Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Darkdaxter I liked the idea of astral projection and how it fit into this movie, but beyond that this movie is pretty boring. All of the characters are one-dimensional and frustrating in their own respects. The art style, while interesting is one I've never found particularly beautiful. The best character is the villain, but his backstory is never revealed, and he is treated like a joke the entire time. It's actually pretty accurate, considering after his initial appearance, he's little more than a common thug. I feel like the original French voice acting would've been better (maybe enough for an extra star), but I doubt it could save the film. In the end, normal people will probably appreciate the loving family depicted, but for those like me, they will annoy the piss out of you.

A_Different_Drummer In respect to the country of origin -- and this review was not planned in advance -- I want to talk about the existential nature of animated movies.In the modern age, clear trends are in place. In Japan, which has become the home base for an entire universe of animation (known as anime) we have a wide variety of animation styles all of which have one thing in common -- depth. Japanese anime is the closest thing I have found to a true alternate universe. Ten minutes in a good Japanese anime, you begin to see the characters as almost real and their reality becomes your reality. Japanese anime is an extraordinary experience.Western animation (leaving aside the superhero films, which are unique in their own way and follow their own rules) is best exemplified by the work of the Disney studio, Pixar and the occasionally brilliant independent project such as for example the mind-boggling LITTLE PRINCE 2015.What western animation offers, beyond a great story, is a zeal to express the characters to a degree not possible in live action. It is as if, in western animation, characters are "injected" with more personality than could be possible in real life. The number of major awards currently going to "voice actors" in the west reflects this trend.Which brings to Phantom Boy.The story is odd. It is essentially a paranormal tale based on the notion of Astral Travel. (You can get a crash course in this by watching the new Dr. Strange).The paranormal tale is mixed with a typical crime story -- cops and robbers being much more popular in France than in other cultures -- and the whole thing is served up to the viewer in a very unique and stilted animation style.And now we get to the crux of the review.Watching Phantom Boy, I could not help but notice that (with the sole exception of the character of the baby sister) not one character in the film had the "oversized" personality we have come to associate with animation. In fact, most of the characters had either "toned down" personalities (the cop and the boy) or, worse, "unpleasant" personalities, ie, characters who were not much fun to watch or listen to (the arch-villain and even his dog).(And yes, I speak French, so I did not miss any nuance in the dialog).Which raises the question, if you are going to negate the very quality that makes animation fun in the first place, why use it at all? My review -- and fans of the producers will not agree I know -- is that this film is more irritating than entertaining because of the fact that most of the characters (except the little sister) are either dull as toast or deliberately written as annoying. The story would have been more interesting as live action, all things considered.The ending is sweet and that is the nicest thing I can say about the film.Not recommended.

Stuart Whyte Our young family watched Phantom Boy today at the London Film Festival and really enjoyed the experience. The film has been dubbed into English and the dialogue runs smoothly - doing most of the story-telling in a nuanced, personable and fluid way. It unfolds as a, perhaps slightly old fashioned, detective story. Leo's ability to travel out of his body is a very useful device to access remote places and to eavesdrop on others actions to help the story along. This also acts an intermediary or buffer to the film's action, helping to flag up wrong-doing, violence and other risks in a mediated manner, which works well for young viewers. There are hints of the seriousness of Leo's Illness via the private worries of his parents, some physical violence and threatening use of guns but the emotional challenge is not overwhelming and the narrative pace carries you through. Both our kids said they would want to see the film again and it will probably become a DVD favourite at home, for some time to come. The animated style is more hand-drawn in appearance and not as glossy or heavily automated as major studio animated films can be. This give a certain lightness of touch and warmth to what would otherwise be rather gritty, noir-ish city backdrops. My only criticism would be the speed with which the story was established and characters introduced. A few minutes more focusing on Leo's arrival at hospital and the discovery and use of his special powers would have pleased me.

happytrigger-64-390517 Phantom Boy is a real cool title for this cartoon directed by the duet Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, who directed the happily surprising Une Vie De Chat in which we could recognize references and fast action from American classic movies (Night Of The Hunter and others).In Phantom Boy, we recognize references to french popular cinema, from Fantomas to Le Passe-Muraille. And this story of a sick kid is over- charged with emotion, he is fighting against illness by fighting against a dangerous future and totally insane master of the world, and we unfortunately do have some very sad examples in the world.So thank you to the directors for their very courageous Phantom Boy, the young kids who saw this movie learned a lot about Life and they just can't wait for their next movie. These kids recognized some scenes and characters from Une Vie De Chat, they are real young movie lovers.Last remark : Phantom Boy is another great french inventive movie with no review on IMDb. So sad.