A Scanner Darkly
I first learned of A Scanner Darkly's existence by seeing this still and reading that the entire movie would be animated in this fashion:
I thought to myself, "Holy shit, even if this movie sucks it'll at least be cool to look at." Then I found out that A Scanner Darkly was originally a novel by Philip K. Dick, the same guy who wrote the stories behind all kinds of cool movies. So this had to be a win/win situation, right?
Um. Not so much.
After seeing some more production stills I started reading up on the making of the fim. I discovered that it was made with a technique called interpolated rotoscoping, and that Richard Linklater (the director) was the first to use this technique for an entire feature film - A Scanner Darkly was the second film of his to use it (Waking Life was the first). I rented Waking Life last year because I wanted to see more of this animation technique as soon as possible, and only I bring this up because I think A Scanner Darkly suffers from the same problem as Waking Life: I feel like Linklater is trying really hard to sell me on some kind of Deep Philosophical Message by putting it in a visually interesting package. Admittedly, that's mostly the point of Waking Life, but that feeling definitely carried over into this film to the point where I couldn't really figure out what the hell the plot was until the movie was nearly over. I suppose that could have been by design, but I couldn't shake the feeling of "OH MY GOD GUYS, ISN'T THIS DEEP?!" being telegraphed to me at all times throughout the length of the movie. The hamfisted-ness left a really bad taste in my mouth and ruined me on the whole thing.
I was right that it was "at least cool to look at," but I was hoping for more than just style. Kind of like Sin City. It's just disappointing because the story itself is rather interesting if you like dystopian fiction and science fiction - two genres I'm a ho for. So it was worth my time in that it got me interested in reading the novel. I just wish there was more plot and less faux-enlightenment to be had, you know? It's rent-worthy if you want something interesting too look at (and really, it is stunning artistically) or if you're a fan of Robert Downey Jr. or Keanu Reeves and are a completist. If not? Pass.
Um. Not so much.
After seeing some more production stills I started reading up on the making of the fim. I discovered that it was made with a technique called interpolated rotoscoping, and that Richard Linklater (the director) was the first to use this technique for an entire feature film - A Scanner Darkly was the second film of his to use it (Waking Life was the first). I rented Waking Life last year because I wanted to see more of this animation technique as soon as possible, and only I bring this up because I think A Scanner Darkly suffers from the same problem as Waking Life: I feel like Linklater is trying really hard to sell me on some kind of Deep Philosophical Message by putting it in a visually interesting package. Admittedly, that's mostly the point of Waking Life, but that feeling definitely carried over into this film to the point where I couldn't really figure out what the hell the plot was until the movie was nearly over. I suppose that could have been by design, but I couldn't shake the feeling of "OH MY GOD GUYS, ISN'T THIS DEEP?!" being telegraphed to me at all times throughout the length of the movie. The hamfisted-ness left a really bad taste in my mouth and ruined me on the whole thing.
I was right that it was "at least cool to look at," but I was hoping for more than just style. Kind of like Sin City. It's just disappointing because the story itself is rather interesting if you like dystopian fiction and science fiction - two genres I'm a ho for. So it was worth my time in that it got me interested in reading the novel. I just wish there was more plot and less faux-enlightenment to be had, you know? It's rent-worthy if you want something interesting too look at (and really, it is stunning artistically) or if you're a fan of Robert Downey Jr. or Keanu Reeves and are a completist. If not? Pass.
