APRIL AND THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD* (B+) - This delightful animated film wonders what life would have been like in the early 20th century if, during the industrial revolution, all technological inventions stopped and the world continued as a coal-fired steam-punk existence.
April is a young woman whose parents were working on a serum that makes humans impervious to death and disease before they are neutralized by government officials, led by the bumbling Inspector Pizoni. They hide the serum in a snowglobe that they manage to hand off to April as she escapes, not realizing how special the trinket is beyond a sentimental connection to her parents.
April (voiced by Marion Cottilard, in French with English subtitles) skulks around Paris with her rascally talking cat, Darwin (broadly voiced by Philippe Katerine). April eventually is reunited with her grandfather, Pops (the esteemed Jean Rochefort). She holes up in a secret hideout, trying to replicate her serum, because Darwin is dying. A fortunate accident releases a bit of the snowglobe serum and revives him.
The story is based on a graphic novel by Jacques Tardi and brought to life by directors Christian Desmares (an animation coordinator on "Persepolis") and Franck Ekinci, who co-wrote with Benjamin Legrand ("Snowpiercer"). The team dreams up a fascinating alternative universe and a story bursting with action, sly humor and plenty of heart.
A bit of science fiction in 1870 averts the Franco-Prussian war and changes the course of history. Soon, the world's great scientists disappear, and there is no Edison, Einstein or Fermi to come along to advance society past the gritty industrial age. In a lovely sight gag, a second Eiffel Tower is erected to serve as a massive cable line that facilitates travel (albeit at a snail's pace) throughout Europe. Those twin towers also serve as a subtle nod to 9/11, especially with a quaint, bittersweet callback during the film's climax.
The movie is limited by the insistence on stringing together a series of shoot-'em-up showdowns -- a mix of Mad Max and Keystone Kops -- that culminates in a virtual Armageddon between our heroes and a cross-bred superhuman race that secretly inhabits a more modern utopia hidden from the rest of the world. That climax is way too messy and rather ridiculous, but the film builds up enough capital before then to allow the viewer to forgive the excess, and then it wins us over anew with a melancholy but hopeful coda that zooms the timeline toward the present day.
Cotillard's April is a credible feminist hero, tough but vulnerable (the young man sent to spy on her eventually becomes a love interest), and she and Darwin are quite the dynamic duo. It's a bit bulky at an hour and 45 minutes, but "April" is a joyful trip through the dark side and toward the light.
* The opening credits translate the French title as "April and the Twisted World."
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