THE YEAR OF THE FRENCH (A MONSTER IN PARIS)

If the awards season is anything to go by, 2012 could well turn out to be the Year of the French.

‘The Artist’ has been bowling over film critics and hoovering up Golden Globes, BAFTA and Oscar nominations while harking back to the glory days of classic Hollywood cinema.

Martin Scorsese’s first foray into 3D filmmaking ‘Hugo’ has also charmed critics and walked away with a Best Director Golden Globe for its dazzling depiction of 1930s Paris.

Now hot on their heels comes the French-made Computer Generated Image (CGI) cartoon ‘A Monster In Paris’ – set in a mist covered French capital at the turn of the last century.

And while this family feature film may not be showered with as many awards as Scorsese and Michel Hazanvicius’ movies, it makes an intriguing companion piece.

Produced by Luc Besson and directed by Eric ‘Bibo’ Bergeron (who previously made ‘The Road to Eldorado’ and the Will Smith and Robert de Niro voiced ‘Shark Tale’), the cartoon begins with an affectionate recreation of a black and white horror film and immediately recalls both ‘The Artist’ and ‘Hugo’ in its opening sequence.

This film within a film is being screened in a picture house by a shy projectionist turned amateur filmmaker Emile (voiced by Jay Harrington) and within minutes, there is a reference to his love for the pioneering special effects cinema of Georges Melies who featured so prominently in ‘Hugo’.

Emile accompanies his whacky, vain and, at times, reckless friend Raoul (Adam Goldberg), a delivery man turned inventor, on his rounds through the French capital.

However events soon spiral out of control at a tropical glasshouse when Raoul starts messing around with potions and accidentally ends up creating a giant human sized flea which terrorises the citizens of Paris.

It is only when Raoul’s true love, a music hall songstress Lucille (Vanessa Paradis) discovers that there is more to the Monster than meets the eye that the movie literally shifts several gears as the gang try to protect the Monster dubbed Francoeur (Sean Lennon) from a ruthless and ambitious Mayor seeking re-election (voiced with great gusto by Danny Huston).

‘A Monster in Paris’ has much to recommend it – not least the care which Bergeron and his fellow screenwriter Stephane Kazandjian take to flesh out their characters – even if occasionally the pace of the film sags.

Bergeron and Kazandjian pepper their story with some good running gags – particularly those involving a Parisian thief and others involving a cloth capped monkey called Charles.

The animation is, at times, impressive – bringing an artist’s sensibility to its loving recreation of turn of the 20th century Paris. Part of the fun is the way Bergeron and his team of animators reproduce Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, the Seine and the Eiffel Tower, naturellement.

And the performances once again underscore why there should be a special awards category in the Oscars, the Cesars or the BAFTAs for Best Vocal Performance in an Animated Feature.

Goldberg, Huston and Harrington equip themselves well and there are decent supporting turns too from Catherine O’Hara as Lucille’s ambitious mother and Bob Balaban as the diligent police captain, Pate.

But the star of the show is undoubtedly Vanessa Paradis (who also voiced Lucille in the French version) who particularly stands out in the musical sequences.

‘A Monster In Paris’ may not in the end turn out to be a monster hit at the British and Irish box office but it is packed full of imagination, entertainment and humour which the whole family will enjoy.

Bergeron does not rely on lazy pop culture references like the ‘Ice Age’ movies or ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’. It works hard for its laughter and will charm all ages – even if you run the risk of your children developing an unhealthy obsession with fleas.

(‘A Monster In Paris’ opened in the Movie House and other UK and Irish cinemas on January 27, 2012. This review originally appeared on Eamonnmallie.com)