Zombillénium

A nice animation about a special theme. Its basic virtue - in strange way it is a film for entire family. Because, from the punishment of a cynical businessman to fatherhood, vampires versus zombies, profit and love story, a Dickens-like teacher and an adorable little girl, rock music and seductive witch with a not ordinary father, the mix of cliches, humor and good animation is real nice. So, Zombillenium.

Zombillenium is a struggling theme park where the staff are actual monsters, vampires, werewolves and zombies. Destined to entertain customers forever.

Hector, a human being arrives to check out the park and ends up dead. He leaves behind his daughter Lucie orphaned and she is in the hands of a cruel teacher.

No one is sure what kind of monster he has become. He is distraught that he found little time for Lucie when he was alive and now he is dead.

Gretchen a young goth witch on an internship is charged to look after Hector. However Hector soon upsets the elitist vampires who treats others, especially the zombies abysmally.

The film has a socialist undercurrent about worker's rights. It also makes for an easygoing children's cartoon.

It starts off well but never manages to soar. Despite its original premise, this French cartoon borrows from other horror films and cultural icons. There is a Michael Jackson impersonator and when Hector transforms at the end, he looks like Hellboy.

I wanted to see this movie because I love the graphic novels of Arthur de Pins. I must say I wasn't disappointed by the graphical style, very distinctive and peculiar.

But the story is abysmal, it is just your average cliché-ridden kid picture. There is some tongue-in-cheek humor, but nothing special. And the character development is cringeworthy. Gretchen could be quite interesting but seems barely there, the teacher is unbearable...

The dialogs are not so bad, but not brillant either. Gags are OK.

I guess kids may like this movie, as the generic main story will not bother them, but the nice visuals and the OK dialogs and gags will make it an enjoyable moment.

Zombillenium is a European animated movie based on a series of graphic novels. Being unfamiliar with the comics, I can't compare them. In the movie, a health inspector dies while inspecting the titular amusement park, at the hands of the park manager. He is then turned into a zombie, joining the cast or monster employees at the park: vampires, zombies, werewolves, etc.

He leaves behind a daughter who is convinced he's not truly dead. Why? I'm not sure. A kid's imagination? It wasn't made clear. This daughter is set to reunite with the dad. At the same time a worker's revolt is happening at the park, as well as rebranding efforts, as they are struggling to draw customers.

This all feels like it really goes nowhere, and does nothing to draw in the viewer. As an adult it was dull, and the kids didn't seem interested in the movie either. The dialogue isn't humourous, nor is it realistic and dramatic. It's just kind of there. The acting is similarly subpar. Not terrible, but not quite hitting ok standards.

The one positive to be said is the animation style. While not the same as Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse it instantly stands out as something different, though even that wears off.

At only 80 minutes, it is mercifully short, but feels like it's 2+ hours.

Government inspector Hector has brought his daughter Lucie to check on monster theme park Zombillenium before its opening. He finds a lower level and uncovers a vast underground for illegal monster workers. The vampire owner kills him and turns him into a zombie. Hector has to escape with help from other underground monsters in order to see his orphaned daughter again.

The animation is a little old with obsolete CGI. The premise of the monster theme park is interesting. The story is a little clunky especially the girl. The division among the monsters is an interesting idea but it needs more clarity. This has a cool outline for a fun animated movie. The execution is a bit muddled.