Un monstre à Paris

Having seen the preview and admired the cityscapes, I was disappointed to see that here in Israel the movie was strictly a matinée feature and dubbed into Hebrew. No showings for us folks who work during the day and would prefer subtitled French. I picked up a pirated copy, which turned out to be dubbed into English. I found the opening tribute to early French cinema a little tiresome, but I have no problem being patient while a well-deserved tribute is made. Then as the archetypal Parisian characters were introduced, I found the portraiture amusing. There was a long wait before the title character appeared and before the first song, and I found the first song less interesting than the later ones (although that may be intentional). The dance movements were nicely animated although a little sexy for a children's movie; overall I think the movie seems to have been conceived under the philosophy of "something for everyone" rather than "everything for kids." After a while, the stereotyped characterizations wore thin and there seemed to be less compensation for those of us missing 3D. I actually fell asleep during the big chase sequence near the end, which I suppose was some kind of a roller-coaster ride for the 3D audience. By the time it was over, the movie had evidently achieved everything it wanted although not always a lot of it at the same time.

This is not quite Pixar, but not quite awful either. It goes for a polished look similar to what we've seen in mainstream American animation, with the soft-lit cartoonish CG similar to that of Dreamworks and Pixar, and comes very close to matching their visual flair despite a more modest budget. It's pretty clear that they're hoping for commercial appeal rather than art-house obscurity here, but the film wants to have it both ways, mixing clichéd humor and characters with artistic flourishes and occasional moments of brilliance. There should be more than enough here to appeal to kids.

It's a pleasant enough experience overall and ultimately it wins you over ... but at the same time in a lot of ways it doesn't quite make it. For starters the whole story concept is painfully contrived. But this much is clear even from the shortest synopsis, so I was prepared going in.

Among the highlights of the film are the many appealing visuals drawn from the period Parisian setting. Another highlight is the rich musical score. These almost make the film a cut above, were it not weighed down by some of the more mundane elements.

On the whole it's flawed, but it does have its moments, and is worth a look.

I was browsing through IMDb when I stumbled upon the reviews of this movie. As a matter of fact, 6 months ago, I saw the Dutch dubbed version with 3 kids (one 6y, 2 10y).

I have to say, everybody enjoyed it. The 6y old even asked me to buy it on DVD. I wonder if the person who gave this a "1" even bothered to look at the movie at all...

Because I like Paris, I enjoyed the little details the French animators put in it. It really captures the Parisian atmosphere. The animation is in the same league as Megamind, Despicable Me etc. It's not as good as the Pixar/Dreamworks movies, but it was still very well done.

Some jokes worked, others didn't, but all in all I found it well worth the money.

I will admit at first when I first saw the trailer I wasn't entirely drawn in. But since being a fan of animation and learning from films like Lilo and Stitch, Galaxy Quest, Tangled and Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame(all examples of movies that had trailers that either didn't appeal or were misleading, but the actual film I enjoyed or was blown away by) that you shouldn't judge a movie by their trailer. I really liked A Monster in Paris, the beginning may take a little too much time to get going and like the concept there are one or two bits that seem a teensy- bit contrived. However, the way the film is written, ensures that it is all very light-hearted, with a sense of fun, a lot of charm and a big heart at its centre. The characters are still engaging, who doesn't love Franceur, and the voice acting is very dynamic. The humour is nothing absolutely extraordinary, but I was still amused by it. What I did like too were the references to early horror movies, looking at the Monster's disguise you immediately think of the Invisible Man, there are some exciting chase scenes and there is nothing overly-sentimental. There were three things though that stood out. One was the atmosphere, A Monster in Paris has such a lovely and nostalgic feel to it, seeing as that is exactly the feeling I got when I went to Paris I felt the film evoked this very well. It is a very rich film musically, with songs that completely bewitch you with their simplicity and beauty and a score that is enchanting in melody and like the atmosphere gives a sense of nostalgia. And the animation is stunning, the characters are all well-modelled and there is a clean and bright colour palette but the stars were the city landmarks, which I loved spotting, and the period setting. Overall, a very good film, not completely perfect, but better than the rating it's got at the moment and one of the more pleasant animated films of the year. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A very enjoyable kids' movie which pays homage to other 'monster'-classics like Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera and King Kong. A feast for the eyes and a classic story with a twist in which losers become heroes, heroes become villains and a monster turns out quite different to what we expect. Well not really, because all monsters are misunderstood gentle souls and greedy ambitious people always turn out to be the real monsters. The story is accompanied by beautiful songs. I regret to have seen the English version because I just know the original French chansons must be even better. My 4 year old daughter, 11 year old son and I loved it and my wife quite enjoyed as well. Certainly not a waste of money like some of the other reviewers said.