The greatest movie ever!

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Just like everyone else, I consider the animation to be absolutely perfect. The film is so wonderfully French, while the colors and environments makes me think of environments in Pelle Svanslös (a Swedish film which is much better than you might think).The film is also beautiful in the way that it is not aware that it is a movie - the actions takes place and you just happen to look at it. They are not trying to entertain you, they simply live their lives.What prevents the film from perfection is that the lack of speech feels forced (to some extent). It's really wonderful that they speak so little, but in some cases it feels unnatural and strange that no one utters any words. It's like the movie gave itself a rule not to speak, a rule that should rather have been a guideline.

This film was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Feature, losing to Toy Story 3. There will be spoilers ahead:This film uses a script written by Jacques Tati and adapted by Sylvain Chomet. The film displays the strengths/weaknesses of Chomet's other works (Exactly what constitutes a strength or a weakness is variable, depending on the eye of the beholder). The plot is minimal, with just the barest sketch of a story. A stage magician, practicing a craft which is dying out in the late 1950s, finds himself reduced to playing backwater towns and smaller venues, meeting a very naive young girl named Alice in one inn in Scotland. When he leaves, she follows him without his knowledge, popping up on a train, where the magician decides on the spur of the moment to take the girl under his wing.They take a room at a rundown boarding house for lower rung stage acts. The magician sees his opportunities to be a stage act dry up and takes other, less appealing and more degrading work to support them until the girl meets a young man and the two part company and begin separate chapters in their life story. That's the story.Doesn't sound like much, does it? Except that Chomet makes up for the sketchy plot here by his attention to detail in the visual look of the film and the magnificent characterizations of even the most minor characters. The magician's rabbit is enormous and rather ill-tempered, the magician himself (modeled after Tati) is stiff and formal, charming and distant. The girl is industrious and calculating, full of dreams and desires and at the start of her life, filled with hope.Various characters pop up and drop out of the film. The drunken host in a kilt shows up a few times, a popular, noisy and rather silly rock band crosses paths with the magician a couple of times in the film and the down and out stage acts, particularly a trio of acrobats constantly in motion, provide some humor and pathos here and there.The film is visually gorgeous and shows a lot of attention to detail. A train crosses a river on a bridge and you see it's reflection in the water as a waterfowl takes flight. Lights shining through windows cast light and shadow on the interior of rooms and characters. The colors are striking and lush when they should be or dingy and washed out when it's appropriate. It's an animator's film in some ways. It's beautifully executed. The character designs are the type Chomet characteristically uses. Watch through the end of the credits, as there's a nice little scene at the end.This film is available on DVD and Blu Ray and both look very good, with Blu Ray getting a slight edge. This film is most definitely worth seeing. Most Recommended.

A reoccurring theme of my negative reviews is my attack on novelty. Just because a movie has unique, brilliant aspects doesn't make it a great film. It needs to use its assets and ideas to build its plot, world, and characters. It shouldn't go halfway. Yet so many times I've seen films declared as masterpieces when I felt they were hollow. The Illusionist is the best film to display my point. The Illusionist's animation is beautiful, detailed, colorful, and stylized. But when you judge it on writing, The Illusionist is garbage.Yes, The Illusionist lacks dialog, but that doesn't mean elements of plot and character aren't present. These are people, and there is a story to be told. The main character suffers from the problem of the starving artist, following his dream even when the world barely cares. He has an interesting, noble motivation...until he decides to adopt a daughter. I'm sorry, but this character is a complete ditz. She looks like she should be in her tweens or early teens, but has no understanding of the world around her. She believes in the magic of cheap parlor tricks. She seems to have no idea of the illusionist's poverty. Yet he showers her with gifts he could never afford, with no awareness on her part. She's immature, and he only acts as an enabler.The illusionist could have provided her a humble home, with simple pleasures any child can enjoy. He even gets a solid job! After working hours upon hours on odd jobs, he finally finds one where his skills at magic earn him a decent living. Happy ending? Wrong! He finds the job demeaning, and quits! And without enough money to lavish the young girl like she's a princess, he just leaves her with her boyfriend. Hope they don't break up!This is a sacrifice? BS. This is giving up on someone you supposedly love. Its shameless. Its refusing to grow up, and take responsibility for your actions. In real life, he'd be a deadbeat dad. But we are emotional creatures. And with the right visuals, the right music, and the right angle, we can be believe he's some misunderstood genius, who only wants best for his little girl. I could not care, or even respect, these two characters. It doesn't help this film is horribly paced. Its too slow. There's too little plot. There's not enough personality. And I don't hate silent films! Heck, The Triplets of Belleville was fun, and it was by the same directer! It feels like a 2 hour plus sit...and its only 79 minutes long.I love animation. I'm even giving this movie a star for its wonderful beauty. I can't fall for this film's illusion. It sucks.

I really liked "The Triplets of Belleville", so I decided to watch this movie. I have to say though, that even when the animation was captivating (beautiful landscapes, and a lot of details), the plot was not in my opinion. Maybe it is because of the fact that it is a semi-silent movie, and those are not my favorites though. The score though was great, it helps to stay focused in the movie, even in the absence of dialogue.I think my main issue, was the sense of hopelessness after watching the movie. As a reviewer in Amazon wrote, when you finish watching the movie, you just feel like "if you just got punched in the soul".However, I think if the movie can transmit such strong feelings, it definitely is fulfilling the purpose of transmitting a message.Score (7)