I, like many, often find that the most simplistic of stories are the most effective. The recent Disney and Pixar movie 'The Incredibles' is an excellent example of the point I am trying to make. You don't need a complex plot with sub-stories and deep underlying twists; you don't need a huge character cast and you certainly don't need eyeball melting visual candy (well, ok - The Incredibles fails on this criteria). What I'm trying to say is that 'back to basics' is often better than loosing yourself in a mist of unnecessary complications.
When 'The Toy Maker' was released in mid-2001, it quickly became one of my favorite 3dmm movies. I must have watched it in the region of 20 times now, and when I revisited it the other day it still worked it's magic. I'm not usually a fan of this sort of movie but for some inexplicable reason this one presses all the right buttons. All the cogs are in the right places; it's winning combination of cast, story and sound just make it flow.
The animation and scenery isn't bad - a little bland in places, but there are some nice early shadow effects emerging.
I'm not saying that everyone will love this movie, because I'm sure there are people who wont - this is an opinion after all. I just hope everyone will be able to appreciate the movie for what it is - simplistic yet brilliant. |