Okay I will be blunt in this review. Like many Americans who saw the trailer for this film I judged it too quickly solely by its appearance in animation. Living in America I'm engulfed mainly by CGI animation. Any time I want to see an animated film it's nothing but CGI. I'm not saying that I don't like CGI, I just hate knowing that everyone's jumping the band wagon. The only time I see non-CGI animation is when I usually watch a foreign animated film. I don't know what's with foreign countries in making CGI animated films. They usually turn out creepy, abysmal, or just plain weird. Granted making CGI is costly, but like every animated film ever, it's the amount of effort you put into that counts. Usually if a 100% percent effort of work is put into animated film, then the film's budget won't be too expensive. Enough talk, here's my review.
The animation- Like i said before, I live in America and if there is one flaw to our CGI animated films is that they usually cost more than they should. While most of what we make in CGI is beautiful and amazing in both an artistic point and a technical one, certain films shouldn't cost so much. Some examples are The Nut job, Chicken Little, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and many others. This film had a budget $7 million.I was shocked to learn that such good animation came from $7 million! The animation isn't perfect 10 praise worthy, but pretty it's impressive on an economic stand point. The character designs aren't equal enough, and there many moments of slowed down scenes that aren't required, or help the animation look better. However it's the art direction that made me fall in love with it. It's a mixture of fairy tale drawn designs, and a certain amount of CGI texture that makes the characters look painted. Unfortunately not all of the characters could receive the same amount of treatment. Some of them look like the laziest things in all of animation, but at least they kept the backgrounds equally impressive. I should note that the cinematography in this film is masterful! Up there with some of the best from studio Ghibli and Disney's Tangled. I'll be brutally here if this was done in 2D animation then this film would have looked beyond gorgeous! But for a CGI animated foreign film it's really impressive! Score 7.9/10
The story- The story is based off the fairy tale with the same name. The film does justice to the source material, and adds parts of its own that make it even better. The origin story for the films villain the ice queen is something I didn't expect and is a welcomed addition. Gerda and Kai being siblings instead of friends helps the story because people won't think that they're in love with each other like most animated fairy tales films do. But even with all of these improvements the film fails hardcore in storytelling because of the god awful pacing! No joke, no exaggeration this film has some of the worst pacing in all of animation. The film barely ever likes to take brakes. Every story element in the film is rushed, never allowing the audience to take in what happened. This especially apparent in the films jokes. The movies jokes are pretty good if you can catch them in time. The characters are never allowed to show why we should root for them, or be interested to watch them on the screen, all except for a troll named Orm. He's the only character the movie allows to show development. It made wonder why he isn't the protagonist. I can't even get into the interesting mythology that the movie has created, it doesn't give me the time I need. Score 2/10
Verdict- Honestly if it wasn't for the good looking visuals I would have quit watching the film 22 minutes in. This film could have been perfect 10 material, but it ended up being mediocre. Score 5.5/10 Now I don't regret watching this film, in fact it has altered my perception on CGI animation forever. It showed me the quality still reigns over quantity, even in an era in America where CGI has taken over animation. I actually recommend you watch this film if your an American. Normally I never would tell people to watch a film that I gave a score below a 6, but if you truly want to understand what I'm talking about take the dare and watch the film for yourself.
The animation- Like i said before, I live in America and if there is one flaw to our CGI animated films is that they usually cost more than they should. While most of what we make in CGI is beautiful and amazing in both an artistic point and a technical one, certain films shouldn't cost so much. Some examples are The Nut job, Chicken Little, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and many others. This film had a budget $7 million.I was shocked to learn that such good animation came from $7 million! The animation isn't perfect 10 praise worthy, but pretty it's impressive on an economic stand point. The character designs aren't equal enough, and there many moments of slowed down scenes that aren't required, or help the animation look better. However it's the art direction that made me fall in love with it. It's a mixture of fairy tale drawn designs, and a certain amount of CGI texture that makes the characters look painted. Unfortunately not all of the characters could receive the same amount of treatment. Some of them look like the laziest things in all of animation, but at least they kept the backgrounds equally impressive. I should note that the cinematography in this film is masterful! Up there with some of the best from studio Ghibli and Disney's Tangled. I'll be brutally here if this was done in 2D animation then this film would have looked beyond gorgeous! But for a CGI animated foreign film it's really impressive! Score 7.9/10
The story- The story is based off the fairy tale with the same name. The film does justice to the source material, and adds parts of its own that make it even better. The origin story for the films villain the ice queen is something I didn't expect and is a welcomed addition. Gerda and Kai being siblings instead of friends helps the story because people won't think that they're in love with each other like most animated fairy tales films do. But even with all of these improvements the film fails hardcore in storytelling because of the god awful pacing! No joke, no exaggeration this film has some of the worst pacing in all of animation. The film barely ever likes to take brakes. Every story element in the film is rushed, never allowing the audience to take in what happened. This especially apparent in the films jokes. The movies jokes are pretty good if you can catch them in time. The characters are never allowed to show why we should root for them, or be interested to watch them on the screen, all except for a troll named Orm. He's the only character the movie allows to show development. It made wonder why he isn't the protagonist. I can't even get into the interesting mythology that the movie has created, it doesn't give me the time I need. Score 2/10
Verdict- Honestly if it wasn't for the good looking visuals I would have quit watching the film 22 minutes in. This film could have been perfect 10 material, but it ended up being mediocre. Score 5.5/10 Now I don't regret watching this film, in fact it has altered my perception on CGI animation forever. It showed me the quality still reigns over quantity, even in an era in America where CGI has taken over animation. I actually recommend you watch this film if your an American. Normally I never would tell people to watch a film that I gave a score below a 6, but if you truly want to understand what I'm talking about take the dare and watch the film for yourself.