Renaissance Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Renaissance Blu-ray Movie Review

A uniquely-crafted Thriller earns good marks on Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 20, 2012

First we find her, and then we sleep.

Renaissance combines the Noir Thriller with the cutting edge world of motion capture animation and throwback black-and-white imagery to craft a uniquely interesting little slice of modern cinema. The French production has been dubbed into English with Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) voicing the lead role of Karas, a tough cop on the case of a brilliant young scientific mind who turns up missing. The plot proves a bit overly convoluted and at times cliché while the movie largely goes through the motions of the missing persons case, featuring the expectedly diverse cast of characters and suspects along the way. However, the movie is largely defined by the way it looks rather than the story it tells. Renaissance doesn't bungle its plot -- as formulaic as it may be -- and the various structural elements impress at a base level, but all is overshadowed by the look, a look that generally delights but never quite allows any other element to rise to the surface, to compete as the dominant power running through the film.

Renaissance man.

The year is 2054. The place is Paris, France, where it seems much has changed technologically, but the human desire keep ahead in the game of life, to find an edge, to maintain youth and stamina, to find a solution to the process of nature remains the same. It's also a city where everything is seen and heard, where digital ears and prying eyes know all. Yet when a prominent young scientist named Ilona Tasuiev (Virginie Mery) goes missing, police are stumped. She works for the high-profile Avalon corporation as a crack researcher, a brilliant mind at only twenty-two years of age and holding a secret that could change the world. A reckless but efficient cop, Barthélémy Karas (Craig), is tasked with locating the girl at all costs. His investigation leads him to former Avalon employees, lona's sister Bislane (Catherine McCormack), and Avalon's CEO. What he discovers goes far beyond a normal kidnapping; the stakes are high and as Karas comes closer to the truth, he just might have to do the unthinkable to reach the one and only viable solution to the problem.

Renaissance never finds much of a thematic stride. The picture recycles a fairly routine plot structure, injecting it with new twists in a unique environment but never really distinguishing itself from other dark missing persons and edgy cops sort of movies. It's a bit overly complex and unnecessarily so. The animation makes it a little difficult to keep up with the whos and whens and wheres; much of it melts together into one globular entity, where characters both look somewhat similar and never escape very far beyond a cookie-cutter construction. The picture mixes in basic action elements -- car chases, foot chases, shootouts -- but does manage a fairly unique and memorable ending which thematically saves it from the doldrums of absolute routine. Renaissance additionally does very well in its animated fashioning of a futuristic Paris that's home to advanced technologies but not an unidentifiable landscape. The film goes just far enough in the future to make things interesting but not so far as to completely alienate audiences from the experience via the creation of a world absolutely dissimilar to this, a technique the television show "Star Trek" Enterprise" implemented to fine effect.

On the other hand, the style dazzles and dominates the iffy story line. Renaissance is simply a pleasure to behold. The film captures the attention and captivates the mind on its unique visuals alone. They're fluid and alluring, taken from motion capture performances and seamlessly integrated into the futuristic Parisian environment. The black-and-white contrast makes for an excellent overlay for a Noir film. The atmosphere is often striking, and combined with some unique perspectives afforded to and made use of by the filmmakers through the implementation of digital environments and techniques, the movie often startles audiences with a rich, visually arresting appearance. The downside, however, is literally as easy as black-and-white. The world never feels as rich as it looks. The simple contrast is never quite enough to really capture the essence, the heart and soul of the film's fictional world, instead offering more of an overlay, an underdeveloped glimpse at what's really there beyond the black and white. Still, the uniqueness of it all is enough to warrant a watch, and the absence of color and even shades of gray yields an edgy Noir picture that exudes confidence -- warranted or not -- but that isn't quite enough to carry a feature-length film, at least not one with such an uneven plot.

Renaissance Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Renaissance debuts on Blu-ray with a very high quality Blu-ray transfer. This is the sort of movie that's hard to mess up, it would seem. It's made of very simple textures with no color and not much in terms of fine detailing. Lines are crisp and well defined. The contrast between black and white is always striking and balanced, with the blacks deep and rich and the whites the perfect counter. The detailing is limited to the artists' imaginations and what the movie has to display at any given point. Some close-up shots of characters are defined by precious few lines -- creating a mere outline of sorts -- while more complex cityscape shots offer a far more complex series of visuals. Yet the transfer remains smooth and precise through its entire range. This one's fairly simple: no banding and only a few jagged edges. In other words, a stunner of a transfer that handles the movie's simple visuals with all the ability fans should want.

Renaissance Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Renaissance features a high quality DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This is a well-spaced track, one that makes fine use of the entire stage, the fronts denominating but the surrounds offering up a good deal of precise support. Music is smooth and immersive, balanced through the entire 5.1 configuration to create a satisfying, enveloping presence. Much the same may be said of the futuristic ambience which both gently and forcefully penetrates the listening area, depending on source and location. For instance, drenching rain falls around the stage in a couple of scenes to good, realistic effect. Bass is strong and energized, tight and never sloppy, evidenced by a dance club scene early in the film. Gunfire pops from every direction, yielding well-defined gun battle sequences that put the listeners in the middle of the action. Dialogue is smooth and natural, and the dub works perfectly. This is a fine audio presentation that serves the movie very well.

Renaissance Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Renaissance contains only one supplement. 'Renaissance:' The Making Of (480p, 26:12) examines the history of the style and the project in particular. It looks at the motion capture process, the place of Paris in the film, crafting a believable storyline populated with real characters, influences, location design, the impact of the visual style and black-and-white elements, getting the right performances from the actors, and the picture's music. Presented in French with English subtitles.

Renaissance Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Renaissance is a stylish, atmospheric, brooding Film Noir that's worth seeing for the visuals alone. It's novel and impressive work, even if the black and white imagery never quite captures all of the nuance that might be found in a more colorful, fleshed-out fictional universe. The visuals also cannot mask a routine plot made too complex as it goes about the relatively simple task of piecing together the story of a high-profile kidnapping. Renaissance won't dazzle with its storytelling prowess, but the plot is adequate, just good enough to carry the movie, make it worth watching and not merely worthy of a brief pause to enjoy a sample of the visuals. Echo Bridge's Blu-ray release of Renaissance features strong video and audio. Only one supplement is included. Worth a rental, and fans who love the film and don't mind a shortage of extras can feel confident in a purchase.