A Live Action Cartoon
As a boy Bazil (Dany Boon) had to deal not only with the news that his father was killed by a land mine but also the knock on effect of the men in white coats coming to take his mother away after she had a nervous breakdown. Despite the trauma he moved on with his life and found work in a video store till one day a stray bullet from a drive by shooting struck him in the head and lodged into his brain where it remained as the doctors dare not remove it. With the possibility of dropping dead at any time and now with out a job or a home Bazil finds home with a bunch of creative misfits who join him in his decision to bring down not only the company that made the mines that killed his father but also the arms company which made the bullet which now resides in his head.
That synopsis sounds simple enough doesn't it, man looking for revenge is assisted by some quirky friends, it sounds like more than a few westerns which I have watched in my time. But "Micmacs" is no western, in fact describing, no defining what "Micmacs" is is not easy to do as at times it has the ingenuity, humour and visual style of an old silent comedy but then combined with the comedy of a wacky cartoon. But on top of that it has a visual depth which in truth is staggering with beautiful sets and creative camera angles. Oh and on top of that it is also a French movie which does mean subtitles but is a movie which is so visually strong that you don't need to read the subtitles to follow although there are some great lines in "Micmacs" which shouldn't be ignored.
What this all means is that as you sit down and watch "Micmacs" you find yourself becoming increasingly captivated by Bazil and the cartoonish way he goes about trying to get revenge. When he times his run across a road perfectly to hide behind a pillar so that he can sneak in a building behind the janitor's back it is simple but entertaining and very effective. But then so is the world which his quirky friends live in where they make marvellous puppets out of scrap metal. I could go on because every few seconds, yes seconds, there is another amusing or beautiful scene which just makes you admire not only director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's vision but also the fantastic performance of Dany Boon who has a similar comic style to Jean Dujardin.
What this all boils down to is that even if foreign language movies with subtitles is not your sort of thing "Micmacs" will captivate you as not only is it easy to follow but visually wonderful with lots of great comedy which draws you in and never lets you go.
