Secret of Kells 5 out of 5

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This may be one of the better movies I've seen in a long time. The animation is gorgeous. It's inspired by manuscript illuminations, which makes sense, because the plot of the movie concerns them. It's really well acted, too. I particularly liked the way the Abbot was played. I can't shut up about the art, though. It's magnificently overwrought, and the character movement is beautifully fluid. The plot is based around a predictable skeleton, but it's fleshed out with a lot of nice fine points. The score is really well done, too. All in all, this movie is a winner. It's a good watch with the kids, too.

Plot synopsis: A young boy living in a walled village during the time of Viking attacks on Ireland (I'm guessing) is the protagonist. The business of the central monastery is manuscript illumination, but the abbot, the boy's uncle, is more concerned with building the villages defenses, and is a hard man because of it. A legendary illuminator arrives at the village, and strikes up a friendship and apprenticeship in secret with the boy, which leads to most of the films adventures, including excursions into the local forest and friendship with a fairy (the traditional kind, not the tinkerbell kind).

 

[strawman]

This. 100x this.

I mentioned it in the movie thread, and for some reason I feel bad that I enjoyed it so much. I don't know if it's the art, the plot, the characterization, or what, but I just really enjoyed that movie.

Looking at the amazon reviews and rotten tomatos rating though I see we're not alone.

My wife and kids weren't as captivated by it as I was.

But it's still on my list to obtain on bluray.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Been on our Netflix queue for a while; just haven't gotten far enough to receiving it in the mail.

 

[Wasabi Poptart]

Netflix keeps suggesting it to me, but I had never heard of it. Good to see a few positive reviews of it on here!

 

[Raemon777]

Every time I watch it I actually feel very inspired about game design, oddly enough. I'd like to see, not exactly a Secret of Kells video game, but a game that explores art in the way that the movie did. Several pieces of the movie feel very much like a 2D platformer, except playing around with perspective in interesting ways.

*spoiler*

The fight in the middle is particularly great, with the kid lost in this world of distorted abstract art, and then finding his own power as an artist to work his way out of it.