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Staff Favorite

Overall: 10
Story: 9
Animation: 6.5
Cinematography: 9
Effects: 9
Sound: 9
Music: 9.5

Unrenewable

Directed By: Sméagol

Genre: Mystery, Sci-fi, Drama, Parody
Length: 10:28
Released: June 29th, 2008

Content Advisory:  mild violence.

Director's Comments

In the industrialized society of tomorrow, Detective Jack Darter must unlock the secret behind a mysterious robbery. This film was my entry to the 2008 Brickfilms.com FAR Contest, it won 1st place out of 9 entries. This is my longest film since "Attack of the Drones," and was in many ways my largest project to date.

Staff Reviews

Jonathan Vaughan:
Philip Heinrich's foray into neo-noir can be described as nothing less than a triumph. It works on virtually every level, from the low-key cinematography to the engaging mystery that drives the plot. CGI is utilized perfectly to create the stylized and very detailed future world. The characters, most of them having only two or three minutes of screen time, are given surprisingly distinct personalities thanks to excellent voice acting, dialog, and full face animation. Another wonderful element of Unrenewable is the jazzy score, which is never overwhelming but works effectively to enhance the mood, and has a very catchy main theme. What makes the film really great, though, is the story. Being a mystery, it’s not surprising that there is a twist at the end, but it’s still amazing. If there’s anything weak about the film, it would be the animation, however that’s not to say it’s bad at all. Winner of six Bricks in Motion Awards including Best Film, Unrenewable is one of the best Brickfilms ever made.

Jay Harris:
Although I don't have much to add to Nick's review, I think that in this case it's worth throwing in my hat as well in declaring this to be one of the best brickfilms ever made. In my opinion no other brickfilmer has the all-around talent in storytelling, lighting, animation, effects, cinematography, sound, music, and voice work that Philip has. His use of the medium is unbelievable. There's a reason that this film just about swept the 2008 BiM awards. Watch it.

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