Phantom Boy

In respect to the country of origin -- and this review was not planned in advance -- I want to talk about the existential nature of animated movies.

In the modern age, clear trends are in place. In Japan, which has become the home base for an entire universe of animation (known as anime) we have a wide variety of animation styles all of which have one thing in common -- depth. Japanese anime is the closest thing I have found to a true alternate universe. Ten minutes in a good Japanese anime, you begin to see the characters as almost real and their reality becomes your reality. Japanese anime is an extraordinary experience.

Western animation (leaving aside the superhero films, which are unique in their own way and follow their own rules) is best exemplified by the work of the Disney studio, Pixar and the occasionally brilliant independent project such as for example the mind-boggling LITTLE PRINCE 2015.

What western animation offers, beyond a great story, is a zeal to express the characters to a degree not possible in live action. It is as if, in western animation, characters are "injected" with more personality than could be possible in real life. The number of major awards currently going to "voice actors" in the west reflects this trend.

Which brings to Phantom Boy.

The story is odd. It is essentially a paranormal tale based on the notion of Astral Travel. (You can get a crash course in this by watching the new Dr. Strange).

The paranormal tale is mixed with a typical crime story -- cops and robbers being much more popular in France than in other cultures -- and the whole thing is served up to the viewer in a very unique and stilted animation style.

And now we get to the crux of the review.

Watching Phantom Boy, I could not help but notice that (with the sole exception of the character of the baby sister) not one character in the film had the "oversized" personality we have come to associate with animation. In fact, most of the characters had either "toned down" personalities (the cop and the boy) or, worse, "unpleasant" personalities, ie, characters who were not much fun to watch or listen to (the arch-villain and even his dog).

(And yes, I speak French, so I did not miss any nuance in the dialog).

Which raises the question, if you are going to negate the very quality that makes animation fun in the first place, why use it at all? My review -- and fans of the producers will not agree I know -- is that this film is more irritating than entertaining because of the fact that most of the characters (except the little sister) are either dull as toast or deliberately written as annoying. The story would have been more interesting as live action, all things considered.

The ending is sweet and that is the nicest thing I can say about the film.

Not recommended.

While "Phantom Boy" lacks a bit when it comes to the quality of the animation (it doesn't come close to the quality of most full-length cartoons today), it is well worth seeing for two main reasons--it's originality and it's a cartoon that will appeal to older kids as well as adults. As for the youngest kids in the audience, this one might be a bit too adult for them...take them to see a Disney flick instead.

Leo is a very sick boy and spends most of the movie in the hospital. You assume he's suffering from cancer and is getting treatment...though they never say exactly what is possibly going to kill him. During the course of the treatment, however, Leo has somehow developed a weird capacity to leave his body...much like astral projection. When a cop is severely injured on the job, Leo discovers that the cop somehow can remember and deal with Leo and his special gift...and with it they work to stop a maniac from proclaiming himself the King of New York City!

The plot simply would be too complicated for little kids and there are baddies who are trying to kill Leo and others....so just keep them home. But the film is very well made and fascinating throughout...and it's now available from Netflix on DVD.

Our young family watched Phantom Boy today at the London Film Festival and really enjoyed the experience. The film has been dubbed into English and the dialogue runs smoothly - doing most of the story-telling in a nuanced, personable and fluid way.

It unfolds as a, perhaps slightly old fashioned, detective story. Leo's ability to travel out of his body is a very useful device to access remote places and to eavesdrop on others actions to help the story along. This also acts an intermediary or buffer to the film's action, helping to flag up wrong-doing, violence and other risks in a mediated manner, which works well for young viewers.

There are hints of the seriousness of Leo's Illness via the private worries of his parents, some physical violence and threatening use of guns but the emotional challenge is not overwhelming and the narrative pace carries you through.

Both our kids said they would want to see the film again and it will probably become a DVD favourite at home, for some time to come. The animated style is more hand-drawn in appearance and not as glossy or heavily automated as major studio animated films can be. This give a certain lightness of touch and warmth to what would otherwise be rather gritty, noir-ish city backdrops.

My only criticism would be the speed with which the story was established and characters introduced. A few minutes more focusing on Leo's arrival at hospital and the discovery and use of his special powers would have pleased me.

From the directors of 'A Cat in Paris', but this film set in New York City that narrates the story of a boy with an extraordinary power. If you had liked that film, you probably would like it as well, but a little lesser. Except this is not about the art of theft, but a cop trying to catch a most dangerous criminal. It is so weird to see the New York turned into kind of a province of France as everybody in this speak French, but expected it as it's a French film.

A very interesting storyline. The characters were well designed and developed. But most of the film was focused on the boy, the cop and the main villain with a dog's perspective. There's a little part of a reporter as well. So I think it should have been called 'A Dog in New York', but the dog is on the wrong side where the most of the story was narrated from. The theme was not fresh, but the way they used to tell the tale makes all the difference. I mean you can compare it to 'If I Stay' kind of plenty of other films. Except it turned into a crime-thriller.

A young boy named Leo, who is hospitalised for the serious illness, has a special power to leave his body and take an invisible form, and come back again safely within some time frame. On the other side an honest cop trying to hunt down a criminal who is threatening the peace of the city gets a backlash after met with an accident. Now the cop and the boy join the hands to thwart the villain's latest attempt to bring disruption. The mission was not planned well, so how they fight the crime and its result brings to an end to the film.

"I'm not hungry. It's a shame because my dad's pasta is the best in the world."

This is a PG film, that means it's aimed for all the ages. But particularly for the grown ups, there's nothing much to enjoy other than cool presentation. That does not mean for all the grown ups. The sketches and the animation technics were same as the previous film. They tried to reach bigger audience worldwide from the success of their previous film, but seems not achieved that goal. As the film had many great features like the characters and the story, they have fallen short to surpass as an overall film. Even anytime I would pick 'A Cat in Paris' over this, but that does not make this one's a bad film.

It kind of looks like the supernatural version of 'Eye in the Sky'. I'm not talking about the actual film, but the concept of drones to watch over the criminal activity. In here the boy acts as the main communication device. He who one day wants to be a cop, helps to solve the crime. I think the end should have been a little better. Especially from the boy's perspective about how his tale ends were very intentional. Perhaps a bit of emotions at the end would have given a better result.

I advertise the 2D animations too much on my blog whenever I review them, because they are rapidly fading away art. So my big thanks to those production houses and the filmmakers who still believe in it. If you are an animation film fan, you will enjoy it, no matter you loved it or not at the end. In a simple way to say, it is a fine film for the families with kids aged ten or under. It might look like a typical detective film, but entertaining with a few good moments. So check it out if you get a chance to access it.

7/10

Love art style, music and concept. Beautiful and interesting animation for kids and grownups.