The Secret of Kells
Studio: GKids
Rated: NOT RATED
Cast: Mick Lally, Brendan Gleeson, Paul Tylak, Michael McGrath, Paul Young (V)
Director: Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey
WorkNameSort: Secret of Kells, The
Our Rating: 3.00

Take a look at any one of The Secret of Kells‘ 75 minutes, and it becomes immediately apparent why this was a surprise nominee for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Academy Awards. It’s an undeniably gorgeous film, inspired by the ornate illustrations that adorn the real-life Book of Kells, a millennia-old rendition of the New Testament composed by Celtic monks and filled with exaggerated shapes and exuberant colors.

Take a look between the lines, though, and it’s easy to see how directors Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey have taken some of the most unique pages in history and forced them into the unremarkable mold of every other heroic coming-of-age fantasy. Brendan (voiced by Evan McGuire) is fascinated by the book that Aidan (Mick Lally) has brought with him from the island of Iona, and as he’s losing his sight in his old age, Aidan looks to Brendan’s youthful enthusiasm to help him complete the manuscript.

Brendan’s uncle, Abbot Cellach (an appropriately stern Brendan Gleeson), sees no use for illustrations when there’s a wall to be built around their abbey. If they hope to keep out the very same Vikings who already laid waste to Iona, then Brendan needs to stay within the barrier and away from the scriptorium. These in-structions don’t prevent our scrappy lad from teaming up with a forest sprite (Christen Mooney, rarely speaking above a grating whisper) and a multicultural band of sidekick monks to help complete and protect the sacred text.

For every striking image (the Viking forces take on a faceless, angular form), we’re offered a pat demonstration of how magical the process of bringing the Gospel to life must’ve been; making ink out of berries resembles potions practice. Brendan’s triumphant confrontations against chomp-happy beasts look cool, but these story beats marginalize the stakes, giving full focus to the secret book and leaving the deaths of countless innocents to play out in silhouette.

Yes, it’s a family-friendly take on the tale, and a handsomely animated one at that, but moments like those do a better job of rendering pretty that material which should strike us as pretty profound.

This article appears in Aug 25-31, 2010.