One can’t help being reminded of Neil Gaiman, a writer considerably more gifted at spinning such tropes into dark and distinctive new form. It’s as if Malzieu had invented both Jack and his cuckoo-clock heart from slightly rusty parts and, obvious poetic temperament aside, somehow lacked the imagination to fashion a truly original magical romance. This seems a fine enough place to begin a Scotland-set, Victorian-era fairy tale, and yet, unique as certain details might be - including the vaguely macabre sight of frozen birds dropping from the sky mid-flight, or another of the witch’s patients, who had his rickety spine replaced with a xylophone - there’s something disappointingly de facto about the setup. Third, and most important, he can never, ever fall in love - no small task for Jack (voiced by Orlando Seale), who’s eager to experience the world, and who meets the nearsighted and similarly cursed Miss Acacia (Samantha Barks, whose character sprouts thorns whenever threatened) on his first trip to town. Second, he must keep his temper under control. First, Jack should never touch the hands of his heart. The answer: no one in particular, as Malzieu seems to be making this idiosyncratic, overly precious film mostly for himself.Īfter saving infant Jack’s life by installing a mechanical apparatus where his frozen heart had been, a well-meaning witch makes clear that he must closely follow three rules or risk irreparably damaging the high-maintenance thingamabob that’s keeping him alive. Co-directed by Malzieu and musicvideo helmer Stephane Berla, this charming yet oddly miscalibrated computer-animated fairy tale combines gothic, Tim Burton-esque elements with a younger-skewing porcelain-doll look, confusing auds as to who’s being targeted exactly. A boy born on the coldest day on Earth survives only by the grace of a magical ticker in “Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart,” a Steampunk rock musical reverse-engineered from an album by French band Dionysos and the popular tie-in book written by its frontman, Mathias Malzieu.
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