Though I do not like the story, I do like how it is presented. I believe that CG is overused these days, and it causes movies to lose my interest, but for stories like Despereaux CG is a needed reality. With this in mind, I actually liked the use, quality, and rendering of the graphics. I could see hairs moving realistically, the mouths were roughly film quality, and the reflections in the water are worthy of awards. Short of a few bad sequences (notably when Despereaux returns to his village covered in flour), the overall quality of the movie is really impressive. If it looks this good on DVD, I wonder how it will look on Blu-ray.
As for the actual DVD materials themselves, Despereaux comes with only one feature worth your time. “The Making of Despereaux” is a feature which is worth the 11 minutes that you need to watch it. You get to learn about the making of the movie, what procedures were used, and all sorts of little tidbits about how to render properly and compose full CG animations. As I am extremely technical, I really enjoyed this little tidbit and thought that it was entertaining and a good learning experience.
As for the other extras, I found that they were poorly planned and just not good at all. Why would you include a feature called “Top 10 Uses for Oversized Ears” if you are simply going to show a minute long clip of boring and useless information? I don't want to watch it, and I am sure that it is not even targeted well for the younger kids. I also don't want to watch a preview for your new movies, even if they look kinda cool. The only extra, besides the making of that is halfway decent are the games. Though these were simple and did not appeal to me, I am sure that the target demographic would actually enjoy them.
In short, the extras of Despereaux are lacking and poorly done.
Overall, I think that Despereaux is a good movie for anybody with kids, planning on having kids, or who babysits a lot. For anybody else, it is not a good pick. The movie is non-linear, confusing, and backtracks far too often to introduce new characters. The only thing saving the movie at all is the amazing CG that was rendered by the artists; kudos to them. Even the extras, which will normally save a bad movie, could do nothing to help the movie out. I would recommend that you pass this movie on for more entertaining fare; though, if you must buy it, I do recommend the Blu-ray version.
Article comments
1 - J.J. Biddinger
Good article. I enjoyed reading it.
2 - Robert M. Barga
thanks JJ