Today’s quick review: Mosaic. Maggie Nelson (Anna Paquin), a high school drama student, undergoes a remarkable transformation when she is exposed to a mystic artifact her father (Garry Chalk), an Interpol agent, recovered from Manikin (Ron Halder), a shapeshifting criminal. Imbued with chameleon-like abilities, Maggie teams up with Mosaic (Kirby Morrow), a member of an ancient race of chameleon people, to stop Manikin from achieving absolute power.
Mosaic is an animated superhero movie with a story by Stan Lee. Mosaic follows an ordinary teenage girl who suddenly gains the ability to transform into other people, turn invisible, climb walls, and more. The movie blends elements of several different types of superhero origin stories, relying on Maggie’s chameleon-inspired powers to set it apart. However, a jumbled premise and lackluster character work keep it from shining.
Mosaic is complicated in the wrong way. The inciting incident involves a thief, a detective, two mystic artifacts, a possible alien posing as a guard, another shapeshifter, and a young actress who gets dragged into it all by chance. Some exposition later on eventually ties up the loose ends, but the complexity adds nothing to the plot. Mosaic also gets caught between the sci-fi and fantasy traditions of superhero origins, hurting its credibility.
As for its heroine, Mosaic is mediocre at best. Maggie is a wisecracking teenager with a minimum of character development and no emotional depth. Her reaction to the events around her is wry amusement, lowering the stakes and making the story even harder to take seriously. The supporting cast fares no better. Manikin has a thin personality even for a supervillain, and Mosaic himself exists mainly as a source of information for Maggie.
The one real point in the movie’s favor is that it comes up with a few creative uses for Maggie’s powers. The ability to turn into anyone or become invisible gives Maggie a flexible problem-solving toolkit, while her physical powers give the movie some options for its action. Unfortunately, these powers only take Mosaic so far. With limited budget and a plot that’s not conducive to subtlety, Maggie’s full potential goes untapped.
Mosaic goes through the motions of the superhero genre, but it fails to stand out from a crowded field. The story is a jumble of ideas that do not fit together well, the heroine never grows, and the most original aspect of the movie is not used to its fullest. Mosaic is a passable pick for dedicated superhero fans or younger audiences, but it is outclassed by even the lesser offerings from Marvel or DC. Most viewers should skip it.
For a superhero movie that puts its animated medium to more creative use, try Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. For another animated superhero movie in the same series, try The Condor.
[6.0 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942896/). I give it a 5.5 for middling execution of a weak story.