BOO, ZINO AND THE SNURKS

"I'm the hero of Gaya"

Zino

When Gaya's power stone, the Dalamite, is stolen by the diabolical scientist Professor N. Icely (Lander) using his vortex machine, local hero Zino (Wrage), his trusted companion Boo (Mariot), the major's daughter Alanta (Watson) and the local trouble makers The Snurks are pulled into the swirling vortex as well. They awake to find themselves in a strange world filled with giants, monster rats and buildings that reach into the sky. Realising they are not in Gaya anymore, the group are shocked to discover that Gaya is not real but their homeland and themselves are in fact the creation of Albert Drollinger (Stewart) and have been pulled out of a TV show.

Can a European financed CG animated feature compete with the muscle of Pixar and DreamWorks?

Germany's first foyer into the cutthroat genre of computer animation is a bit of a mixed bag. On the plus side, some the animation is superb. The characters themselves are brilliantly realised and some of the best looking human-like creations to be introduced to the genre. Boo, Zino and his friends are beautifully animated with an astounding attention to detail. The human characters are also superb, with a slightly caricature look these are also outstanding and a credit to their designers. Some of the animated set pieces are also first race. The opening race is a triumph of design that really takes you into the action as Boo and Zino take on the mischievous Snurks. The condemned house escape is also exhilarating as well as the flying machine flight across the city.

On the negative side and the film's major flaws is the lack of story and character development. What DreamWorks and especially Pixar do extremely well is draw you into both the characters and the story. Boo, Zino and the Snurks simply just doesn't have this. The characters are very one-dimensional and amalgamations of creations that we have seen before. Boo is your usual timid, inventor type. Zino is the brainless hero with the heart of gold. Alanta is a headstrong female character that wants to be equal to the boys and Professor N. Icely is the typical mad scientist with a very silly reason of getting revenge. The characters are not backed up by story that is anything more than average. You may think that a set of cartoon character coming into the real world might sound intriguing but this is the only decent part of the story and the rest of it is so slight that it just seems like a way of joining the action sequences together. While most of the film is visually stunning there are times when you think that the animation is just not as good as it is in the set sequences. This was probably to do with budget restrictions but it does slight distract from the extremely good visual look of the rest of the film.

Boo, Zino and the Snurks is, for most parts, a feast for the eye but little else. With poorly realised characters and a story that is far too slight to draw you or its intended audience in, the most just seems like a wasted opportunity and more proof to the notion that not all computer animated films are good films.

NOT AVAILABLE

Small Soldiers

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2004