Un mostro a Parigi

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.

OK. First and foremost it's a kids film. On the whole all kids films are reviewed by adults on IMDb and therefore shouldn't be reviewed like Saving Private Ryan or the Green Mile. My 3 and 5 year old enjoyed the film, the characters and the music and came out smiling afterwards. Not as good as other children's films such as The Incredibles or Finding Nemo (larger budget I imagine), but certainly in the ballpark of Despicable Me or Megamind. Either way, lovely animation of Paris, interesting storyline, and for me it gave the adults enough to keep watching, or is that because I had a crush on Vanessa Paradis when I was 14?

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.

Okay, so I wanted to go to the cinema with my little brother, the only problem was that i'd seen most of the films that were on at the time. So we decided to see 'a monster in Paris'. I admit, I didn't expect much from this movie, but I was surprised. Sure, the jokes are not funny and there are some continuity errors, but it was actually a pretty decent movie. It had solid animation, great voice acting and it knocked a couple of hours of my dull day. I found it a little strange how the 'monster' Franceur could sing. This film is certainly better than other foreign animations that made the swap into English, e.g 'Animals united'. You could certainly be dragged to the cinema with a younger family member to much worse films. Plus the singing sections fit in with the movie and were not annoying as hell. In most kid's musical animations the singing is random and the songs are terrible and cheesy. this film has characters that connect with you, even though there's not many. Overall, this film is a great one to watch with the kids, it wouldn't be a bad idea to wait for the DVD though.

The Computer-Generated Imagery is absolutely fabulous: it creates a fantastic and wonderful atmosphere kindly inviting the spectators to immerse themselves in the Paris of 1910, partially submerged by an exceptional flood. There is a lot of poetry and tenderness.

In the original version, the main characters are interpreted by Matthieu Chedid (better known under the pseudonym -M-), François Cluzet, the delicious and well-known Vanessa Paradis. The songs are beautifully interpreted with two versions of 'La Seine'. The first one is without -M-, with slight and voluntary low spirits. The second one, with -M-: this time Vanessa Paradis offers us an interpretation full of vitality and charm!

As a synthesis: a major cartoon for all the family. 6/7 of 10