Renaissance

The Euro equivalent of a Japanese manga thriller in the conspiratorial mold of "Akira" and "Ghost in the Shell" captures the "graphic" aspect of the graphic novel with sleek, hard-edged, monochrome animation. If the motion-capture technique is often awkward in motion, the striking imagery is a refreshing change from the usual CGI animation. It's the "novel" side that's lacking in Christian Volckman's convoluted, futuristic thriller about a maverick detective, a kidnapped scientist, a corporate conspiracy on the trail of immortality, and the wizened child who bears an uncanny resemblance to the killer dwarf on "Don't Look Now." The DVD features both the original French soundtrack and the stilted, hard-bitten English translation, which comes off as an unconvincing hard-boiled parody despite an impressive voice cast that includes Daniel Craig, Catherine McCormack, Romola Garai and Jonathan Pryce. Also includes "The Making of Renaissance" featurette.