Phantom Boy

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.

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.

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

The animation in this movie is pretty good, along with the final scene, but this movie is too simplistic and boring to really work. With a better script, this movie could've been way better.

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.