Thanks for the memories!

Nice effects though.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

So it's a fairy tale - but not one for (young) children - unless parents want to get into a discussion of what land mines do to people.Heavy duty documentaries make little impact - I think the gentleness and total lack of reality here is an antidote for the dead serious issue at the center. This reminds me a bit of Dr. Strangelove characters: yes, over the top but - so it's not as if the reality isn't perhaps more absurd. Not too heavy handed in my view - the audience doesn't really need to struggle to understand and that's okay.A bit Chaplinesque, as well. And an underdog story - common in the movies, but then all story lines are repeated, with different characters and context, and the question is - is it done well? Since in real life, the underdogs get slammed, it's nice to see them win in an engaging film.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'Micmacs' has definite echoes of his first film 'Delicatessan', a wonderful aesthetic (a strange mixture of world war two and contemporary), a story with an edge of darkness, but also with a quirky heart. It's more whimsical than that earlier movie, but fun in the manner of the best cartoons - indeed, it's rare to see a live action movie more imbued with a cartoon-y aesthetic, and the its visual imagination bursts from every scene.. Perhaps there isn't quite enough at stake you make you care desperately about the plot: it's a tale of bad people (and their downfall), whereas 'Delicatessan' was a (much scarier) story of a whole world gone bad. But it's a fun, sweet film with a definite sense of its own style: there's not too much not to like here.

I can really recommend this movie to all people who like fantastic story lines and ideas like you might know them from Terry Gillams movies. Micmacs has tons of very unusual ideas, surprising actions and quirky fantasies. It also features many strong, funny characters with different habits and styles. And it is a comedy about a very sad topic, which I think is the greatest art about this movie. Moreover it has some nice ideas about presentation, cutting and effects and it comes with a nice, slight score. If you like Terry Gilliams movies, you might also like this movie here. And by the way: It is in the typical style of this director.

This is a quirky French comedy (with subtitles) that, when it came out, attracted a few good reviews. On the strength of these I decided to watch it when it came up on TV recently. I have to say I wasn't totally blown away by it, but there are some nice touches and there are parts I actually found genuinely funny! But more of my thoughts later, here's a brief summary first (summary haters and those that don't wish to know anything about the plot please help the gang sort that junk while I write the next paragraph).When Bazil was young, his father was killed whilst clearing mines in North Africa. Amongst his effects returned to the family was a photo of the mine that killed him, and Bazil never forgot the logo embossed into the mine casing. Now grown up, he has a job at a video store. One evening a shoot-out occurs in the street outside and Bazil is accidentally hit in the head by a stray bullet. The surgeon decides it's too risky to remove the bullet and so Bazil leaves hospital only to find he is evicted from his apartment and his job has been given to someone else. He is given one of the bullet casings from the shootout, it has a different logo to the mine that killed his father but, again, Bazil commits it to memory. He now lives on the streets of Paris making a living busking. He is eventually taken in by a group of misfits who live in a junk yard. They make a living by recycling and selling things other people have thrown out. Lead by Tambouille, they include a contortionist, La Môme Caoutchouc, who Bazil has a bit of a thing for. Going about his job of collecting useful things to mend, Bazil comes across two buildings opposite each other. They bear the logos of the two companies that made the weapons that ruined his life. He decides to get revenge on the leaders of these two companies, Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet and François Marconi. He ropes in his new found friends and this is where all the fun begins… I'll leave it there so as not to enrage the Spoiler Police any more than necessary.This is a very well made film with some really clever and inventive set pieces. It is visually very quirky, but in a nice way, and has a pretty decent soundtrack. Decent performances all round, particularly from; Dany Boon as Bazil, André Dussollier as Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet, Nicolas Marié as François Marconi, Jean-Pierre Marielle as Placard, Yolande Moreau as Tambouille and Julie Ferrier as La Môme Caoutchouc.At the beginning I loved the quirky comedy, almost reminiscent of the great Jacques Tati (but not quite). Unfortunately it couldn't sustain its early promise and ended up falling pretty flat in the middle third. It seemed to pick up a bit towards the end, but by then, I'm afraid, it had lost a lot of its magic (for me). I somehow expected better from the director of the likes of Delicatessen (1991) and Amelie (2001), but sadly it didn't match up to its early promise. It's still quite an enjoyable film with some moments I found really funny and so I'll recommend it for one viewing, at least.My score: 6.2/10