The Other Side of Animation 71: Phantom Boy Review



Well, since January is pretty much a month in which you stay the heck out of theaters, I decided to use this month to catch up on movies I didn’t get to review last year, and review them for this year. Let’s begin! A while back, I mentioned that the directors of A Cat in Paris were making a new movie called Phantom Boy. The Academy Award nominated directors, Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol pretty much stepped up their game with their feature-length action crime thriller. Phantom Boy was released in the states in 2016 by our buddies at GKids, and brought in a solid cast that included Fred Armisen, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jared Padalecki, Marcus D’Angelo, Melissa Disney, and Dana Snyder. It’s definitely a bit more ambitious than the directors’ previous film, but does it mean it’s better? Well, let’s just say that it’s in my top 20 of the year for a reason.


The story revolves around this young boy in New York named Leo, voiced by Marcus D’Angelo. He is currently going through type of treatment, and while doing so, gained the ability to leave his body, and fly around like a phantom. Leo will need to use this ability of his, because while this is going on, a terrorist known as The Face, voiced by Vincent D’Onofrio, is threatening to shut down the entire city and cause chaos. Leo must team up with a young police officer named Alex Tanner voiced by Supernatural star, Jared Padalecki, and stop The Face from taking over the city.


Like it’s sibling from earlier in 2016, April and the Extraordinary World, Phantom Boy can be summed up with a few words. Those words are “charming, funny, and entertaining”. It’s a film that is easy to get into, since it has a bit of everything. Its premise is interesting, the chemistry between the characters is great, the action is fun, and it can be quite a thrilling ride to watch the clock go down, and observe the two leads deal with The Face as they try to stop his plan. The vibe and mood you get with this film is like a really entertaining 80s family film. It’s dark and atmospheric like in the same vein of a crime thriller, but it has its well-written light-hearted moments. It’s creative, but not hard to grasp in how it works. It’s a movie that doesn’t drag its heels, but it also gives time for the characters to breathe, and have some of the events that are going on, sink in with them.


The animation is great. It’s essentially the same art style used in A Cat in Paris, and it’s once again beautiful. The scenes where Leo is flying around are whimsical, and a joy to watch. While it might not have inventive scenes like the blackout scene from A Cat in Paris, it trades that in for probably some of the best villain chemistry in any animated film. The Face is a great comedic villain, and his comradery with his two goons and everyone else is one of the best highlights of the film. They even throw in this funny long-running gag where The Face tries to tell his dramatic backstory, and you never get to hear it. It’s like reading a Buzzfeed title, but not getting the actual article. The film even brings back an Easter egg from the director’s previous film, and gives that little fuzzball a lot of screen time.


If I had to complain about one major problem I have with the film, it’s that it’s once again a rather simple story. On one hand, it should be kept simple, since you don’t want to overcomplicate the setting and make the rules of Leo’s powers super-confusing. On the other hand, I feel like there could have been more done with the powers, like what else could he do, or how did he specifically get the powers? It really seems like there was meant to be more deep themes about Leo leaving his sick body to get away from it, but they didn’t know how to expand on it. I also got confused by the ending. I won’t spoil what happens, but I never understood what exactly happened. It’s hard to explain without spoiling, but I don’t feel like telling you all how it ends. You will have to find a copy of the film and rent it for yourself.


Still, despite the flaws, I really liked Phantom Boy. It’s creative, and still has a lot of the charm from the director’s previous film. It’s another high quality GKids release that I think everyone should own. It’s a good example of an animated gem that you can find if you choose to follow the indie or smaller animation releases and not just the big releases. Well, we got the good movie out of the way, how about we go into one of the biggest hit animated films from last year with The Secret Life of Pets? Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the review, and I will see you all next time!

Rating: Go See it!