More From Amsterdam:  Renaissance and Storm Reviewed

Renaissance (Christian Volckman, 2006)

This is an animated feature from France made in a beautiful high contrast black-and-white style. This obviously reminds of Frank Miller’s (Sin City) comic book artwork, but there are also a lot of elements in there from the long and great tradition of French and Belgian comic books (and Didier Comès has also been working in a high contrast style for years). Some of the beautifully choreographed action scenes also bring anime like Ghost in the Shell in mind. Take these elements and put them in a perfectly crafted futuristic setting (the architecture and cars are especially amazing) and there is some very stylish eye-candy for you with a lot of ‘whoa’ moments. The story is a fairly standard detective vs. big corporate evil plot, but it is told at a fast pace and manages to be interesting until the end. It’s the perfect genre scaffold for all the beautiful images and futuristic concepts to hang on to. The version that was shown was the English dubbed version. The voice work is done well. Some of the lip synch is off because of the dub but that doesn’t distract much really.

Storm (Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, 2005)

Of all the films I have seen thus far Storm is absolutely the most original. Some call it the Swedish Matrix and you sure could spot one or two similarities to the first Matrix film if you look for it (especially a love for comic books), but at the same time this film is nothing like the Matrix at all. The fact of the matter is that the Matrix trilogy has had such an impact that any action sequence that is done with a bit of style or has characters dressed in black now reminds of the Matrix (Perfect Creature reminded me also of the Matrix). The story of Storm is a bit open for interpretation I think but the way I look at it, this film is about a guy, DD (another comic book connection?), who is caught between an angel and demon fighting for his soul. It’s up to the viewer if these are hallucinations of inner-demons fuelled by drug abuse or somehow a reality. There are things happening in the real world that cause DD to be wanted by the police but a lot of sequences take place in a comic book reality were heroine Storm fights with a dark nemesis for possession of a mysterious box that contains a secret from DD’s past. The only negative aspect for me was that DD is one of these characters who totally forgot a few very life-changing episodes from his youth only to slowly remember them over the course of the film. A much used plot device that I never find believable, especially since these events must have had a continuing effect on DD and his family up to the present that simply couldn’t have been forgotten by all of them. Storm might be a bit too incoherent for some. The AFFF audience gave it just an average score. A friend I saw the film with found it dragging in the middle where DD goes back to the place of his youth. I can understand these complaints but I for one was captivated from start to finish. It’s original, it looks good, the acting is good and I wouldn’t mind watching it again.

Reviews by Peter Cornellisen