D-C-S-Turner

This is a major cultural achievement. It might use a lot of familiar techniques - teenage character self narration, the black humour of social awkwardness, Tarantino like comedic violence, flashbacks - but because it is true to the story's cartoon roots it gets on with things and bowls along at a tremendous pace, yet without skating over episodes where genuine emotional depth needs to be conveyed. The two main actors are outstanding but the test of a series like this is the minor characters with only a few lines. In this respect it is peerless. The use of music is also touched with genius. Hard to imagine what can beat this.

This started off like Institute Benjamenta but ended like an episode of Charmed. The enormous amount of effort to construct spectacular tableaux was not matched by similar efforts to choreograph the movement of the actors, who are often dwarfed by the background or shot boringly. There is more of a story in the second half but once that gets going the film becomes more and more conventional and cliched with rather dull dialogue. The whole thing remained on the screen, it never jumped out and grabbed me.

Now I have to write more words, though I have nothing more to say, but that maybe is a good metaphor for this film.