Metacritic-Rezensionen

A true masterpiece of visual enchantment. One of the most original and unique geniuses in cinema today, Mr. Chomet directed, wrote, illustrated and composed the music for this holiday jewel, an homage to the sweet, sad melancholia of the legendary French comic Jacques Tati.

A breathtakingly beautiful achievement in every way.

Exquisite images, poignant humor, echoes of cinema history and a sense of having watched genuine magic.

The many fans of the uniquely droll 2003 animation Oscar nominee "The Triplets of Belleville" will recognize the inventive hand-drawn sensibilities of French filmmaker Sylvain Chomet in his loving and lovely new feature The Illusionist.

There is something magical about The Illusionist's world, and that's as it should be.

For all lovers of old style animation it should build up the same cultish following as "Triplets."

Chomet builds this beguiling symphony of sadness to a poignant finale that does ample justice to the many layers of Tati's tale, both in text and out.

For its 80 minutes, the movie creates the illusion that not just Tati but his form of cerebral slapstick lives.

If this lovely tribute sends viewers in search of the real thing, that would be a neat trick indeed.

The animation itself is technically gorgeous, a class act all the way. But there's so little to be found in the faces of the characters, or even in the way their limbs move (much of it adopted, cleverly enough, from Tati's own physical style), that it's not clear what we're supposed to feel for them.