Delgo 2008

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Better than a lot of animated features released in the past few months. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The animation is well done, but the story meanders between kid-pleasing slapstick and more serious good-vs.-evil fare. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Delgo demonstrates how hard it is to create a memorable, credible-looking piece of animated entertainment. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: The story is a mishmash of adventure-fantasy tropes. Read more

Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly: Too grim for kids and too dumb for grown-ups, this cut-rate CG space opera raises more questions than it answers. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: A high-tech animation adventure with a top-flight voice cast and a well-told if familiar fable about power, peace and people getting it together. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: There isn't enough action for older children, or silly humor for younger ones; even at an hour-and-a-half, the film feels padded, and it's going to feel even slower to audiences amped up on blood-red Icees and molar-cracking Nonpareils. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: A few magic rocks and tepid battle scenes do little to inspire interest in the goings-on as Malcolm McDowell and Eric Idle spout villainy and punch lines, respectively. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The animation's not bad. But the staggeringly complicated Tolkien-C.S. Lewis setting, the reptilian leads and the faded fairy-tale plot skewer poor Delgo before we have a chance to figure out what's going on here and why. Read more

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Read more

Nell Minow, Chicago Sun-Times: The look has impressive flair and attention to detail. Its biggest weakness is too many characters, too many plot diversions, and too much violence for very young children. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: Characters are stiff; there is little variety in movement. It's a cheapo product ideally suited for a Saturday-morning pyjama vigil in front of a small screen. Read more

Susan Walker, Toronto Star: This flick is like a cheap thriller where the wisecracks always fall flat and the author couldn't be bothered to invent a new plot, so he just patches together some old ones. Read more

Anna King, Time Out: Perhaps the creators of Delgo were going for the ugly-chic appeal of Shrek, but their cartoon characters have all the aesthetic allure of Jar Jar Binks. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The story is tedious, noisy and banal. It is also rather dark and convoluted for children, though it does have the familiar bombast of a video game. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: A boring, ungainly piece of animation. Read more

Luke Y. Thompson, Village Voice: Will love save the day? You won't care -- more likely, you'll just wonder why this isn't a video game you can actually play. Read more

Jane Horwitz, Washington Post: Although the film may be too violent for kids younger than 10 and too storybook for teens, it is a tale of mythic pretensions and can be quite stunning. Read more