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A Monster in Paris Movie Review

A Monster in Paris is a 2011 French animated musical fantasy film directed by Bibo Bergeron and produced by Luc Besson. It’s a familiar, but solid charmer.

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“He’s not a monster“

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Featuring a monster that resembles a fly and a scientific experiment gone wrong as well as a subsequent chase to save the creature from evil people, there is no doubt about it – this movie borrows so heavily from many other famous movies that it’s an entire mish-mash of very familiar ideas. They might be called references or rip-offs regarding your personal level of tolerance. I personally find both to be true in this particular instance.

Clearly ‘The Fly’ comes to mind in the creature’s design, but the entire action in the third act reminded me so much of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ right down to some of the set pieces that are iconic from that 20s classic feature. Other movies are also used as reference points, but these two are the main ones in my book.

I did like the main female character. She’s quite likable and sweet. I also really liked the creature who is just so lovely and adorable in his own insectoid way. But the other characters, including that clichéd villain were not my cup of tea as they were typical cartoon creations.

A Monster in Paris was produced by Luc Besson and it has that quirky sensibility that made this filmmaker famous. The dialogue is solid, but the tone is a bit too lightweight and more horror overtones would have made wonders for it in terms of adult appeal.

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The animation is stellar. Some scenes are just gorgeous to behold, especially the imagery of Paris and its rooftops. The best sequences are the musical ones not just visually, but also in terms of audio as the numbers are mostly very strong and appealing. The ballet-inspired and classical musical moments were just lovely and the whole movie is a beautiful homage to the movies of yesteryear, both of the horror and the musical variety. I just wish that it had more edge and bite.

A Monster in Paris is definitely overly familiar in its storyline that is a mish-mash of many different movies, heavily borrowing in particular from The Fly and The Phantom of the Opera. The film needed more edge and originality for sure, but it’s still a charming movie in its tone and old-fashioned appeal. The animation is gorgeous and the musical sequences are quite lovely.

My Rating – 3.5