Nipping in ahead of Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly is another rotoscoped curiosity, a creation in black-and-white so pure it makes Sin City look sepia-toned. This is hardboiled noir that aspires to be a 21st century Blade Runner with a thoroughly Gallic flavour. Against this dark background, our maverick cop hero Karas (Daniel Craig) tries to unweave a tangled web of deceit and conspiracy after a brilliant young geneticist is kidnapped. Karas is appropriately world-weary and the femmes sufficiently fatale, but the whole feels somehow lacking in heart.
The animation is gorgeous but makes the characters feel cold, and the plot is perhaps too labyrinthine even for this twisty genre. An interesting and gloriously designed effort rather than a must-see.