Based on the book by Luc Besson and rumored to be his final directing project this is the story of Arthur who is spurred on by the tales of his missing grandfather to find the land of the Minimoys where a great treasure is hidden. The treasure is needed because a developer wants the land for apartment buildings. Arthur is shrunk and begins a journey to Necropolis where he hopes to find his grandfather and the treasure.
Set seemingly in "America" with lines of dialog that are filled with British English this is a mixed bag of a movie. Most of the live action stuff isn't very good. Its poorly written and not very interesting on the whole, though the stories of the grandfathers inventions and adventures are pretty neat.(I'm sure kids will have a better time with the film since they won't have seen it before). The animated sequences, which make up the bulk of the film, do have some wonderful bits. Some of the dialog is knowingly funny in the right sort of way (I loved the forlorn Arthur bemoaning that the princess was too old for him, he being 10 and she being 1000). Bits such as Snoop Dog at a club are often scatter-shot funny,though I wonder if the Snoop sequence will date badly. The animation is often quite good with some bits being better looking than others(though I suspect that what looks to be the marrying of animated bits to live action plates is what got the film yanked from Oscar contention-not that it ever really had a chance.). I liked the character designs which are very Brian Froudish. I also liked the voice cast which included Robert DeNiro as the old king and David Bowie as a delicious villain.
Yea I know how is it? Its okay, As I said better in pieces. There is a really good story in there somewhere, its just not all on the screen. I think somewhere it got dumbed down or changed around. I blame Besson who must have been counting on the visuals to carry the film. You're not going to love it. I doubt anyone other than a small kid will love it- and odds are when they grow up they won't know why they loved it. Adults (or those passing as adults) will find it an okay time killer- though I do recommend waiting for video where the fast forward will make it easier to zip through the tough spots.
If you're curious worth seeing- though wait for video
