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per_soloSo, I still have gift cards left over for Best Buy...
Tomorrow, "Dragonlance: Animated Movie" comes out.
Dragonlance was the second fantasy book I read (after reading Elfstones of Shanhara), and has always had a soft spot for me. Some of the characters plyaed like a movie in my mind...particularly everyone's fave, Raistlin.
So, when I heard at Gencon last year, about this animated movie coming out, it was with a good deal of "OMG, Wow!"
Well, so far, I've read three reviews, who PANNED it completely. When the best comment they have is on the cover art...
And it's not like the standard reviewers who don't "get" sci-fi/fantasy. At least one reviewer I'm quoting has read the books.
"While all this may sound incredibly derivative, fear not. The "Dragonlance" story is filled with very unique twists and events that easily make up for all the borrowing it has to account for. The character of Raistlin alone makes for some of the most incredible adventures in the trilogy.
Sadly the animated feature film that is coming to DVD here is a sore disappointment. I am not sure who was in charge of this production but frankly, this is the most amateurish animated movie imaginable, that screams "We need to save money" in every single cell. Featuring stilted 70s cheap TV cartoon-style animation none of the characters has any personality. They hobble across the boring static backgrounds like foot lame soldiers. They have no expressions in their faces and endlessly repeated walk cycles make sure they all move exactly the same way like robotic automata. The hideous art direction of the film is made even worse by the absolutely ridiculous inclusion of certain computer animated elements. Not only do they break with the poor, flat visual style of the majority of the film, these elements are also so poorly integrated that you can clearly see they are images simply layered on top of existing animated footage. In short, this is an abomination that wouldn't have passed my judgment 10 years ago and it most definitely can't live up to today's animation standards. Any episode of Spongebob Squarepants has more character, atmosphere, style and professionalism."
So, Grrrr. Yes, I know the standard comment is "Buy it, see for yourself", but I'm a slightly (only slightly) more discerning consumer..especially when the trend is to get my fandoms wrong. :-)
So, has anyone seen this? I saw a few small segments strung together for a preview/trailer..but, those are specifically geared to draw interest (Let's face it, Phantom Menace looked like GENIUS thanks to the trailer), so...yeah.
Also released tomorrow, the Family Guy Star Wars spoof/homage. One episode of Family Guy, in its own release. Um, hell no. Especially as it will be released as part of a season, with likely more extras. This screams of "Hey, let's release it, on its own, with packaging similar to Star Wars...That'll sell, then we get extra when they buy the seasonal sets".
I'm too cynical, I know.
So, it looks like I'll be waiting for another week or two...Next week? The Kingdom, series 1 and 2. The series that Stephen King based "Kingdom Hospital" off of (and yeah, it's got its own fun and charm), and after that, Across the Universe, then Hogfather gets released over here.
Still, those reviews on Dragonlance are disappointing.
Tomorrow, "Dragonlance: Animated Movie" comes out.
Dragonlance was the second fantasy book I read (after reading Elfstones of Shanhara), and has always had a soft spot for me. Some of the characters plyaed like a movie in my mind...particularly everyone's fave, Raistlin.
So, when I heard at Gencon last year, about this animated movie coming out, it was with a good deal of "OMG, Wow!"
Well, so far, I've read three reviews, who PANNED it completely. When the best comment they have is on the cover art...
And it's not like the standard reviewers who don't "get" sci-fi/fantasy. At least one reviewer I'm quoting has read the books.
"While all this may sound incredibly derivative, fear not. The "Dragonlance" story is filled with very unique twists and events that easily make up for all the borrowing it has to account for. The character of Raistlin alone makes for some of the most incredible adventures in the trilogy.
Sadly the animated feature film that is coming to DVD here is a sore disappointment. I am not sure who was in charge of this production but frankly, this is the most amateurish animated movie imaginable, that screams "We need to save money" in every single cell. Featuring stilted 70s cheap TV cartoon-style animation none of the characters has any personality. They hobble across the boring static backgrounds like foot lame soldiers. They have no expressions in their faces and endlessly repeated walk cycles make sure they all move exactly the same way like robotic automata. The hideous art direction of the film is made even worse by the absolutely ridiculous inclusion of certain computer animated elements. Not only do they break with the poor, flat visual style of the majority of the film, these elements are also so poorly integrated that you can clearly see they are images simply layered on top of existing animated footage. In short, this is an abomination that wouldn't have passed my judgment 10 years ago and it most definitely can't live up to today's animation standards. Any episode of Spongebob Squarepants has more character, atmosphere, style and professionalism."
So, Grrrr. Yes, I know the standard comment is "Buy it, see for yourself", but I'm a slightly (only slightly) more discerning consumer..especially when the trend is to get my fandoms wrong. :-)
So, has anyone seen this? I saw a few small segments strung together for a preview/trailer..but, those are specifically geared to draw interest (Let's face it, Phantom Menace looked like GENIUS thanks to the trailer), so...yeah.
Also released tomorrow, the Family Guy Star Wars spoof/homage. One episode of Family Guy, in its own release. Um, hell no. Especially as it will be released as part of a season, with likely more extras. This screams of "Hey, let's release it, on its own, with packaging similar to Star Wars...That'll sell, then we get extra when they buy the seasonal sets".
I'm too cynical, I know.
So, it looks like I'll be waiting for another week or two...Next week? The Kingdom, series 1 and 2. The series that Stephen King based "Kingdom Hospital" off of (and yeah, it's got its own fun and charm), and after that, Across the Universe, then Hogfather gets released over here.
Still, those reviews on Dragonlance are disappointing.
