Note: I'm ticking the 'spoiler' box, but I will try to keep things vague.
I wanted to like this. I really did. I'm a huge fan of the old clay animation movies and have watched them numerous times throughout the years.
Barring the first instance, which just looks like a walking prolapse with teeth, most of the stop motion work is good. There is a definite sense of nostalgia whenever such scenes arise. In fact, much of this movie is centered around nostalgia - the sliding cut between scenes, the zoomed-in gigantic creatures, and some of the cinematography.
The plot is acceptable. Standard fare for movies of the time, and I wouldn't expect anything else. The acting... well. There isn't much, really, other than the antagonist who was so over the top ridiculous with his Vincent Price caricature and seemed to have a problem with his jaw.
The actors themselves were miscast, and they seem to know it. None of the cast had the appropriate swarthiness expected of those who lived their lives at sea. The 'sultan' acted like a rug dealer in Baghdad, the 'gorgeous princess' was outshone by the dancers, and Sinbad himself looked like, as someone else has already pointed out, a throwaway terrorist in Homeland who's watched a few too many Clint Eastwood movies. Sinbad's crew and the palace guards were the worst - they had clearly never worked with a green screen before.
The CGI was above par for this grade of movie. Not blockbuster material, but maybe modern TV quality - somewhere between SyFy and HBO. Sleepy Hollow and the likes, or Dominion.
What fails the film most is the glue. Extremely bad editing, with sudden cuts from calm to chaos. Poor direction, with bad camera angles and pacing aplenty.
Then there is the music. It's actually quite good, but very, very badly edited and mismatched with the scenes. There is epic battle music during a closeup of a guy approaching a honeycomb, and music appropriate to a gentle stroll through the New Zealand countryside when they're fighting monsters.
As a tribute this movie is great, and I applaud them for the effort. As entertainment? Nah. You'll have a much better time with Sharknado 2.
I wanted to like this. I really did. I'm a huge fan of the old clay animation movies and have watched them numerous times throughout the years.
Barring the first instance, which just looks like a walking prolapse with teeth, most of the stop motion work is good. There is a definite sense of nostalgia whenever such scenes arise. In fact, much of this movie is centered around nostalgia - the sliding cut between scenes, the zoomed-in gigantic creatures, and some of the cinematography.
The plot is acceptable. Standard fare for movies of the time, and I wouldn't expect anything else. The acting... well. There isn't much, really, other than the antagonist who was so over the top ridiculous with his Vincent Price caricature and seemed to have a problem with his jaw.
The actors themselves were miscast, and they seem to know it. None of the cast had the appropriate swarthiness expected of those who lived their lives at sea. The 'sultan' acted like a rug dealer in Baghdad, the 'gorgeous princess' was outshone by the dancers, and Sinbad himself looked like, as someone else has already pointed out, a throwaway terrorist in Homeland who's watched a few too many Clint Eastwood movies. Sinbad's crew and the palace guards were the worst - they had clearly never worked with a green screen before.
The CGI was above par for this grade of movie. Not blockbuster material, but maybe modern TV quality - somewhere between SyFy and HBO. Sleepy Hollow and the likes, or Dominion.
What fails the film most is the glue. Extremely bad editing, with sudden cuts from calm to chaos. Poor direction, with bad camera angles and pacing aplenty.
Then there is the music. It's actually quite good, but very, very badly edited and mismatched with the scenes. There is epic battle music during a closeup of a guy approaching a honeycomb, and music appropriate to a gentle stroll through the New Zealand countryside when they're fighting monsters.
As a tribute this movie is great, and I applaud them for the effort. As entertainment? Nah. You'll have a much better time with Sharknado 2.