Review of The Secret of Kells (2009) by Alejandro José V — 12 Aug 2011
This movie was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2010 Oscars but lost to Disney-Pixar's Up (c'mon, it wasn't that great a movie!) If I had to decide, I would've picked Fantastic Mr.
Fox. But if not that, it would've been this flick. This Irish-Belgian-French animated film is a fictionalized account of the making of the Book of Kells, an ancient and fancy-looking New Testament copy.
It follows the story of a young boy in an Irish abbey, Brendan, whose life changes when a famous monk writer enters the town and Vikings rampage across Northern Europe. He leaves the confines of the abbey's walls for the first time and a friend in the surrounding forest, a fairy named Aisling, shows him the wonders of a wider world.
The story is also about freeing your imagination, provided by the writer and his fatherly relationship with the boy. The animation, based on Irish art, is very different from what I'm used to seeing, but it actually looks really good.
The characters are great, the plot is good, the themes and morals are excellent, and the ending almost made me shed a tear. I really, really liked this movie. It's only an hour and fifteen minutes, and it's available for instant streaming on Netfilx.
Go check it out! 5/5 (great AND has movie magic).
This review of The Secret of Kells (2009) was written by Alejandro José V on 12 Aug 2011.
The Secret of Kells has generally received very positive reviews.
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