Azur & Asmar – The Princes’ Quest (2006/Genius DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Animated Feature: C-
Some
animation seems like cheating. Some
complained about the animated comic of Watchmen
was just stills with some added motion, but the odd thing about Michel Ocelot’s
Azur & Asmar – The Princes’ Quest
(2006) is how much less motion it has despite being in the digital realm and
any attempt to be book-like seems to backfire.
The tale of the title characters growing up like brothers, separated by
one angry parent and reuniting to find their childhood quest bore out.
We have
seen this all before and though this is a sincere attempt to tell the story, it
seems stillborn throughout, is flat, has some good voicing, but was an overall
disappointment. I like the idea of
trying to make this like a storybook, but it never takes off and anyone
watching will need great patience to get through it.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is very soft and has motion blur, plus
other detail issues that it should not have for such a simple production,
making it harder to watch than it should be.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is on the weak side and never
totally comes to life. Extras include
previews for other Genius releases.
- Nicholas Sheffo
