Ruben Brandt, Collector (2018)

Ruben Brandt, Collector is a new 2D animated film from Hungary. Our five protagonists, as seen above, are art thieves that are trying to steal 12 very famous art pieces around the world which are causing the main character to have nightmares. They are operating on the belief that if the main character possesses the paintings then the nightmares will stop.

The film has a unique artistic style where the character designs are made to look like abstract art- well, mainly in the facial area, the body is still a bipedal humanoid form.

But that's mainly for the background characters, our main characters, however, have relatively normal faces and is probably designed with the "Golden Rectangle" in mind -because even though their faces are a little odd they are actually aesthetically-pleasing to the eye.

Our central character is The Doctor, Ruben Brandt (Iván Kamarás) while still nice to look at as he is, I hate to say, he's nothing more than a blank slate. Resembling more of a plot MacGuffin than a fleshed out character. He's the character that has the nightmares to push our team into wanting to stealing the 12 individual paintings, which bleed into full-on hallucinations leading to physical harm. Instead of seeking help, he comes to the conclusion that owning the paintings (aka stealing them) is the best way to rid himself of his problems. Which needless to say is a bit of a stretch for someone who is supposed to be a legit doctor.

The movie states he's pretty good at his job but from what's shown in the movie it seems he's pretty incompetent. I will state his introduction in the movie was entertaining and that is, unfortunately, the high-point of this character.

The Sexy Cat Burglar aka Mimi (Gabriella Hámori)

This is the most interesting character in the film and a combination of Carmen Sandiego and Selina Kyle (Catwoman).

Her introduction in the film is the real high point of the film, with smooth animation and fast-paced action. A lot of the time, the background characters will be pretty stiff and still which gets in the way a little because the main characters or whatever the film wants to focus on is animated very well. Such as a snail's movements or a mosquito drawing first blood. The visuals and animation in this movie are outstanding.

minor character, The Girl in the Chair to the detective so to speak.

Mimi is the best thief and she's the one to put the team together not the doctor, but her motivations to do so is a bit weak at first. It becomes clearer later on but even at that point it's still a bit iffy. (No spoilers, so I can't really say, but I never really bought her motivation)

And of course,

The Detective aka Mike Kowalsky (Csaba Márton)

Since Mimi is Catwoman it would make sense, I guess to compare him to Batman. It is revealed that his office is in Chicago which is where Christopher Nolan based Gotham City on.

(Is Ruben Brandt just a Batman story that focuses on the villains instead of the hero?)

I mean, he's smart, a good detective that relies on his hunches that's spot-on, has a fancy car, can speak multiple languages, can fight, has a cute sexy girl in the chair (Oracle?) that looks up information for him. Is a bit of a loner but can work with people when he has to and did I mention he had a fancy car?

While I found the story to be pretty weak, I did like the characters and the interactions between them for the most part. I believe the story would have been made stronger without the title character and have it be Mimi (The collector) and her crew vs Mike the detective.

Would have made for a more streamlined story and the characters would have had a better motivation; because in a movie like this the characters either steal to see if they can get away with it like in the Thomas Crown Affair or for financial gain like in Ocean's 11.

With Reuben Brandt as the collector, they apparently do it for neither. Moreover, it took me a while to realize this, but there's also a plothole that on first viewing one would probably let it slide but in writing this review and thinking about the movie it became apparent that a few plotholes arise.

I believe this experimental film should be seen more for the visual and artistic appeal moreso than its story. There is something to be said for seeing movies on the big screen, but if you can't make it, I think it would be more fun to have this at home and pause it to take in the scenario at your control and your leisure. I highly recommend seeing this at least once to see if this film works for you.

Ruben Brandt is a MUST SEE for the Visuals and the Animation for any animation fan but the story needs more work.

FORMAT: Cinema FROM: Sony Pictures Classics RATING:R  RUNNING TIME : 1 hr 36m