It's due to come to America next summer — a CGI fantasy about a young girl saving her enslaved people among the branches of a world-sized tree. And it looks pretty darn cool. Just thought I'd share.
Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
Ooooh.
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Some of the pictures from the trailer look pretty cool. It's tough to compete with Finding Nemo or the graphics from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, but these people seem to have got some nice images.
The only thing that worries me is the premise. I don't know why, but every time I hear about a character-vs-God premise, I get this pretentious Shatner Star Trek V vibe from it. Like the writers said, "let's make the deepest, most profound story ever... let's make them fight God. Yeah, God. You can't get any bigger than that. Aren't we brilliant?" I know that it can be done, but writers with that kind of idea generally seem to discover, sooner or later, that they've bitten off more than they can chew, and the result is usually kind of disappointing.
I don't want to prejudice myself, though. It certainly looks like it has the potential to be good. I hope it is. I'm sure it won't be any more disappointing than the aforementioned Final Fantasy, anyway.
[ November 16, 2003, 05:57 PM: Message edited by: Speed ]
Posted by Amka (Member # 690) on :
I didn't like American Gods. I kept on yelling at the main character to DO something and take control. He was just being shuffled around, and in the end he was still just a passive player. I kept on reading it, figuring that their HAD to be something more to it. What a disappointment. Wasn't deep or profound. Just muddled.
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Hmm. I liked the book for the "on the road" aspect more than the "dealing with gods" aspect, but I did think it was interesting. It was also quite vivid, well researched and seemed to me to be technically well written. But I did have to stop thinging of what I'd do in the main character's situation after a while.
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
I got the impression from the stuff at the site that the "gods" were really just a bunch of powerful slavers that had duped an entire race into worshipping and serving them ...
The one thing that makes me worry, really, is the entirely dark-brown-and-pale-blue palette. Sometimes a scene can be really difficult to follow for lack of color differentiation.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I just got American Gods this past weekend, intending it to be my introduction to Neil Gaiman. Is there a book that would serve as a better introduction to his work?
Posted by Amka (Member # 690) on :
I think his short stories are the best introduction to him.
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
'Tis true. I really liked Smoke and Mirrors.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Thanks, both of you, for the recommendation. I'm kind of partial to short stoies anyway, so that's an even better suggestion than it otherwise would be.