Renaissance
Miramax Films | Release Date: September 22, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The film's look is impressive; it's the most successful rotoscoping effort to date (far surpassing Richard Linklater's duo of "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly"), and causes every frame to drip atmosphere. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
One of the year’s more luscious releases, offering not just the sleekest car chase but the most romantic of rainstorms. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Gorgeous and menacing at the same time. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The result is something both fluid and stark, cinematic and comic book-y, and incredible. Read full review
70
VarietyLisa Nesselson
A melancholy actioner that shines a new light on film noir. A sort of "The Third Man" for the 21st century, chiaroscuro curio's level of graphic invention is exceeded only by its pleasingly mournful approach. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Some kind of wonderment. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Stark eye candy of the first order, the film is saddled with the oldest story this side of "Blade Runner." Still, comic-book fanboys and graphic designers with time to kill should feel no shame in checking this one out. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
A visually wondrous experience in high-contrast black and white, bogged down by a slow, underwrought story and uninvolving characters. It would be easy to dismiss it as another great-looking film with little else to offer, but that wouldn't be entirely true. Read full review
60
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Volckman and Miance are undoubtedly superb draftsmen; what they need is a writer of comparable skill. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Connoisseurs of digital animation, graphic novels, and the history of dystopian art will have plenty to discuss about Christian Volckman's visually striking, technically impressive black-and-white animated feature Renaissance…But no one will be talking about the movie's banal plot, the trite dialogue, or any of the indistinguishable characters who offer a bleak futuristic vision of cinema that's all style, no soul. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterBernard Besserglik
Pitched as "animation for adults," Renaissance will find an audience among those in the 20-35 age group who enjoy graphic novels, but will disappoint anyone hoping for emotional or intellectual sustenance. Read full review
50
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
For a little while, the film is dazzling. Then it's dizzying. Then it's just kind of . . . wearying. That's not because it's in black-and-white; so was "Sin City". There's just something terribly, tragically dull about Renaissance. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Over the course of 105 minutes, the brutal high contrast begins to strain the eyes. Effectively moody as it is, the style makes a convoluted story of corporate greed, high-tech espionage and science run amok even more difficult to follow. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
With its halfhearted script, stiff performances and overlong running time, this is the kind of movie that's simultaneously dazzling to look at, and increasingly tough to sit through. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Although intriguing to look at, Renaissance -- the latest animated film geared to adult audiences -- is undone by a plot that is ridiculously hard to follow and hackneyed. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
A fumbling attempt to create the European equivalent of a Japanese manga thriller in the conspiratorial mold of "Akira" and "Ghost in the Shell" has a stunning look. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The director is Christian Volckman, whose skills as an animator greatly exceed his grasp of an idea worth pursuing. Read full review
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