Phantom Boy

*2.5/5 Bones*

Directors: Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli

Release: October 14, 2015 (France), July 29th, 2016 (Canada)

Language: French, English Dubbed

(I saw the GKids English dub of this film)

Conventional wisdom has it that if you have to, pick substance over style. But once in awhile something comes along that looks so different from convention that it can hold your attention, even as the story fails to be as interesting.

Phantom Boy is a really unique looking film. It reminds me more of short, experimental works than it does other major animated films. With cycling textures and distorted character designs, it’s sure to stand out to anyone who watches it. One character who plays with these nods to other graphical styles is the villain, whose cubist face is apparently a horror to look at for the other inhabitants of his world. Sadly, apart from some rather flowing and beautiful scenes of Leo flying around the city and gingerly putting his body back on, there is not as much play with the medium of animation. This could easily be a live-action in film in terms of presentation, with limited special effects. In a film relying on its visuals and touting its laborious drawn technique, this is a deep disappointment, a blindness to possibility. That said, it’s hard not to deeply appreciate a film hand-drawn on paper.

So, the story: Leo is a boy undergoing cancer treatment in a New York hospital. (For some reason he isn’t in a paediatric hospital but a general one - a necessary plot hole to get the characters together). Because of his ongoing sickness, he’s been able to perfect the art of leaving his body behind. His phantom can soar through the skies, spy on people, and generally distance itself from the whole awful situation of being a kid with cancer. With that kind of idea, something like Pixar could spin a really heart-tugging tale. For some reason this film isn’t interested in developing Leo or really exploring his abilities. Instead, it wants to be a generic gangster movie, and so introduces a policeman who doesn’t play by the rules and his one-man war against The Face, a disfigured gangster whose backstory is never established because that’s...funny? Anyway, the policeman ends up in hospital with a broken leg. There he meets Leo, whose special ability he exploits as surveillance and nothing more.

There are a few fun scenes, mostly involving the little dog the gangsters have for no apparent reason - the nicest thing anyone can say about him is that he ‘Has the soul of a shark and the body of a tumbleweed’. Everyone else, however, is just how they appear. No one really grows or changes. It might as well be another Tuesday. The villain is played as a nonthreatening joke, so the only real peril is that Leo will reach his limits while in ghost form and...something bad may happen, maybe.

If it weren’t for the fantastic angles, perspectives, and style, I’d give this film a pass. Instead I’ll recommend it for a streaming watch. As someone who loves drawn films so much, it’s a frustration when the characters and story are as flat at the dimensions they’re made in. To the directors, Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, I implore you to continue making films. But please make compelling characters your first thought, and the visuals as something to support those ideas. Substance really is more important than style.

On the other hand, your other film. A Cat in Paris, has just moved to the front of my Netflix queue. As seen in my last review, a cat can really save a film for me.

For Kids

If you have kids, there’s nothing really wrong with this film. There’s one funny scene where Leo wanders into a strip joint, but it’s also the only time you’ll have a laugh.