A constant among other reviews has been to point out the dated animation. There's a very good reason why the movie looks the way it does: it is a low budget indie CG film produced by first timers nearly a decade ago. Labeling The Clockwork Girl as a 2021 release is somewhat misleading. The film was finished in 2013 and aired on Canadian premium television shortly after. It just took until 2021 for the movie to gain widespread distribution. It is a shame, because the visual style is appealing (well, outside of Huxley, but that's the point), it's just let down by technical aspects.
The movie does a good job of keeping things going. Everything feels brisk and the plot progression happens smoothly in ways that make sense. I did come in expecting star-crossed lovers and thankfully, the movie does subvert that a bit. However, the runtime leaves a few things underdeveloped, including the villain. There's a twist at the end that really changes how prior actions are viewed, yet the movie has no time to acknowledge that before the credits roll. We needed more of an epilogue to wrap the story up.
Acting wise, I felt the main cast did well. Alexa Vega was great as Tesla. Huxley is kind of a brat and I guess Jesse McCartney was okay. Carrie Anne Moss was also a highlight.
Soundtrack-wise, the pop song inserts were very out of place. They did not fit the action scenes in a movie that's largely somber in tone. Thankfully, there are only a few, but the rest of the score was forgettable.
The movie does a good job of keeping things going. Everything feels brisk and the plot progression happens smoothly in ways that make sense. I did come in expecting star-crossed lovers and thankfully, the movie does subvert that a bit. However, the runtime leaves a few things underdeveloped, including the villain. There's a twist at the end that really changes how prior actions are viewed, yet the movie has no time to acknowledge that before the credits roll. We needed more of an epilogue to wrap the story up.
Acting wise, I felt the main cast did well. Alexa Vega was great as Tesla. Huxley is kind of a brat and I guess Jesse McCartney was okay. Carrie Anne Moss was also a highlight.
Soundtrack-wise, the pop song inserts were very out of place. They did not fit the action scenes in a movie that's largely somber in tone. Thankfully, there are only a few, but the rest of the score was forgettable.