Artivels Undescribable Perfection

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

GazerRise Fantastic!

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

James Barker I gave this film an 8 out of 10. I wanted to give it a 7, and during certain parts of the film, it barely deserves a 3. The good:A lot of the animation in this film is disgusting. It's gross, it makes your skin crawl. It's deprived, and terrifying. This is what would happen if you took a lot of psychedelic mushrooms in Sin City. The style of many parts of this animation comes straight from the words of my fantasy version of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing. And the whole thing is driven entirely by lustful sinful sex with cartoon characters. It's cheap, disgusting, and self centred, and sexy, with just a touch of class and a dash of jazz. The bad:The story is okay. I really didn't care for the second half of the film which focuses on 'doodles' being in our world. It was kinda good, a bit trashy, didn't really work.. But it depends how you view cinema in general, some people wouldn't notice it at all to be a problem, me - I've got high standards. Also I thought that Kim Basinger didn't do the best job playing Holi Would. She's the most promoted name in the film, but I thought her delivery of the role lacked the subtle elegance that cartoon Holi had. It was this very elegance that really made her character - if I had to give her a back story, I'd say she was the unloved daughter of a crime boss who ran away, finding only a home with those truly lost in life, becoming heavily involved in the crime scene herself, though not a criminal. Using her good looks and, what is very, very deep down, an innocent soul to guide her, and keep her with the respect of her peers. This film is great. Pretty awful in some parts, but it's redeeming qualities are out of this world, and have my full respect. All in all, and perhaps most importantly, it's unique. There is no other film I've seen, or could ever imagine, to be quite like this (this includes Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, which is basically this films parallel, but lacks 100% of the darkness, and sheer depravity this film brings formed). Love it or hate it, it's got balls, and at least should have some level of respect shown to it for that.

NateWatchesCoolMovies Cool World is known, by those few who may be aware of its existence, as the 'other' film in which live action characters inhabit the same realm as cartoons. The more famous one of course is Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a glorious gem of a film that gets the acclaim, notoriety and long lasting attention, as it well should. (We won't speak of a third one involving a certain moose and squirrel that really does earn it's bad rap). Cool World is somewhat maligned as the black sheep of the two, and in some people's eyes (Ebert laid a stern smackdown on it) downright hated on. It's no doubt very different from Roger Rabbit, which is admittedly the better film and the easier one to like and relate to. But this one is brilliant in its own right, at least for me. I love the way it uses a sombre tone with its human creations to throw a unique light on them as soon as the Toons show up. It's quaint and wonderfully inaccessible, with some scenes existing purely of a need to showcase a stream of consciousness type style that doesn't so much halt the proceedings, as give them their own surreal flavor. Brad Pitt is Frank Harris, victim of a jarring post war tragedy and thrown headlong into the cartoon world, eventually finding himself a Detective in their realm. Outside in our world, lonely cartoonist Jack Deebs (Gabriel Byrne is a sly choice for the role) falls in love with one of his creations, a blonde bombshell named Holli Would (voiced and later played in the flesh by Kim Basinger). Holli is as devious as she is gorgeous, and works to use Jack's attraction to her as a conduit to escape into our world. Pretty soon a deafening cacophany of cartoon creatures in all shapes, sizes and colours floods out of their dimension and into ours, creating quite the cosmic mess for Pitt to clean up. It's fun without being too zany, the overblown fuss of the Toons contrasted by a glum human world, reeling from the war and unexpecting of such an event to unfold. Granted, the meshing of the two dimensions isn't given the precise, big budget fanfare and cutting edge methods of Roger Rabbit, but the world building and special effects here are still pure enchantment and offer a dazzling level of entertainment. Pitt is stoic with flinty sparks of boyish charm, Byrne hilariously plays it dead straight, and Basinger is dead friggin sexy. She steals the show especially as Holli in human form, having a ball with the bubbly bimbo trying to keep a straight face in the real world. The Toons in general really are a diverse bunch, ranging from animals to inanimate objects to tiny little formless cutesy blobs and everything in between, filling their frames with a chaotic, detailed miasma worthy of Studio Ghibli. Lot of hate floating around for this one. You won't find any from me, I love the film, and accept it for the adult friendly, experimental oddity it is. Great stuff.

MissSimonetta It disheartens me when I meet someone whose only exposure to Ralph Bakshi is his 1992 misfire, Cool World. Maimed by executive meddling, this is one of the few movies that I regret watching. Yes, it is so bad that it made me keenly aware that I had wasted a small portion of my life for nothing.The plot does not exist. The "plot" is more like an outline of unfinished concepts and themes which lead nowhere. The "rules" of Cool World make no sense. Why does a doodle (animated character) having sex with a noid (live action character) lead to the doodle becoming real? Why does a noid getting killed by a doodle turn the noid into a doodle? Why did we introduce the plot MacGuffin during the final third of the movie?The characters are about as defined as stick figures. Holly, the villain of the piece, has vague motivations which constantly shift over the course of the film. That Kim Basinger's performance consists of nothing but blank stares and cheap eroticism does not help any. Gabriel Byrne sleepwalks through his role as the ex-convict artist Holly seduces. The less said about Brad Pitt's goofy 1940s gumshoe, the better.The integration of animation and live action is terrible. The animated characters look flat and never seem to share the same plane as their live action co-stars, and it's especially obvious in scenes where the noids and doodles touch.The only good thing about Cool World is the background art in the cartoon world, which can only be described as surreal urban decay. They're wonderful to look at; more than can be said for the characters that populate them.Do not watch this at all. If you're curious, then watch some clips and read the synopsis online. This is NOT worth a second of your time.

TheLittleSongbird I had heard that this film was messy and awful and everything, but as I am a huge animation fan I was thinking maybe I should give it a chance, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Cool World wasn't absolutely awful, it had its saving graces, but there is a lot wrong as well that makes it a major disappointment. This has been compared to other live-action films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, I'll keep the comparison brief; Cool World isn't as fun, innovative or as original as WFRR, and I will admit I wasn't expecting it to be.PROS: The animation is not bad at all. The backgrounds look like paintings, the characters are drawn reasonably well and the colours are beautiful. The soundtrack is pretty good too, the score is wonderful and the songs are fun and suitably upbeat. I like the character of Holli Would, she is sensual and sexy, yet she is very selfish and cruel, that makes her intriguing. Personally I thought Kim Bassinger did a decent job playing her. Plus the live action sequences were well shot.CONS: Whereas the animation sequences and the live action sequences are fine individually, merged together they don't quite gel, in fact they are quite jarring-the live action considerably duller than the animation and the human characters are incredibly stiff. While I was fine with Kim Bassinger, the other acting is not great at all I feel. Gabriel Byrne is given little to do and struggles, while Brad Pitt(who has actually given some good performances in some good films, ie. Se7en) speaks in a constant monotonic drawl to the point he's boring. The script is very unfocused, derivative and confused, and the story is incomplete and meanders all over the place. Complete with very pedestrian pacing, badly underdeveloped characters and a WTF? ending, and you have a pretty disappointing film overall.All in all, has its moments, but out of the Ralph Bakshi films I've seen, this is my least favourite, a film that had promise but failed to deliver. 4/10 Bethany Cox