Renaissance

IMDB: Renaissance

• OVERALL: 82
• VISUAL: 99
  
• STORY: 63
  
• ACTING: 83
  
• BETTER THAN: Ultraviolet
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Sim City
  
• WAS MISSING: Surprises. The plot moved too slowly and too much toward an expected ending to really hold your interest.
  
• SEE IT FOR: The black and white animation is stunning and shines most in the backgrounds, including simple things like bricks and rooftops. You feel like you're in a graphic novel. Plus, the baddie with the cloaking device and Gatling-gun arm is pretty impressive.
  

Dragons II: The Metal Age

IMDB: Dragons II: The Metal Age

• OVERALL: 71
• VISUAL: 86
  
• STORY: 49
  
• ACTING: 79
  
• BETTER THAN: Dragonheart II: A New Beginning
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Dragon's World: A Fantasy Made Real (The Last Dragon)
  
• WAS MISSING: Earth, Wind & Fire on the soundtrack.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Your dragon fetish. Past that, the only people who may truly enjoy this would be fans of the old Gargoyles series, because the style of the dragons matches that old artwork.

The Golden Compass

IMDB: The Golden Compass

• OVERALL: 79
• VISUAL: 91
  
• STORY: 67
  
• ACTING: 80
  
• BETTER THAN: The Polar Bear King
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The Spiderwick Chronicles
  
• WAS MISSING: Coca-Cola product placement with all those polar bears running around.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Any scene with the polar bears, especially the one-on-one battle, as well as a few cool steampunk elements thrown in.

Henry V

IMDB: Henry V

• OVERALL: 91
• VISUAL: 89
  
• STORY: 91
  
• ACTING: 93
  
• BETTER THAN: Love's Labour's Lost
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Dead Again
  
• WAS MISSING: An illuminated manuscript at the beginning to highlight Derek Jacobi's bookends.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Branagh's deeply moving and passionate directing debut and portrayal of the title character, especially in the pivotal Falstaff scene. Jacobi is fiery, plus you get a young Christian Bale in a supporting role.

Frazetta: Painting With Fire

IMDB: Frazetta: Painting With Fire

• OVERALL: 92
• VISUAL: 99
  
• STORY: 93
  
• CHARACTERS: 84
  
• BETTER THAN: Crumb
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The Joy of Painting (TV Series & Collected)
  
• WAS MISSING: Even more time spent on the countless knock off Frazetta artists, including comic book covers, magazines, films and album covers. So many people used his style. I would've loved to see even more of these exposed, either as plagiarism or homages.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Unbelievable mastery of art and the human form. You would never have guessed his lack of training, his "funnies" beginnings or his sincere dedication to family. I also truly enjoyed the before and after shots of works he repainted in hopes of improving them.

The Cell

IMDB: The Cell

• OVERALL: 82
• VISUAL: 90
  
• STORY: 70
  
• ACTING: 87
  
• BETTER THAN: The First Turn-On!!
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Full Metal Jacket
  
• WAS MISSING: GameBoy 3D.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Vincent D'Onofrio in yet another underrated, underseen performance as a creepy, creepy... um... McCreep? Even with the artistic colors and costumes, he'll give you nightmares.

Fulltime Killer (Chuen jik sat sau)

IMDB: Fulltime Killer (Chuen jik sat sau)

• OVERALL: 91
• VISUAL: 92
  
• STORY: 91
  
• ACTING: 89
  
• BETTER THAN: Kill Zone (Saat po long)
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Versus
  
• WAS MISSING: A need for aiming. I mean, does anybody look where they're pointing that thing?
  
• SEE IT FOR: The best Bill Clinton mask scene since Point Break, combined with very stylized fight scenes and a sinister performance from Andy Lau.