PG for secrets, unicorns, and a cannon-wielding Scotsman firing off rounds from the sidecar of a motorcycle
Release Date: December 21, 2011
Some say that Spielberg chose motion-capture technology for this film because it suited the story. Pish-posh, I say, not only because “pish-posh” is fun to say, but because the conventional wisdom is wrong. Spielberg is using motion-capture to stick it to rival director Robert Zemeckis.
Way back in 2004, Zemeckis directed Polar Express and declared that motion capture technology was the way of the future. Sadly, he also mistook it for the way of the present, not realizing that in its current state, the technology could only produce a hollow-eyed version of Tom Hanks so ghoulish that he would frighten monkeys. Zemeckis tried again with Beowulf in 2007, and again with A Christmas Carol in 2009, and slowly, he crawled out of the uncanny valley.
Now, Spielberg is here to reap the rewards with an old-fashioned adventure story based on a European comic book. And Peter Jackson snags a Producer credit, just to make clear to Zemeckis that he should under no circumstances expect credit for the success of the technology that he championed.
Also, Andy Serkis. QED. Because it ain’t a motion capture party until Andy Serkis is in the house.
PG-13 for Ugly Cast 