Review of Avalon (2001) by Lisa T — 11 Apr 2008

For years we've been seeing animated films trying to come closer and closer to looking like real life. Avalon takes the opposite approach, taking a real film and making much of it look somewhat like an anime.

This Japanese and Polish film is quite interesting conceptually, combining impressive visuals and a stellar score with Arthurian myth and online gaming.

Despite the good points the film gets a bit draggy, and I found some of the direction downright irritating. For example, during the final showdown the camera repeatedly cuts to the opera that is performing the (admittedly great) climatic music in between shots of the showdown. Annoying.

Gamers may get a chuckle out of the characters attempts to gain experience points and the brief shots of their character sheets.