Dixie Fried Dim Sum

What a very strange movie. It looks like it was shot on the same soundstage (and with the same crew) as Repo! The Genetic Opera, with its lush and surreal colour scheme and odd use of animation in the narrative. In this world, there are no backgrounds, only trompe d'oeil paintings, and people often hang chandeliers outdoors while cultivating rock gardens in their homes. I get the feeling that more interesting things could have been done in a movie world where the mob is in full force but guns don't exist. I think one of the biggest troubles of this movie is the fact that all the characters are so terribly, otherworldly cool that the writers and actors forgot to make them real. I couldn't connect with anyone. Everyone was as invincible, or sullen, or artificially flawed as the heroes of Livejournal poetry. They are simply instruments upon which to hang all the novel ideas of this film, but I really didn't care about what happened to anyone. Actually, I'd like to see another story, written by someone else that takes place in this diegetic world. Hmm. Off to read fanfic!

I love anachronism! If you've ever watched The Man In The Iron Mask and found yourself wishing there were more gravity-defying, Matrixy fight sequences, then this is the movie for you. The story is as engaging as any of the other musketeer movies, the villains just as slimy, the stakes just as high and the characters just as heroically iconic. Here, though, the action is a bit bigger and I found the sequences, while somewhat incongruous, even more exhilarating.