Back to Gaya

Well, today I've finally watched "Back To Gaya" which I was eagerly waiting for. My anticipation was damped because of the bad trailer which had a bad synchronisation and did not help to make one curious about the movie. Fortunately the movie was much better than what I had expected. Actually it is quite good but it has three major timing problems:

1. technically: the animation is not very good (not a single run cycle seems correct in this movie) 2. the pace: the movie seems to last longer than it is because of bad pacing 3. the jokes: first of all there are too few and second they have a bad timing. Either you know the joke seconds before it is spoken or you miss it because you don't have time to laugh about it

On the other hand BTG is technically very well done (except the animation) has tons of places and objects, is beautiful colored and has a nice music. Everyone that likes CG-movies should see it, it's worth the money... all the other should give Brother Bear a chance - since it is much better than most people think =) Well, give it a try - both of them.

Back to Gaya certainly cannot match with Shrek 2 or Monster Inc. but keep in mind that in comparison this film is a rather 'cheap' movie. With the funding they had, the makers certainly did a great job!

The main positive aspect of the movie is that the makers did not apply the usual scheme of black and white. All the characters have certain strengths and weaknesses which add some shades of grey. The hero is bold but incredibly stupid. His companion is more of a shy guy yet he is quite resourceful.

Especially the introduction of the black haired Gayans teaches the kids that prejudices and discrimination because of certain bodily features are wrong and unfair.

BtG offers colourful family entertainment. It's funny, exciting and it even conveys certain moral values to the viewer.

7 out of 10

Back To Gaya, otherwise known as Boo, Zino and The Snurks, is a perfectly respectable effort at producing a computer animated movie outside the confines of Hollywood. I saw this the day after I watched Shark Tale, and found this to have far more sympathetic characters and.. dare I say it.. better animation? There is so much detail on in each scene, like paper blowing down the street or moths buzzing around a lantern, it puts previous effort's static backgrounds to shame. This is even more amazing when you consider this was probably was made on a tenth of the budget as it's aforementioned Dreamworks brother. Sadly, the script lacks humour and memorable lines.. unless you think quotes like "This place is so scary it would give a ghost goose-pimples" are ones for the ages. There is a lot of action, and a few tense moments that will have the sprogs biting their nails, but there were also some parts which went on for too long, and others which could have been cut altogether. This is what separates Pixar from the pretenders.. when they do a motion picture, they make sure the quality of the screenplay is just as good as the technology, something the producers of Back To Gaya seem to have forgot. Still, there is a refreshing lack of sentimentality usually associated with this genre, and Patrick Stewart and Emily Watson do well as the only recognisable voiceovers in the English dub. Overall, this probably not worth paying to watch in the cinema (A sentiment a lot of people agree with me on apparently.. It's flopping in the UK) but it is well worth a rental, particularly if your kids have worn out everything else you have on tape. A sound-as-a-pound 6 outta 10 from me..

The movie does have significant weaknesses, as the other comments point out, but there are a few strengths worthy of note.

I was positively impressed by the global level of detail of scene backgrounds. Where in other CGI movies you get to see, say, a row of buildings with carefully modelled details near the camera, then a lot of empty space behind those, and finally a matte painting of the 'horizon', Back to Gaya shows you whole blocks of buildings, with the next streets showing through the gaps, all in credibly full detail, but without any obvious repetition of similar structures. To me these shots had a sense of realism that I had not seen before in CGI movies.

Along the same vein, when there are open air views, the distant landscape is never a simple background painting, but a detailed model. As far as I can tell, even the clouds in the sky were actual 3D entities instead of the usual flat background painting. This gives the camera a lot more freedom to move large distances and freely look around the scenery. The filmmakers probably overused this freedom somewhat, though, making some scenes hard to follow.

The outstanding level of detail extends to things like vegetation interacting with buildings, like plants growing inbetween and around fenceposts, for example. What I also liked was the general worn and aged look of things, a refreshing change from the polished featureless surfaces that are all too common on CGI movies' background objects.

The character animation in comparison is two classes below that, as the other comments mention. One thing I like about the characters, though, is the courage of the designers to go for the outright bizarre with the 'human' roles. It was interesting to see character design exploring a different direction than the usual either hyperrealistic or more classical comic style.

So, despite its weaknesses, Back to Gaya actually manages to advance the state of the CGI art on a few fronts. I do hope that it will be commercially successful enough that the makers get another chance to apply their talents to a better story.

After reading through a mess of mostly negative reviews, I thought I'd add my two cents. My family and I, LOVE "The Snurks"! We've probably seen it 15 times or more. Who really cares about nitpicking on all the technical junk or whining about unrealistic sociological differences. It's not supposed to be real, it's an animated film!! If you sit through the movie with your kids and watch it for it's entertainment value, you will NOT be disappointed. The Snurks is a fun action packed beautiful film with plenty of humor and suspense. Perhaps the mere fact that this movie is not loaded with the sly adult humor that most films (animated included) sadly think they need to have, is the reason for the negative comments. I don't know. I DO know, however that this movie is worth watching again and again!!