Reaction & Review | The Secret of Kells

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering an animated film from 2009. That movie is "The Secret of Kells".

Now, some of you might be surprised to know that I have never seen this movie. I know that may sound shocking, considering that I am somewhat of an animation buff, and I should've seen this already, but honestly, I haven't. And there's a couple of reasons why, which I'll get to in a bit. But first, I should probably tell you what I know about the movie going in. From what I could gather, this movie is about the making of the Book of Kells, which is basically an illuminated manuscript that has a bunch of religious text to it that I didn't bother to read into, because I wanted to go into this movie as blindly as possible. I also know that this movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature back in 2009. Which didn't win, because that honor went to Pixar's movie "Up". Which further proves my theory that it is a policy to kiss Disney and Pixar's ass almost every year when it comes to the Best Animated Feature. However, I am not going to muddy things up here by talking about the Oscar's, seeing as how they haven't been relevant, or worth caring about, for many, many years.

So anyway, there is a couple of reasons why I haven't seen this movie yet. The first reason is the studio that made this movie. For those who don't know, this movie was made by an animation studio from Ireland known as Cartoon Saloon. And a lot of people have said a lot of positive things about their movies, saying that they are all amazing works of art and that they must be seen by everyone. And as much I'd like to agree with that...I can't. Because I've seen, at least, one other movie that this studio has made, which was "Song of the Sea". And I, personally, thought that the movie was kinda dull and boring. Now, I am not going to sit here and tell you that the animation, the acting, or the music was bad. Far from it. All of that was great. I just thought that the writing itself was not up to par with what I was expecting, and the movie ended up, kinda, being a bit of a letdown for me.

Which is also gonna tie into the second reason why I haven't seen this movie yet. You see, out of all the movies that Cartoon Saloon has made, most people cite this movie, in particular, as an instant recommendation. Because that's the movie most people think of when you mention Cartoon Saloon to them. And that could lead into one of two things. Either this movie is gonna end up being as awesome as everyone says it is, OR...it could be a massive letdown. And the reason why I say that is because I have seen people over-praise a lot of movies, to a point where they will set their expectations, and their standards, for a particular movie so high that the movie will never meet those lofty expectations. And I end up skipping a lot of those movies because of that reason.

Now, that's not to say that I am not looking forward to watching this movie. I actually am rather curious to see what this movie has to offer. In fact, the only thing that motivated me into watching this movie was because I found a copy of it on YouTube. So, who knows? If this movie is as good as everyone makes it out to be, then hell, I might actually pick up a copy of this movie for myself. But I am gonna withhold that thought, because I gotta actually watch the movie first. So, I may as well quit stalling and see what this movie is for myself. And the only way I'm gonna find out if this movie is any good at all, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "The Secret of Kells".

9 minutes later

Guys, I'm REALLY liking the art style in this movie so far. Not only that, but I'm really digging the score here, as well. It's really making this movie stand out for me. I'm kinda hoping that the story here will do the same. Otherwise, I'm gonna be rather disappointed.

19 minutes later

I'm really sorry if I'm not saying a whole lot, guys, it's just that I'm really getting myself sucked into this story. It's actually rather interesting.

13 minutes later

You know, guys, I'm kinda digging how this movie is implementing it's humor with these scenes. And they're actually kinda funny, too. I wasn't really expecting that with this movie, but it's definitely working.

9 minutes later

O...K, I'm not totally sure what the hell happened to Aisling there. Either she got squashed after opening the door or she closed it after becoming...possessed, I think. I will say, though, her face looked a little bit creepy there.

10 minutes later

Well...in all honesty, I don't really feel sorry for Abbot Cellach taking that shot. He hasn't really been the most likable of characters in this entire movie, so him receiving that shot was totally worth it. And if he ended up dying, then nothing of value would be lost.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "The Secret of Kells". That was...rather interesting. Let me go ahead and shut the movie off...OK. So, what do I start with first? You know, I stated earlier that a lot of people have heaped a lot of praise for this movie, and it left me concerned as to whether or not it was going to live up to all of that praise. Well, after finally getting a chance to watch this thing for myself, I can definitely see why people would really enjoy this movie. It certainly is a rather unique movie. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I loved it myself, but I will get into that later.

Let's go ahead and get into this thing by talking about the writing. And I want to start with the film's pacing. You see, as I mentioned earlier, the only other film that I watched from Cartoon Saloon was "Song of the Sea". And I said that I wasn't really a huge fan of that movie's writing, because it felt rather lackluster to me. Well, there was another reason as to why I didn't like that particular movie. And that would have to be it's pacing. The pacing in "Song of the Sea" was pretty damn slow. Because for a majority of that movie, it felt like it took forever just to get the story rolling. And by the time that the movie wanted to get interesting, it felt like it was a case of too little, too late. And by that point, I just stopped caring about what was going on in that movie. Which is a stark contrast, when you compare it to this movie, because "The Secret of Kells" has fantastic pacing. At no point, in this movie, do you feel like the movie is dragging it's own feet. There aren't any moments where the story feels like it's coming to a dead stop for something else that's not gonna contribute to the overall film. The story here is sharp, and the movie just keeps chugging forward with it's story. This movie is one of the many examples of proper film pacing. And what really helps it the most is it's runtime. This movie clocks in at only 75 minutes. And in a lot of cases, you don't really have the time to boil a slower-paced story. Thankfully, this movie doesn't really waste it's time in getting into it's story. It just goes straight into it, and you're gonna be sucked into the story from the moment the movie starts playing. It really is a fascinating story, and I'm glad that the movie didn't slow itself down for any real reason.

As for the story itself, it's basically what I summarized earlier, about how the Book of Kells was made. Which again, I didn't really know anything about until I did the scant bit of research on this movie going in. But to go a little bit more in depth, the movie centers around our main character, Brendan, who meets this old man named Aidan, and his cat, who for some reason has different colored eyes. It's not really an issue, but it was something that I noticed. But anyway, Aidan wants Brendan's help in trying to finish this one page of a book known as the Book of Iona. Which was earlier described as a book that could turn darkness into light, and that any sinner who would read it would be like reading words as if it was written from heaven. This might sound weird, but think of it as a lite version of the Necronomicon from the "Evil Dead" series, only without demons and such. Anyway, in order for Brendan to finish this page of the book, he needs a couple of ingredients. One of them is ink berries, and the other is a crystal eye that Aidan use to have at one point during a flashback to where his homeland was destroyed by the vikings, and one of them stepped on it by accident. And Brendan has to go and find a different crystal eye. Where he finds that crystal is something I won't spoil for you guys, on the off chance that you want to go and see this movie for yourself. But as I said, the story is really interesting, and it really is fascinating to see where it goes. Our characters here have personality and depth that you can care about. Well...for the most part, but I'll get into that in a second. I will say, though, my favorite character in this movie would have to be Aidan. I just find his personality to be very charming and rather likable. In fact, most of these characters are rather likable, even if there might be some supporting characters here and there that do lack depth. However, it's not something you're gonna be looking for when watching this movie. You're gonna be focusing on the characters that do matter as the movie plays itself out.

Speaking of which, this is gonna lead into one of the only problems I have with the writing. There are a couple of characters I am rather disappointed with. One of them is our only female character in this movie named Aisling. Aisling is this girl that Brendan meets when he first enters the forest to go and find the ink berries. This is the one character who, I thought, was going to have more of an impact. At least, when it comes to her character depth. Unfortunately, though, that's not the case. She does form a friendship with Brendan, and does help him get to where he needs to go, but she really doesn't have much of any depth to go on. The only thing she mentions to Brendan was that this dark creature named Crom took away her parents. But aside from that, her character doesn't seem to be very fleshed out. And I was really disappointed with this character the most, because she had a lot of potential when you first see her. It's just kind of a shame that any depth she should've had is kinda wasted here. And the other character I want to make mention of is Abbott Cellach. He is, basically, the most close-minded individual in this entire movie. He's mostly focusing on building this wall to keep the vikings out from destroying the village that he's heading. And he wants Brendan to focus on his work and not wasting time on helping Aidan finishing the book. And this basically leads into him locking Brendan in his room until he comes to his senses. And for a long time, I was suppose to find a reason to care about Cellach. But that didn't happen. And by the time that the vikings invaded, I was hoping that they would just kill Cellach because his character had not changed throughout most of the entire movie. A bit of a spoiler on that, he doesn't die. And by the time that the movie was over, I still didn't care about him, because his character was just that unlikable. As I said, he comes across as a judgmental, close-minded person that didn't care about what Brendan was doing, because what Cellach thought he was doing was right and that nothing else mattered, other than keeping the vikings out of the village. So while he might have more of a character over Aisling, it's not a very likable one, so it's kind of an even split between the two. One doesn't have much depth, and the other is just completely unikable. You can take your pick between the two.

But aside from that, the writing here is really sharp, and the story is really fascinating. And even though the character depth for some characters is a little bit lacking, it's not gonna be enough to bring this entire movie down. This movie has enough weight to stand on it's own, and I really enjoyed what was present in this movie. So with that being said, let's get into the acting. For the most part, the voice acting here is pretty good, but I do have one complaint, and it has to with Aisling's voice actress. At certain times, it sounds like she's phoning it in. Especially, when she has to laugh. The small moments in which she tries to laugh sounds really fake, and it just sounds rather terrible. Now that, in part, has to do with the script she was given. Because her character is kinda lacking in depth, it would make some sense as to why she wasn't given much material to work with. On the other hand, I could also say that some of her acting is a little bit lazy, too. But like I said, it's only in moments where she has to laugh, and, well, like I said, it sounds fucking fake as shit. But aside from that, her acting is still passable. I just wish she could've improved on it some. As for everyone else, the acting is pretty good. Everybody sounds comfortable in their roles. And even though I didn't like the character of Abbott Cellach, his actor was still able to make that unlikable douchebag work really well. So hey, I gotta give some credit to where it's due. So overall, the acting here is pretty good, but Aisling's actress could've been a little bit better.

The animation is really good. This is something that I will definitely say when it comes to Cartoon Saloon, which is that they produce some really solid animation, and the art style is beautiful to look at. For the most part, the characters are animated very well. Though there a couple of hiccups in movements, it's not something most people are gonna notice, or even care about. It's mostly just early on that I noticed it, but again, you REALLY have to notice it like I did, and I would just be stretching it to find any negatives when it comes to the animation. The art style, like I said, is really great to look at. The color palettes are used very well, especially in during scenes where you see the vikings just slaughter villages, and it just looks awesome. There are no characters here that are designed the same, save for the wolves and vikings, so everyone here stands out with a rather unique design to them. Still not totally sure why Aidan's cat has two different-colored eyes, but that's honestly just a nitpick. Overall, guys, the animation and art style is fucking great.

Sound-mix here is mixed mostly well. The music here is also great. But then again, just based off the two films I've seen from Cartoon Saloon, the music is something that has been an excellent track record for them, along with the animation. Everything here sounds atmospheric, and it totally works for this kind of movie. So yeah, the score here is great.

Ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "The Secret of Kells"? Absolutely. This movie, while I still wouldn't say that I loved it, is still definitely worth checking out. Animation buffs will definitely enjoy this movie. And if you, yourself, are an animation buff, and you haven't seen it yet, then I would definitely recommend you do so. It really is a fascinating movie that you should check out, even if it's, at least, once. Now, could I recommend this to children? I would say yes. I mean, there's nothing much here that'll scare children. MAYBE the final act teeters on being dark, but it's not really enough to where it will scare children out in wanting to watch this movie for themselves. As for myself, would I buy a physical copy of this movie? If it's at a decent price, then I might consider it. I was skeptical about how much praise this movie got, and for the most part, it does live up to that praise. While I wouldn't say it's something I would watch multiple times over, I am happy to say that I finally got to watch it, and it certainly is a really good movie. Now...I'm gonna go and watch something else. And seeing as how this was a fantasy movie, I think I'm gonna go and watch my copy of "The Last Unicorn". I love that movie so much that I feel like it deserves another viewing. So, I'm gonna go and do that next after I'm done putting this review together.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.