There is a curse with video game movies - the medium of video games does not translate well to film. One day, a film will break that curse.
This is not that film.
The Donphan in the room: The Pokémon. They came from the deepest, darkest depths of the Uncanny Valley. Pokémon, after Gen I, have developed more towards "classic cute" designs of bigger heads, larger eyes, and less detail in the joints and legs. While it translates well into stuffed animals, it does not translate well into motion. When placed next to real life humans with internal structure and expressive eyes, you really really see their overinflated heads, vacant facial expressions, perpetually wide eyes, almost painted-on features, stumpy digitless limbs, and rubbery textures.
In the games, they don't look weird, because of their Limited Animation and the fact they are next to equally stylized humans. At best, they look like animated toys. At worst, they looked like eldritch abominations.
Reynolds feels like he Took the Bad Film Seriously and was the only one who had it in him. Almost everyone else felt like they were just there for the check, playing around, or that uninterested in the script.
The Curse Continues
There is a curse with video game movies - the medium of video games does not translate well to film. One day, a film will break that curse.
This is not that film.
The Donphan in the room: The Pokémon. They came from the deepest, darkest depths of the Uncanny Valley. Pokémon, after Gen I, have developed more towards "classic cute" designs of bigger heads, larger eyes, and less detail in the joints and legs. While it translates well into stuffed animals, it does not translate well into motion. When placed next to real life humans with internal structure and expressive eyes, you really really see their overinflated heads, vacant facial expressions, perpetually wide eyes, almost painted-on features, stumpy digitless limbs, and rubbery textures.
In the games, they don't look weird, because of their Limited Animation and the fact they are next to equally stylized humans. At best, they look like animated toys. At worst, they looked like eldritch abominations.
Reynolds feels like he Took the Bad Film Seriously and was the only one who had it in him. Almost everyone else felt like they were just there for the check, playing around, or that uninterested in the script.
Too bad the Animation Age Ghetto is still in play - this could have been a very good All-CGI Cartoon.