Delgo

It's sad. There was so much hope in me that the little guy could stare down the Hollywood gods (in this case Pixar and DreamWorks) and come out a winner. I new going in that this film had problems; no advertising, no studio release backing, many production trials, a relatively expensive cast of voice actors for a venture of this type. Still I had hope.

What I was left with was, oh how glad I am that few will see this film and remember that it was Anne Bancroft's last work. Orson Wells didn't fare as well with his, but his last wasn't as bad. This film had a brief glimmer at the beginning then quickly sank into an abyss of unoriginality, cliché, confusion, too much narration rather than exposition, and too many irritations. The movie felt like a little pebble that gets into your shoe and just irritates the crap out of you until you take off your shoe and dump it out. I haven't had this bad of a time at a movie since "Blindness" and in fairness, "Blindness" was more of a masochistic experience to watch than this.

It all started for me Monday when I was off work, bored and had nothing better to do, so I figured I'd give this underdog a shot. The worst I thought could happen would be that I'd be bored and watching a movie instead of just bored and staring at the walls at home. That's your options when all your friends are at work and you can't bare the drivel of daytime TV.

Anyway, I was worse than bored and watching a movie, but I kept in there, hoping for the little guy to give me something to grab a hold of. Unfortunately it never came. I hoped that this movie could have been something triumphant in the face of adversity. Something that overcame the great odds against it and at least made back the money invested in it. I was looking for some unlikely cinematic surprise like "Facing the Giants" or its kin "Fireproof," but to no avail. Ultimately, I lost an hour and a half and $6.50.

I am a huge animation fan, and always have been, and most likely will always be. I always watch any movie to pass my own judgement, and although the trailer was not good at all, that didn't stop me from seeing Delgo online. And overall, while it is not the worst animated film ever or the worst movie ever, I was left unimpressed.

I thought Delgo did have a good concept, to me it sounded as though it was going to be epic and sweeping. Also the backgrounds are quite nice, with beautiful colours.

However, I was not impressed with the character designs which were not only forced and ugly but also bad video-game level. The music is also rather generic with few memorable themes. The dialogue is roundly poor, with the comedy particularly wretched, while the story is predictable, badly paced and very disjointed with some moments of inspiration but other moments of sheer clumsiness and the characters are clichéd, barely likable and I found myself indifferent to every single one of them.

The voice acting on the whole is rather bland, yes even the wonderful Anne Bancroft. Freddie Pinze Jnr especially sounds bored, and Chris Kattan like his character is very obnoxious. So all in all, rather unimpressive and disappointing. 3/10 Bethany Cox

I recall very, very well when this film was released, and its immediate, astonishing failure. I remember just as well all the talk surrounding it, and to read more about the production in hindsight is very revealing. 'Delgo' was incredibly ambitious: an enormous cast of many big-name stars, an ensemble so great that the very list of credits threatened to distract from the content; a more serious, adult-oriented story, developed over a period when its intended medium was still finding its legs; a medium that still now, and even more so in 2008, was seen as belonging squarely in the realm of family-friendly fare - and all this, outside the major studio system of Hollywood that as of yet still held overwhelming sway in the industry. The filmmakers, writers and directors alike, had very lofty goals, matched only by the passion and sincerity with which they pursued the project. With all this in mind: even recognizing the staggeringly poor reception and reputation, how can one not be curious, and want to check out the feature for themselves? The skill and care of all involved is plain as day, and I admire the effort. I can honestly say, too, that I actually do like this. However, I also see why, even setting aside problems of marketing, the title was a memorable misfire.

The animation sits somewhere between the level of 'Toy Story' or 'Shrek,' on par with the best of what digital artists could generally whip up in the 2000s, and still earlier attempts at computer animation - the sort we may have seen in the mid-90s with forward-thinking kids' TV shows. The designs of the world of the movie, and all within it, are mostly fantastic: the wardrobe, weapons and armor, creatures, landscapes and dwellings, and so on. I'm a little bit divided on the appearance of the Lokni and Nohrin, simply on account of the "uncanny valley" effect, but even these two predominant races I appreciate more than not. Some environments and materials are very noticeably rendered with more detail or texture than others, but so it goes. One way or another, no matter how cynical one wishes to be, the animators did good work, certainly including action sequences. In much the same way, I think 'Delgo' is very well made from the standpoint of any technical considerations, or conventional "behind the scenes" work: direction, cinematography, editing, sound design, and so on. I like the sound effects, and the fundamental quality of the audiovisual presentation is swell. Geoff Zanelli's score is pretty fun.

Beyond the bedazzlement that follows from observing the actors assembled for the voice cast, I think each makes fine contributions, with some standing out more than others. Chris Kattan's shrill timbre and wild exclamations as spirited supporting character Filo are surely some of the top highlights of the film; much the same is true of Eric Idle as henchman Spig, though he's less prominent. For the time that she has, Anne Bancroft clearly was living up the opportunity to voice wicked villain Sedessa. All this is well and good - there's much to enjoy in 'Delgo.'

Where the feature is an especially mixed bag is in the writing. Some dialogue is too simple, communicating ideas in the language of a younger audience, while at large it could have just benefited from more development, and maybe another set of eyes (or ears) or two for perspective. Characters are okay I suppose, though nothing remarkable, and no few simply inhabit archetypal roles for an epic saga. The scene writing is perhaps one of the more definitively solid aspects here, filled with variety: lighthearted humor, adventure of lighter or darker tones, action, outright war, and more pointedly dramatic facets, all within a tale of grandiose fantasy. In turn, scenes successfully inculcate feelings of awe, majesty, excitement, and even inspire some small laughter. And that brings us to the narrative. It's not that there's anything specifically wrong with the story. It's compelling, if familiar, and a firm foundation for genre fare. Moreover, it plays with lots of Big Ideas as themes and beats that have served many a similar saga well. War, prejudice (and overcoming it), thirst for blood and power, corruption, ambition, finding courage, manipulation, distrust, histories of disagreement and conflict, making peace with the past and resolving long-standing enmities: all this, and more. It's a lot to weave into a very concise length of film, in addition to character moments, comedy, major action, and sufficient establishment of the realities of a fictional world no one has ever seen before. I think the filmmakers mostly do just fine in bringing it all together. Only - it feels, in this case, as though everything 'Delgo' tries to say, do, and be fits together inelegantly, squeezed into a ninety-minute runtime so as to become overfull. The treatment each notion should get is thereby reduced, subsequently diminishing the impact that it all could ideally have - and, ultimately, viewer engagement. As if to emphasize the point, the ending feels unexpectedly abrupt, and not at all satisfying as a result.

It's very noteworthy that those who wrote and directed this have not apparently made anything else since. I can't help but be sad at that - they poured so much heart and energy into this title, and heartfelt earnestness, and what they got in return was, well, a HUGE loss. What strikes me is that in addition to not very successfully advertising to its audience, the movie wasn't altogether clear on who it wanted its audience to be. It's a kids' movie more than not, but it even with humor peppered throughout it couldn't be called a comedy in the same way that 'Finding Nemo' or most any other animated picture. Its Big Ideas aren't so adult-oriented as to exclude younger viewers, but even with somewhat gawky dialogue I'm unsure if the material is simple enough to hold appeal or interest for children. Add in the difficulties of the storytelling in truly giving form to everything that it desired, and it's not particularly any wonder why 'Delgo' was released to deafening silence. To repeat: I do actually kind of like this. I don't think it's bad; above all, it's nowhere near as bad as its infamy portends. The hard work that went into it is clear, and appreciable. It's just so very unfortunate that the whole couldn't quite find its voice in any capacity, as for such lack all that labor was for nothing. I wish nothing but the best for Marc Adler, Jason Maurer, Scott Biear, Patrick Cowan, Carl Dream, Jennifer Jones, and everyone else who had a hand in the feature's creation. I hope they all have found success and happiness elsewhere. It's regrettable that the the chips fell in such a way that they couldn't find it with 'Delgo.'

Wow. It's like Lord of the Rings never happened at the start of the decade.

Even the opening credits sequence with those bloated flying things just made me cringe.

It appears to have been written and animated by middle-schoolers, and yes they were probably high too. They had to bring in all that big-name talent to do the voices, or the handful of people who did go see this film wouldn't have even gone.

However, I do credit the animators with at least making a handful of nice images in the film. But really, a film like this should be beautiful to look at from start to finish, not just a few brief instants.

There are not-so-subtly racist overtones, and the use of the slur "pansies" renders it even unfit for viewing by children, although infants are probably the only age group likely to be able to enjoy it.

Watching this, I feel insulted as a viewer. It's geared towards infants, as far as I can tell. Of course, so was Toy Story, but the difference is that Toy Story is a masterpiece, and this is ... not.

And the thing was about 30 minutes too long.

If I had been associated with this project, I would have wanted it to disappear quickly and be permanently "lost". I would not be alleging that a more competent team "stole" it. But, these days, it seems the courts are the refuge of the incompetent, when it comes to content creation. Avatar is such a superior work that obviously required far more effort, that there is just no way that the Delgo team could ever hope to claim to have contributed to it. Rather, it seems more likely to me as a viewer that Delgo was ripped off from Avatar, and rushed out the door to beat it to market. An inside job.

I LOVE movies. I LOVE computer animation. I LOVE sci-fi / fantasy. That is why I hated this film. It gives them all a bad name. Hate is a strong word I suppose. More like overwhelmed to suicidal levels with disappointment. The sarcastic term "REALLY?" popped in my mind constantly as scenes artificially set up to predictably (and very poorly) spoof classic moments from various hit movies. At no time did I connect with the characters. When they went to war I just didn't care. In fact, the only thing I found myself hoping for is that someone would kill (slowly and painfully) Delgo's mentally retarded and epileptic sidekick. That would have gotten cheers from the entire audience (which comprised of just me.) As a hobby I have been making a movie for years. writing and editing a script, creating music, and I'll soon start the CGI work on my home PC. I was really worried that my hobby movie would be worthless because the graphics and animation won't be Pixar quality but DELGO has proved to me that graphics don't make a film. The music was also dismal. My first impression of the art was positive. It looked original and unique but soon decided that nothing was particularly attractive to look at and many of the creatures had extra eyes or appendages just because... like a Jr. High school kid on crack spent too many hours in the SPORE creature creator. Overall the biggest downfall was just direction and delivery. Imagine going to see a stand up comedy show where two comedians had to deliver the same material and one is hilarious while the other is awkward, flat and has no sense of dramatic effect and timing. Delgo is the latter. If anyone from Fathom studios reads this and says, "Hey Mr. Negative Insult Guy, think you could do better?" The answer is YES. I really do. and I would jump at the chance to try.