Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher

Done in the style of a 1940's serial this all too brief film has Rex Steele going to the jungles of South America to smash Nazis. Hurray for our side!

This movie is a blast and a half.Its a perfect evocation of the old movie serials ( and trust me I've seen three quarters of them). This movie starts and goes like a bandit with some of the best animation to come off of an American animators drawing board in years. If nothing else you will be amazed at the flying scenes.

The only flaw is that the film, like the serials it apes, ends on a cliffhanger with you wanting to see more. I was so desperate for more Rex Steele I had to watch the DVD a couple more times in a row.

Where is the rest of this? I would gladly pay to see the remaining 14 chapters of Steele's adventures. The guys involved are some how connected to Pixar who could easily continue their string of hits by putting a Rex Steele feature into the cue.

See this film. You will love it.

10 out of 10, and a grin from ear to ear.

Based on the independent comic book of the same name, Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher is a fun, highly entertaining animated short film by a group of students from New York University. It is a loving homage to those old pulp serials (like Doc Savage) from the 1930s and a playful satire of propaganda news reels from World War II.

One look at this short film and you would be hard pressed to tell that it was produced by students on a small budget. It has very professional looking production values on par with anything you'd see from the studios. One of the things that stands out is the great attention to detail. For example, the opening newsreel, which sets everything up, pays tribute to the same kind of prologue that begins Citizen Kane.

The presence of Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher proves that both computer and hand-drawn animation can co-exist harmoniously. This is an auspicious debut and one hopes that Hollywood will take notice and let these guys expand what they've done into a feature film.