Set in Paris in 1910, the story centers around two friends, Emile (Jay Harrington) and Raoul (Adam Goldberg), who accidentally unleash a monster in Paris. Emile, a shy projectionist, has a crush on the theater’s ticket-seller Maud (Madeline Zima). The outgoing (and somewhat obnoxious) Raoul, a courier by day and inventor by night, has a reticent interest in local singer Lucille (Vanessa Paradis), who can’t stand him. Given Raoul’s taste for adventure, the two are prone to getting in to a bit of trouble together. Such is the case when Emile agrees to make a few a few deliveries with Raoul. One delivery takes them to the greenhouse of a very intelligent botanist. The botanist is away, and Raoul’s curiosity causes a flea to grow to human size. Somehow, the growth process has also caused the flea to develop a surprisingly nice singing voice (provided by Sean Lennon).
Meanwhile, the city of Paris is flooded, and Commissioner Maynott (Danny Huston) sees the giant creature as the perfect way to distract the city’s residents. He publicly promises to destroy the creature and save the city, but, as the beautiful Lucille discovers, that the big creature might not be such a monster after all.
The film, co-written by Bibo Bergeron, has a fairly light plot. The first third of the film sets up the story, which is built around a chase scene, some fairly simplistic musical montages, and a big climactic finale. Things just sort of move along, without the same kind of extensive character development you’d likely find in an animated film. We are just asked to accept things as they are, with no explanation. For instance, in the process of growing to human size, the flea has developed a beautiful singing voice, and talent for dancing, but for whatever reason, can’t talk.
On the positive side, the voice work is solid across the board. Adam Goldberg plays sycophantic very well, albeit in a limited role. Madeline Zima and Vanessa Paradis are both undeniably charming as the love interests, and Danny Huston is perfect as the villain. The talented Catherine O’Hara does a nice job as the manager of Lucille’s club, but she’s not really given a lot to do. Some of the stories shortcomings are forgivable because of the film’s amazingly beautiful animation. The Parisian cityscape is stunningly recreated, evoking an almost dreamlike quality.
While the songs are occasionally simplistic, there’s no denying that songwriter Matthieu Chedid (a.k.a -M-) came up with some memorable, catchy tunes. I’ve never been a Sean Lennon fan, but his soft delivery works well as the singing voice for the flea. When Lucille first sings with the monster, the pop song “La Seine and I Caberet” is one of those musical moments that will stick with you. Unfortunately, the rest of the film isn’t that effective, but it’s still reasonably entertaining.
Shout! Factory has released A Monster in Paris as a two-disc set, one Blu-ray and one DVD set.
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the 1080p 3D transfer via an MVC codec is a solid one. Colors are bright and sharp, and when appropriate boasts an impressive level of fine detail. When it comes to the specifics of the 3D, A Monster in Paris doesn’t offer anything that’s really “in your face.” Instead, the 3D effect is mostly used to enhance the depth of the image. This is most in evidence in shots taken above the city. The 3D is subtle but effective.
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track effectively delivers the film. The musical numbers come through very nicely. The acoustic guitar work sounds absolutely amazing. While I wouldn’t call this a particularly aggressive sound mix, dialogue remains clear throughout, and effects such as street sounds are consistently audible.
Audio options include English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks, while subtitles are available in English.
There’s not much in the way of special features. We get a trailer, a DVD copy of the film and a code for digital copy.
