Review of Renaissance (2006) by Hugues G — 26 Sep 2007

Directed by: Christian Volckman.

Starring: Daniel Craig, Patrick Floersheim, Catherine McCormack.

People who compare this to Sin City have no idea what-so-ever, just because they have a similar idea to make the film visually unique, doesn't mean they are the same. Where Sin City had brilliant, sharp, witty dialogue and intriguing characters and plot, Renaissance is the complete opposite.

The story is set in Paris, 2054, where the city has become a labyrinth, everything is monitored and recorded. When a kidnapping of a young scientist occurs, a policeman investigates and finds more than he bargained for. The highpoint of this film is certainly visually, there are moments where the white is overused and it strains your eyes, but a majority of the film is so incredibly detailed and visually stunning, its certainly a step forward in technology...and the beautiful use of cinematography and lighting is superb, it really adds detail. Director Christian Volckman has his moments, he shows potential with trying new angles and styles and it works some of the time.....but thats where it stops. Not only does he not seem to be having much fun with the film, he never really had a chance with the terribly bland script. The plot attempts to go more indepth and twist a little but the problem here is that you lose your attention earlier in the film, the characters are one-dimension and dull, nothing jumps out at you from the script that can be seen as captivating or interesting, it slowly shits on itself that by the time they want to go somewhere, we just don't care. The voice acting (or the redo, seeing as the film is originally french) is poor for the most part, Daniel Craig does do well with what he has and he comes across as the stronger one but everyone else fails to make there characters shabby dialogue believable.

Another typical example of style over substance, but this time, it can't even keep your attention with its bland script. If you can sit through this (I just managed to), only watch it for the amazingly detailed visuals.