Today’s quick review: Renaissance. For his latest assignment, Captain Karas (Daniel Craig) of the Paris police force must solve the kidnapping of Ilona Tasuiev (Romola Garai), an up-and-coming researcher for Avalon, a corporate giant in biotechnology. Karas’ only leads are her sister Bislane (Catherine McCormack), her mentor Dr. Jonas Muller (Ian Holm), and her boss Paul Dellenbach (Jonathan Pryce), one of whom holds the key to her disappearance.
Renaissance is an animated sci-fi crime drama set in a futuristic version of Paris. The movie features a distinctive black-and-white animation style, a noir-style mystery, and a core of sci-fi speculation that subtly sits at the center of the plot. Unfortunately, Renaissance isn’t as visionary as it wants to be—neither its visuals nor its speculation match the best in the genre—but it does have the fundamentals to be a satisfying watch.
Renaissance’s most striking feature is its visual style. The entire movie is done in black-and-white, cel-shaded CGI animation that’s a solid fit for the movie’s shadowy vision of Paris. The environments in particular work well, a mixture of futuristic structures and familiar architecture. But the characters fare worse, with low-detail models that haven’t aged well. The black-and-white style can also make the events of the movie hard to follow.
Underneath its flashy exterior, Renaissance is a bread-and-butter noir mystery with a science fiction twist. Karas must follow the clues and avoid an attempted cover-up to locate Ilona and uncover the truth about her disappearance. The story has a steady progression and juggles its plot threads well, gradually revealing a more complicated situation than a mere kidnapping. None of the twists are groundbreaking, but they are handled with care.
Renaissance will appeal to fans of the plot-focused side of the science fiction genre. Its visuals are hit-or-miss and don’t quite add the character that the movie wants them to, but they are an interesting gambit, and they work well enough for the purposes of the story. The story itself is similar: not outstanding, but robust enough to satisfy most viewers. Renaissance has sound fundamentals but it’s missing the inspiration needed to stand out.
For noirish science fiction with similar sensibilities, try Blade Runner. For a similarly corporate, dystopian depiction of Paris, try Ares. For a more bizarre sci-fi story with a similarly striking visual style, try Immortal. For a brutal, stylized crime drama that puts its black-and-white graphics to better use, try Sin City. For a more action-oriented sci-fi movie with a somewhat similar plot, try I, Robot.
6.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for a double-edged visual style and a solid story.