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Klaus (2019)

Movie Review

By Jaded Phoenix StudiosPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Podcast Hosted by KT and Zander

Written Review By – S. “KT” Pilcher

Like a lot of people, I was also following the development of Klaus – though not as closely. The 2010s were not kind to traditional animated film so I never had any hope of seeing it actually coming to light – especially since back then, we didn’t have as many platforms as we do now. When I heard Netflix got involved, I knew it would finally come to fruition. I am and will always be an animator at heart, I’ve just lost the will and drive to actually pursue the field – also I just never got the hang of pure animation. The story of Klaus isn’t much to write home about in terms of subverting expectations or breaking new ground, it’s a fairly level plot with some decently built characters that is simple to follow and also incredibly charming. Each character was given a voice talent that adequately fit them – Jason Schwartzman as Jesper was probably the greatest decision anyone has ever made. The pacing for the most part is solid – except in the third act, it had a tendency of tripping over itself from time to time. Even if the story itself is fairly simple, I really don’t want to give away any of the plot. I recommend watching this movie, especially with friends or family.

Where this movie excels is obviously in it’s visuals. This films – for the most part – is completely hand animated. Yes it’s all done in digital programs but there are very few times 3D techniques are used to bring the characters themselves to life. Each character has their own unique builds, shapes, contours. My favourite example of this is when Jesper is interacting with Klaus. Klaus is very stoic, subdue, he’s quiet so he’s not represented with a lot of motions, each action he takes is deliberate and precise. Whereas Jesper is bouncy, energetic, often using his hands and body to give off very obvious signals. But the gem, the crowning triumph of this movie is the lighting. My god the lighting. I don’t know how they did it but every single scene in this movie is a work of art just because they went that extra mile. I went back and watched a few scenes without sound just to follow the animation and I couldn’t get the atmosphere and the energy of some of the scenes out of my head. They did subsurface scattering! Not even some 3D movies do that! If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it’s when light passes through flesh and gives stuff a unique pinkish or orangish glow. It’s the thing that you never notice about real lighting but you’re brain does. It’s what makes lighting look real.

I could go on for days about this movie on a technical level but I’d bore everyone to tears with that. Please watch it, it’s a little over an hour and a half and it’s engaging the whole way through. Spa Studios deserves every piece of love they get for this film.

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