Arco
Arco is a wildly inventive story and world that at the same time falls a little bit flat. The ceiling of this movie could have been a 10/10, but I think the whole ZEJ team felt letdown by the end result once the credits rolled. It’s a little slow, a little less humorous than it could have been, and as Jord says, kind of has this “Studio Ghibli” morale tale that isn’t as satisfying after you’ve seen it multiple times over and over. Though it’s a French film, it does also carry much of the Studio Ghibli aesthetic as well, and is very anime coded in general. Enjoyed it, probably deserves its animation nomination, but there was some missed potential here and that makes me excited to see what director and animator Ugo Bienvenu, who is just 38 years old does next!
-Z
I really enjoyed the imaginative story here and seeing two different created versions of the future. There was just something about this that felt a little unfinished - a lot of questions left unanswered. More development of the story and characters would have helped this feel a little more complete, but maybe I’m missing the point of the simplicity of it all. I think there are some larger messages present here, but I didn’t really enjoy it enough to keep thinking about it very long after the fact. The three brothers characters, who definitely steal the show, are giving this rating a bit of a boost!
-E
I just don’t know. After the film I didn’t know and a week later I still don’t know. It was animated well and had some cool color pops along with visually being unique, but I just did not enjoy the story. I think there is more there than I got out of it, but it also seems to be a PG film for young children so it is hard to know if there is a deeper meaning or not. I also think the dubbing was a bit distracting. I think this is a testament to a weak animated category this year, but still worth a watch if you like animated films!
-J
