Kaena: The Prophecy

[MechDeus]

Haven't heard or seen anything about this until today, and while the synopsis sounds incredibly typical I'm always interested in seeing beautifully made full-CG movies and judging from the screenshots this should be one. A couple reviews found around the net seem to support that theory to a T, and it's nice to see the often great fantastical designs of the French in another medium that supports them well (the last live-action movie I can remember that did it great was City of the Lost Children). Maybe one day we'll get some good writers to go along with the CG style.

Official Home Page. September 7th DVD US release.

[Despair]

Hmm, Havent heard about this before today, and I am usually trying to be up to date on cool stuff coming from overseas.

Definately looks interesting, and I will try to get my hands on this either when it gets released here, or from the net before that time

[MechDeus]

Pretty much what I expected, extremely pretty movie with standardized plot and dialogue. The characters and story come off as very Disneyesque, although the pacing seemed a bit scattered and scene cuts felt off, sometimes cutting earlier then they should've and leaving me a bit out of sorts. Kind of a shame everything was so basic, but hopefully after the "safe" ventures of this and Spirits Within some companies will start branching out a bit.

It definately has an interesting design standpoint of huge, twisted masses of rocks and trees intertwining and spiralling amongst each other making up most of the seen landscape. They chose to use a more stylized look for the characters which helps considering the people aren't on the technical level of the Spirits Within, and the various other creatures that are abound (especially the enourmous ogre) are all really cool looking. Kaena's outfits are all pretty funny, ranging from a bikini (the bottom of which doesn't even fully cover her ass) with stylized chaps, to a clingy, shiny wetsuit-like ensemble, to a suit of armor specially designed to show off her belly and the bottom of her breasts. Maybe if she wasn't the only character in the movie to have any sort of sex appeal this would've flowed better, and having an Itagaki-influenced battle in which she fights greased up in sap certainly doesn't help sway the obvious intent of the director.

I enjoyed it though I wouldn't go around recommending it to just anyone and it's definately style over substance. If you're looking for a great story and characters search elsewhere, but if you're in the mood for a decent adventure tale you could certainly do worse.