Expected more

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I only watched this movie because it was in French and I was learning French, and I don't see why people would vote it less because it's French. There is an English version too.April and the Extraordinary World is kind of like a steampunk TinTin with sci-fi and a bit of romance.I completely disagree with anyone who says it is mainly for steampunk fans. I think the colours are reminiscent of a "dark" world. I think the characters look great, even without too much detail, and the scenery is just amazingly drawn.It is so nice to get a break from too much detail 3D CGI which all the rich companies are using nowadays.I also totally disagree with anyone who says the style is too "old". I think the old style is nice, and I'm not 40.I'd definitely recommend this movie to old and young.

Authors of this once were famous comic makers.There is a term in french culture for the graphic novels. They call it "Bande dessinées" which means "strip stories". This one is not. Or, to be exact, it's more of a stripped one.It's a rip-off. Cultural and visual. I could name hundreds of popular videogames, books and graphic novels, ideas from which were stolen to be placed into this. It's a commercial being in its entirety and has no other meaning than to be and stand for something. This one stands for someone else's naiveté.I had great expectations, but this, not being independent, put too much pressure onto its own makers.

I have to say that when I went to the Gene Siskel Film Center to see this, I was quite bored at the start of the movie, but this movie had whipped me pretty hard awake with how engaging it eventually got. The animation style isn't necessarily unique, but is still very relevant to the strange utopian society of the 1940s and is a fabulous treat. The characters are hilarious or dark when you experience them, and remain fascinating even after some of them play their one role. I am especially fond of Darwin for eventually possessing the ability of "kittenvincibility", one of the best improvised words I have seen in an animated film. The story concept is among the most imaginative I have seen, though in execution there is one cliché moment that the story didn't seem to recover from, similar to what reviewers of Howl's Moving Castle noticed. Despite the flaws in the story, this is regardless a must-see film for anyone who has a taste in animation or science fiction, with its emotion and humor being loaded with brass. (I would recommend the English subtitled version rather than the dub.)

Avril's Extraordinary world is an alternative time line in which Napoleon V rules France and the scientist that help built the foundations of technology are missing, forcing the world into a steam punk setting, and Avril a young scientist herself has the key to our future. It's animated quite beautifully. I'm a huge fan of steam punk and I love seeing the design all over the movie. I also like the style of 3D animation blended with computer generated images. It's always a welcome change to see this other than the world we live in right now that is dominated by 3D animation. It was a great adventure film, filed with character and characters that were smart and funny, and accessible to everyone.Good watch.