Mosaic

With Stan Lee's name practically being synonymous with half of the major comic book titles, one only has to add his name to the title in order to sell a new product to certain audiences. Myself, I was more interested in one of the members of the voice cast. I could literally listen to Anna Paquin read out both volumes of the Sydney phone book. However, a name in the cast will only take one so far, and there has to be something behind the facade to keep the audience interested. Mosaic is a pilot in every sense of the word, clearly intended as a demo tape for studio executives rather than something to hook the audience with. Given that this pilot is being sold on DVD in Australia before a series is contemplated, I would suspect that Mosaic has ended up where so many pilots end up. Discarded and forgotten about by executives who are overloaded with this kind of material already. Thanks to the wonders of DVD-Video and the collector's market, however, we can enjoy this effort at creating a new franchise, as well as the reasons it did not take off, at our leisure.

The problem that probably killed Mosaic at the marketplace is that it is clearly intended for the Saturday morning cartoon circuit, a market that appears to be very much on its last legs. This sets limits upon the creativity of the screenwriters that do not sit well with the subject material at hand. In the seventy-two minute running time, such subjects as a hidden alien race, an international conspiracy involving the robbery of museums, and a parent unknowingly swearing to wipe out a subrace that apparently includes his own child are all touched upon. But the need to pander to that all-important preteen market severely limits the depths to which these subjects can be explored. The irony here is that in the mere two minutes that Mosaic touches upon the last subject in the list I have just outlined, it does so in a far more intelligent and insightful manner than the entire hundred minutes of the third X-Men film, which fans around the world have disowned in droves. Perhaps a series was not picked up because Fox could not stand to invite the comparison.

As I previously mentioned, Anna Paquin could read the phone book for a couple of hours and have me mesmerised. Her smooth, soft voice could be poured onto pancakes and eaten. It also helps that the character she is voicing, Maggie, is clearly modelled after her. Her character gets the vast majority of the screen time, and it is a credit to her that she sounds so sincere when delivering dialogue that occasionally devolves into the childish. Kirby Morrow and Nicole Oliver deliver most of the rest of the dialogue, and provide an adequate framework for Anna to bounce her lines off. However, for all intents and purposes, this is really Anna's show, and I submit that you have not lived until you hear her voice coming out of the mouth of a blonde cartoon woman. Granted, it is no substitute for seeing Anna in front of the camera, pulling the most wicked face while delivering the sort of lines that just stick in the memory forever. But when you have bought or stolen every DVD you can find in which she appears...

The imagery is also quite a nice throwback to the days when animation was done with cels and ink rather than a computer. Looking somewhat like the Japanese animation that flooded the market in the mid-1980s, Mosaic is very pleasant to look at. All of the usual 1980s cartoon staples are present and accounted for. Invisibility is represented by a white outline of a transparent character while characters punch, kick, and throw each other about for what seems like hours on end with nary a drop of blood spilled. Mosaic is unafraid to let the audience's imagination fill in some of the gaps. Unfortunately, it also relies on the audience's imagination a little too much when it comes to critical questions. The ability of the chameleon race to evade detection by mainstream society for so long is very high among them. Also begging the question is how the chameleon race can live for the centuries they claim in an environment that is ostensibly identical to ours. But the story is fortunately enough to distract viewers from such questions.

The character of Maggie is at once the strength and the weakness of this pilot. Being a Stan Lee character, as much as possible is made of her attempts to understand and come to terms with her newfound powers. It does sound a lot like a stripped-down version of X-Men, but Mosaic is one of the few entrants in the market that actually benefits from this approach. Cast overcrowding in a two-hour feature is a very difficult thing to avoid, but Mosaic gets the balance right by allocating almost all of its seventy-two minutes to a single character. We spend so much time learning of Maggie's world, both inside and out, that at the end when the plot takes on a threatening new direction (presumably for future episodes), it has that much more impact. Unlike the third X-Men film, which left the most rabid fans of its predecessors wanting to erase it from existence, Mosaic leaves the viewer wanting more. About the only problem, as previously hinted, is that it allows too little time to delve deeper into its subject material. A continuation of this particular episode is not just wanted, it is practically necessary.

I gave Mosaic a seven out of ten. I would have liked a deeper, more inventive plot, but what was delivered certainly kept my attention all the way through. It is definitely a keeper.

Oh the irony.

The basic premise of this show is "change and adaptability". Maggie's special powers to change her physical appearance to mimic others along with her natural talents as an actress, all play around this theme of adaptability winning over the obstinate and unwillingness to change. The latter is personified by the ancient Chamelia race who are so grounded in their overconfidence about their own natural superhuman abilities).

It is ironic that in a show revolving around the themes of "change" and adaptability, the creative team shows none of those traits.

Stan Lee manages to bring some very human and very well fleshed out characters, akin to his classic work on Spiderman in the 60s. THe problem is that although the characters were interesting and easy to relate to, Stan Lee's characterization of them are straight out of 1960s comics. Mosaic is littered with some of the most unoriginal concepts that seem plucked from a variety of sources.( THe shape changing powers, girl next door protagonist, ancient race of super-humans, and magical artifacts etc). Yes it would have been a very original concept, had it come out back in the 60s. But For an "original creation" by Stan Lee, it is possibly one of the most unoriginal combination of concepts there is in existence today.

Scott Lobdell, the writer, brings some entertaining dialog and fun, witty lines to this show. However, he too seems to be stuck in "the old days". His script is laden with unnecessary exposition in the dialog and even some campy monologues(like when Maggie talks to herself, out loud, about her new powers)that would not seem out of place in a 1980s children's comic book. I accept that some exposition is required in comics since a writer only has 22 to 30+ pages each month to tell a continuing over-arching story, but this is a single animated movie, not a bunch of 30 page comic issues. Not to mention that most of the dialog comes across as being rather juvenile.

So we have Unoriginal concepts, juvenile story and writing that seem to be stuck in the days of care bears and cotton candy. Take that and top it off with some of the best animation of the early 90s.

But oh wait! It's not the early 90s anymore.

Even the look and feel of this show is dated. The character designs are very simplistic with minimal art detail aside from the inconsistent shadows. This looks like a lost cartoon series pilot movie from the era of Captain Planet that Film Roman dug up, added some digital effects and colors and passed it off as a new product. The animation is only mediocre compared to today's TV series standards which is seriously dismal when compared to other Direct-to-DVD animated features like Ultimate Avengers and Superman:Doomsday.

Mosaic had a great premise but could have been so much more if it had been left in the hands of a better creative team who can adapt to the changing times and deliver a product that people would want to watch. Not one who's members are each stuck in their own dated style of their respective heydays.

"Mosaic" has some good ideas but the story is a mess and any discriminating audience will find it banal. this animated film tells an original story by Stan Lee, a brand new superhero from the man himself! When Maggie Nelson (voiced by Anna Paquin) gains chameleon-like super powers, she decides to investigate a mysterious murder at a New York City museum. While piecing together the clues, she uncovers a plot to take over the world.

The film really feels like a television pilot, with animation that isn't terrible but never really warrants any special mentions, a plot that is predictable and filled with clichés and a lot of confusion on the script level. There is a reveal about a young man named Mosaic (voiced by Kirby Morrow) and his relationship the big bad guy that is totally predictable for Instance. It MIGHT have been a twist back in the 60's, but nowadays its cliché. There are also a lot of unexplainable; I'd even say "bad" decisions from a script level. Although it appears to be clear that "Maggie" inherits her powers from a magical artifact, there are constant hints that her pet chameleon is also involved, despite numerous references to a prophecy explaining exactly what is going on. Characters only show hints of a personality (which once again gives the impression that their traits would have been developed over time) and a lot of stilted dialog that is not only badly written but makes no sense (a scene where healing abilities are described as "shapeshifting" comes to mind).

I am tempted to say that if there had been a sequel, this could have been the start of an interesting female series. The more I think about it though, the more this feels more like a dated concept, or a knockoff of a classic superhero story than anything else. There's no doubt that with time this character could have become a classic, but that's because this story Is written as if there are no other superhero comics in existence. As is, "Mosaic" is only good entertainment for pre-teens. (Dvd, November 22, 2012)

I had the opportunity to sit down to watch the 2007 animated movie "Mosaic" here in 2021. I hadn't even heard about it, nor did I know what it was about. But I saw that Stan Lee was behind it and the fact that I hadn't already seen it, of course made me want to watch it.

And let me just say that "Mosaic" certainly was watchable, but it was hardly an outstanding or memorable animated movie.

The animation style was adequate, for sure, but it just didn't come off as having that special ingredient to it that makes it pop and stand out amongst countless other animated movies of the same type.

The characters in "Mosaic" were interesting enough, and luckily then the main character Maggie was interesting enough to carry the movie.

All in all, this was a fairly bland viewing experience, which results in my mediocre five out of ten star rating.

The story seems good enough. Daughter of an Interpol agent gets tangled up with mysterious ancient relic, which then gives her comic book hero powers. The characters are well developed and likable. The pacing is good and really does feel similar to an episode of 'Mighty Max'.

The writing is clichéd. There aren't any big twists, save for one minor one near the end. The ending is abrupt, and predictable.

Animation is decent enough. A bit like the current warner brothers cartoons, except with a higher budget and more detailed animation.

Its kid friendly with no swearing and only has some violence (neck snap of one security guard).

If you are lacking good Saturday Morning Cartoons and need a fix, this will do. Otherwise skip it.