7 out of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting animation, but a slightly lacklustre story
A Customer from Uxbridge,
10th November, 2008
I rented this because it is Directed by Ocelot - the man behind the excellent 'Kirikou' which my children and I love. The film evokes the same sense of wonder and is very sympathetic to other cultures; this is the main reason to watch these films over a US-made animation. US animations assume the you, the viewer, have an American POV and revel in the ignorance that brings. 'Azur and Asmar' and 'Kirikou' don't make this assumption, but they do open the world of the middle East and Africa to the viewer. Both films use an interesting style of animation which is a nice break from the over-used CGI you now see - only Pixar manage to give CGI character. The landscapes and colours are really quite stunning, especially some set-pieces such as interiors. The movie gives children access to the beauty of other cultures in a hope to fend off ignorance and prejudice. To that end, it gives you something meaningful to talk to your children about after watching. My criticism of the film is that the story is a little weak, especially compared to Kirikou. However, those reviewers who call this film 'crap' should have stuck with it because it's a lot better than most wham-bam no-substance films that come out of Hollywood. every month.
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