Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Leap! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 18, 2017

Dane DeHaan may want to plan ahead right now that his Christmas stocking might have a lump or two of coal in it. Now I’m not saying DeHaan has been on Santa’s (or anyone’s) naughty list, but judging from the general response his work has gotten lately limited only to films I’ve personally reviewed, he’s doing something wrong. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was roundly lambasted by a lot of critics (kinda sorta including me), and Lionsgate didn’t even bother to promote the home video Blu-ray release of Tulip Fever. Now comes Leap!, another film which Lionsgate evidently had at least some troubles getting to market (as evidenced by the lateness of the screener provided for this review). Leap! actually originally premiered under the title Ballerina in Paris late last year with voicework by DeHaan in the key role of Victor. I’d love to know some of the backstory involved (was the French release of Ballerina an English language one, since all of the principal voice cast are native English speakers?), but by the time the film had matriculated to American shores several months later, DeHaan had been summarily replaced by Nat Wolff (and according to probably questionable online data, Mel Brooks and Kate McKinnon were also added at this point, though who voiced their characters initially is something of a mystery). Leap! may try to gin up some excitement by including the ubiquitous exclamation point in its title, but it’s a pretty familiar animated piece documenting an orphan girl’s dreams of becoming, yep, you guessed it, a ballerina. The film has some of the design allure of other “historically” minded Parisian set pieces like A Monster in Paris 3D, but its story is resolutely rote. The film may well appeal to younger tots, especially little girls who dream of dancing en pointe and who will probably thrill to the story of Félicie (Elle Fanning), who dreams of dancing with the legendary Paris Opera Ballet, a dream which not so surprisingly comes true after the requisite series of obstacles is placed in her way.

Félicie and Victor are both orphans at a kind of Baroque looking facility that has the kind of imperious adults who always seem to be in charge of places like this. Due to that as well as incipient dreams on the part of both kids, the duo has long planned to escape, and they make that dream come true when Victor, a nascent inventor, reveals a set of huge wings he’s attached to his back to help him and Félicie fly off, supposedly to a happy ending. You can probably guess how the flying apparatus ends up working, but the upshot is the pair does in fact get away from the orphanage and soon finds themselves in the City of Lights.

Within mere moments of arriving in Paris, however, the two are separated, but Félicie kind of magically ends up finding the Paris Opera, where she sneaks in and sees a beautiful prima ballerina rehearsing on stage. Unfortunately, a martinet guard catches her and is attempting to throw her out of the place when a seemingly harsh disabled woman named Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen) intervenes. Now anyone over the age of probably ten or so (maybe even younger) is going to know that despite appearanced Odette has a heart of gold and that her limp may mask a history with dance, both of which of course turn out to be true.

Félicie starts taking private dance lessons from Odette, but she also secretly assumes the identity of the uppity Camille Le Haut (Maddie Ziegler), a 19th century version of a “mean girl” who has been invited to dance with the ballet troupe. This bit of subterfuge is motivated by the fact that Camille’s mother Régine (Kate McKinnon) is an unabashed harridan who also happens to be one of Odette’s taskmaster bosses, and who heaps regular scorn upon both Odette and Félicie (who has gone to work for Odette, helping her to manage her cleaning duties), and also by the fact that Camille intentionally destroys a music box of Félicie’s, the only remnant the young girl has of her mother (in a plot point which is kind of weirdly reminiscent of another animated film, Anastasia).

Meanwhile, Victor is getting his inventor groove on working for one Gustav Eiffel, but both he and Félicie continue to see each other and give each other encouragement in their pursuits, at least that is until Félicie is momentarily drawn toward a handsome young ballet student. When Félicie’s masquerade is uncovered (kind of surprisingly early in the proceedings), all would seem to be lost, but she’s allowed to continue dancing with the ballet, even though Camille is also offered a spot as well, since she was initially the actual invitee. That sets up the expected showdown between the two nascent ballerinas, with the “romantic” angle of Félicie and Victor’s turmoil playing out in the background.

Leap! moves toward its unavoidable happy ending without a ton of fuss and bother, something else that may recommend it to younger audience members. The film has an appealing if not very innovative design aesthetic (it was evidently screened in 3D, but has only a “flat” presentation on this Blu-ray). One of the odd stylistic choices, though, is the glut of contemporary source cues utilized (including by Jepsen, of course), something that seems almost deliberately disjunctive to the historical setting of the film.

Leap! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Leap! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This is a rather charmingly animated feature, even if nothing in the design aesthetic is overly innovative. The digitally rendered imagery has nice depth and nuance, despite its "flat" presentation, and in fact it's a little sad that 3D version wasn't released, since it's obvious that even in the absence of a bunch of "in your face" effects that dimensionality was important to the animators. L'Atelier Animation of Montreal is obviously aiming for the same kind of dense but buoyant style that has become the hallmark of other computer based studios, and to a degree, anyway, they succeed here, with some nicely detailed looks at both Paris in general as well as some of the environments within the City of Lights, including the ballet studios and Eiffel's workplace. The palette is nicely suffused throughout the presentation, and aside from some kind of odd looking quasi-banding which pops up on elements like faces where light changes occur, there are no problems to report.

Leap! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Leap!'s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 benefits from some of the aforementioned kind of odd contemporary source cues, songs that don't especially fit the timeframe of the film but which spill through the surround channels quite winningly. Several outdoor scenes in Paris also feature a glut of ambient environmental sounds. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

Leap! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• In the Recording Booth (1080p; 8:18) offers separate interviews with Kate McKinnon, Nate Wolff, and Maddie Ziegler, which can be played separately or as a group.


• Behind the Scenes Video Gallery (1080p; 8:38) is a kind of oddly named set of Making Of featurettes.

Leap! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For those not expecting any kind of unheralded masterpiece, Leap! provides colorful and even charming entertainment, but my hunch is anyone over the age of six or seven is going to see each and every plot point well before it actually unfolds. The animation isn't innovative in any meaningful way, but it's nicely detailed and quite evocative. Technical merits are strong for those considering a purchase (just don't buy a copy for Dane DeHaan, since it probably won't be appreciated and his stocking may well already be full).