Klaus (2019)
★★★★
This review may contain spoilers.
this was great, very cute, and not in a bad way in a good way.
it's already been said but the animation is stellar, the 2d to 3d style is so expressive and wonderful to look at, and the way it moves is so smooth but there is a clear alteration to the frame rate like spider-verse, the character models and expressions don't the characters are amazing, wonderful to look at truly a marvel to look at, one last thing of note is background artist and what a truly magnificent job they did here, each background is so expressive and truly sells the world that this film exists within it's not just wintering it's a cozy cabin in the woods, or a house lit up with a family inside, the background of the house where the first kid received his toy was so dark and dim but the kid was so bright and full of life.
the writing is steller, but the thing that sold me on it was the naturalistic dialogue there is something so real about the dialogue in this film the way it flows, and moves throughout the scenes is great, sometimes people interrupt each other because that is how conversations go, such a small detail but when JK Simmons is giving the speech about his wife there is so much raw emotion there within the dialogue who knows If that was written on the page or if it was just him adding little beats here and there like a stammer here and an um there but it was truly great, the way he words that stuff with his wife it's as if he had been trying to find the right words for years and this was the first time he was trying to muster the words out but right. the story is great very simplistic but that is all this movie needed it's driven by the characters and there interactions with one another, like Márgu and her connection with Jesper, or Alva and her connection with the kids it's great writing here.
the lighting in the scenes was great the way they cast onto the characters and bounced onto the ground is amazing the harsh shadows within the world, the way the fog blends around the world, and the backgrounds with the lights in the houses, I could go on and on about the absolute stellar lighting. it's all great and so beautiful to look at, lighting is such a small thing but it's so important, especially in an animated film and this one had great lighting.
next, the camera movement was great, the way it moved from frame to frame there was great scene direction, like each scene was planned in one head and there was communication all around the studio about which scene would flow into which scene, in my crazy opinion it's a bit easier to pull off in animation as opposed to live action I could be so wrong but when it is pulled off so well like it is here that is when it shines there are cuts and fades but they never feel out of place or miss used every fade and cut has a purpose here. also, the cinematography was great the way it is shot is good and not bland or flat each shot is set to establish something, and each shot has a purpose I feel it's great to look at.
I think the one or two things that I didn't like and it kind of looks like everyone is in agreeance here is the licensed music it felt so jarring when a local pop song would start playing I laughed so hard when a rap song started playing lol what a cool postman guy.
also, the sound mixing felt a bit off, again like I said in the notes that could just be me but I did notice a couple of places where it felt like everything was overly loud like the sound effects had been increased because the music was so loud and it was just jarring.
so that is that I liked this a lot despite those few things this is a truly stunning film, great movie!
notes below
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- oo I like the tracking shot on the letter.
- already the animation is beautiful.
- I like how overly big the sarge with his tiny legs.
- I like how expressive the animation is.
- "Little Jespie" lol
- I like how this montage is a cut of him saying thank you, pretty great.
- oo I like how smeerenburg is coated in shadows.
- I like the flow of the camera in this shot of them riding through the town.
- I like how in the dark you are kept about the things that are happening.
- I like the voice acting everyone is doing a great job.
- the sound design is nice a bit loud. like the sound effects seem loud and then the music comes in and so the sound effects are brought up and so then it's just a bit loud? maybe it's me maybe I am crazy.
- I liked that POV shot of him standing on the board.
- I love the lighting and how the lighting casts onto the people.
- love how smug Norm McDonald's character is being, he is portraying it so well perfect casting.
- loved that transition to the woodsman cabin.
- I like the ambient sound design in the woodsman cabin area.
- I like how much the film drifts into horror and how it kind of lets those moments sit and doesn't undercut them with a joke. nice touch.
- so I love the character model of Klaus.
- oo I love Jk Simmons's voice here.
- I like that shot of them looking through the window at the kid opening the present. the lighting and set design on the window which is a weird thing to say but is there is great.
- I like how he is essentially dealing letters like you deal drugs lol.
- I like Klaus's hair so long and luxurious.
- I like the quick smash-cut of all the drawings together that was great.
- the upbeat plucking in the scene where they deliver letters for a second time was pretty great.
- I like how he helps out the teacher, it shows how caring he is
- I liked that we stayed in the fish's mouth when she was debating about using her funds.
- it is funny how quickly the mythos of Klaus comes together
- I like the blocking of this scene where he is trying to catch the reindeer and then Klaus just puts lettuce on the floor to get them together.
- I like how Klaus is a man of few words, which makes him more intriguing.
- the bass drum on "He Knows"
- the wtf is a rap song? what? I'm so stunned what the heck?
- I think this town is uh breaking some serious child labor laws.
- I love that this montage of them doing good is fleshed out and lets it breathe.
- so they have Christmas already?
- also remember that episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender that was about uniting the clans? that but for Christmas.
- I like the drawings that Jasper did they are nicely drawn.
- oo I love this scene where the little girl tries to teach the little girl how to write, the slow rotation was great.
- shot of the whale passing under the lake was a great shot.
- wow that was some.. powerful acting from Jk Simmons. the way he stammers from word to word attempting to muster out what might be the first time where he talks about his wife. that was some powerful stuff man.
- I like how his speech from earlier comes back but it is sincere now.
- the betrayal that Klaus must be feeling is immense, that was the first person that he shared his story with.
- the betrayal that the little girl must have been feeling though.
- I like these wide shots of him leaving smeerenburg.
- awww her little face when she thought he was gone.
- I like that this does feel organic like our story led us here, the friend break up is a common trope but it doesn't feel like it here at least in my opinion.
- the sound design in this part where they are trying to stop the slay is pretty great.
- good transition as he put on the hat.
- watching them sit together as they hear the children cheer was great.
- I liked the background of Jasper's house and the other bright ones in the background.
