Um Monstro em Paris

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?

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.

I saw this movie yesterday. I was not expecting anything ; my boyfriend and I love cartoons, he chose it, I hat no idea what it was.

The beginning and exposition are a little slow, granted. But it is worth it, it allows you to enter peacefully in the story.

And as it goes on, the story gets more original as we see the monsters are not necessarily who we think.

I did not expect it to be a musical, too, and really, that's not it. But the story revolves around a singer, so she sings (and I stop here so as not to spoil). In french, she is voiced by Vanessa Paradis (yes, Jonnhy Depp's Vanessa) who is a pretty good singer and actress. The songs are pretty good, the other singer (pretty famous in France, too) add some poetry to the thing, but the music is not too much. There is no singing for no reason like in the Disney cartoons.

The rendering of Paris, during the great flood of 1910 (true story) in very well done and the atmosphere is beautiful.

There are a few situation jokes ; you don't explode with laughter but it's funny and you can see that the writers prepared them carefully (the thief joke, for instance). Plus, in the french version, there a plenty of little allusions and puns that are really fun.

All in all, a very enjoyable experience for kids or adults.

Un mostre à Paris, AKA The monster at France (2011) Is an insanely fun adventure for all the family! The introduction was like nothing i had ever seen - So powerful and teary eyed... Sean Lennon really knows how to pull a heart string with his melodies. (His dads jeans really shine through) My jaw dropped when he sang "La Seen" I cant say the kids felt the same xD i was head over heals at the sight of the beast and his beauty, Tres Bien! My critiques lie with the Raoul and Luciles relationship. Are you kidding me Dreamworks? Toxic love is definitely a No Go, No Show. Don't worry, i'm not heartless! The green man and his wife were a lovely couple, they really represented the French Romance the movie was missing! This movie is an overall hit or miss, if you don't get the jokes you've probably never read "Catch-22" Which is definitely the movies main source of inspiration besides "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and the classic sherlocks!

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