dinner so you can have dessert.
- At the core of our protagonists identities is the idea of a multifaceted human soul (i.e. aspects of our personalities captured in discrete pieces of our immortal selves). Unfortunately, almost no time is devoted to explaining or developing this concept. It's up to the viewer to decide if they care or not and why. Beyond the heavy handed symbolism of the church Stitchpunks vs the university Stitchpunks, there isn't much of a reason you have to. The idea felt like a convenient foil device instead of the meaningful linchpin it could have been.
- The "successful" outcome of the movie is dependent on a wildly lucky string of events. There's no solid story here about bravery in the face of adversity, intelligent heroes, clever plot twists, and a few narrow escapes. Instead you get a chain of formulaic action scenes in which any of a few hundred close calls gone wrong prevents our happy ending. Give me an engaging story, not an account of winning the lottery 5 times in a row. See Secret of Nimh for a reasonably good animated noir counterexample.
Ultimately, I could probably sum up the mass of problems with "target audience confusion". On the surface, it seems aimed at a more mature set of folks (13 years +?) with its graphic wartime theme and truly creepy villains. The development of everything else and the simplistic dialog feels targeted at a younger audience. It probably could have worked well as either. Tone it down, keep it short and sweet for the 9 year old set or lengthen it and spend more time on story, characters, etc for the older crowd. It fails in targeting both.