Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists

Implementing the latest technology for special effects in a film has had it's hits and misses, never more so in full length animated motion pictures. The realization of 3D Computer Generated Images (CGI) have been restricted to companies like Pixar (Monsters, Inc., Toy Story) or PDI-Pacific Data Images (Antz, Shrek). But the images have been primarily of funny animals with cartoonesque rendering of humans. Game manufacturer SquareSoft tried with their technologically superior, but vapid tale "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within".

Now, an India based company, Pentafour, tries with a superior bend in their storytelling and artistic design with "Sinbad". Although their movement software isn't as smooth or as well rendered as "Final Fantasy", the story is much more engaging, making it another good entry in the myriad tales of the most famous sailor since Popeye.

Brendan Fraiser seems to have found his niche in these characters (along with his work in the Mummy films) giving voice to the adventurous young salt on another mission of danger, discovery and romance. The conceptual designs, especially in the undersea kingdom are excellent. You just have to get past the somewhat stilted animation style and renderings of the human characters and it makes for a pretty good entry into someone's animation film collection.