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29
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23
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80
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xx
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30
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34
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60
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32
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27
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41
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39
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46
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73
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78
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55
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66
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69
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58
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47
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66
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34
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33
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54
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67
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51
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42
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63
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86
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35
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30
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53
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24
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83
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33
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45
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55
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47
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96
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35
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28
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88
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71
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67
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28
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73
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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28
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72
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89
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52
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66
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81
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xx
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63
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73
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xx
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74
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94
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29
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16
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75
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83
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61
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42
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70
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46
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19
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66
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59
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xx
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54
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35
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77
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76
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69
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79
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40
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77
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xx
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89
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50
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55
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61
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66
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67
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69
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64
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64
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xx
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74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
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69
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xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Renaissance

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Animation | Drama | Foreign | Sci-fi | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Alexandre de La Patellière
Mathieu Delaporte
Jean-Bernard Pouy (adaptation)
Patrick Raynal (adaptation)
Directed by: Christian Volckman
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 22, 2006
Running Time: 105 minutes, B/W
Origin: France / UK / Luxembourg
Summary
RATING: R for some violent images, sexuality, nudity and language
Starring Daniel Craig, Catherine McCormack, Romola Garai, Jonathan Pryce, Ian Holm, and Rick Warden
Renaissance is a bold vision of a stark near future drenched in hidden secrets and technological frontiers. It takes film noir to its most stylized edge, utilizing live action motion capture, animated in 3D and rendered in high contrast black and white to create graphic novel come-to-life. (Miramax)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
ReelViews James Berardinelli
The film's look is impressive; it's the most successful rotoscoping effort to date (far surpassing Richard Linklater's duo of "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly"), and causes every frame to drip atmosphere.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
One of the year’s more luscious releases, offering not just the sleekest car chase but the most romantic of rainstorms.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
The result is something both fluid and stark, cinematic and comic book-y, and incredible.
Read Full Review >Variety Lisa Nesselson
A melancholy actioner that shines a new light on film noir. A sort of "The Third Man" for the 21st century, chiaroscuro curio's level of graphic invention is exceeded only by its pleasingly mournful approach.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Stark eye candy of the first order, the film is saddled with the oldest story this side of "Blade Runner." Still, comic-book fanboys and graphic designers with time to kill should feel no shame in checking this one out.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
A visually wondrous experience in high-contrast black and white, bogged down by a slow, underwrought story and uninvolving characters. It would be easy to dismiss it as another great-looking film with little else to offer, but that wouldn't be entirely true.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Volckman and Miance are undoubtedly superb draftsmen; what they need is a writer of comparable skill.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Connoisseurs of digital animation, graphic novels, and the history of dystopian art will have plenty to discuss about Christian Volckman's visually striking, technically impressive black-and-white animated feature Renaissance…But no one will be talking about the movie's banal plot, the trite dialogue, or any of the indistinguishable characters who offer a bleak futuristic vision of cinema that's all style, no soul.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Over the course of 105 minutes, the brutal high contrast begins to strain the eyes. Effectively moody as it is, the style makes a convoluted story of corporate greed, high-tech espionage and science run amok even more difficult to follow.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Bernard Besserglik
Pitched as "animation for adults," Renaissance will find an audience among those in the 20-35 age group who enjoy graphic novels, but will disappoint anyone hoping for emotional or intellectual sustenance.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Robert Wilonsky
For a little while, the film is dazzling. Then it's dizzying. Then it's just kind of . . . wearying. That's not because it's in black-and-white; so was "Sin City". There's just something terribly, tragically dull about Renaissance.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Although intriguing to look at, Renaissance -- the latest animated film geared to adult audiences -- is undone by a plot that is ridiculously hard to follow and hackneyed.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
With its halfhearted script, stiff performances and overlong running time, this is the kind of movie that's simultaneously dazzling to look at, and increasingly tough to sit through.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
A fumbling attempt to create the European equivalent of a Japanese manga thriller in the conspiratorial mold of "Akira" and "Ghost in the Shell" has a stunning look.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
The director is Christian Volckman, whose skills as an animator greatly exceed his grasp of an idea worth pursuing.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Shaun C. gave it a6:
It's....I'ts interesting, and visually stunning...for a while and then the characters take over...which are quite...shallow, and the dialogue is not the most amazing you've ever heard....it's worth a watch, once
Mike gave it a0:
The visuals got really boring after 10 mins. I felt like there was so much to see, but the black and white animations were very limiting. The story was really boring as well. The movie really didnt have much going for it. Boring, bad story, not intresting characters, and to top it all off bad visuals. Avoid.
Andre R. gave it a9:
Great movie. Very original. If you enjoyed Blade Runner and SIn City you owe it to yourself to watch this.
Soren A. gave it a10:
This movie shows why the everyday american film is for gotten around the world, with it's georgeous visuals, enthralling story, well written dialogue, it shows what american sci-fi films are lacking. This move overcompensates for this years "American" films *cough* Ultraviolet *cough*. Every true sci-fi fan should watch this movie.
Jay W. gave it a2:
Animation exercise was interesting for the first, um, two minutes. Then it was sheer boredom all the way, from the hackneyed female-in-peril plot to the childish dialogue. An insult to the film-noir genre.
