I had the opportunity to see Phantom Boy at Anim’est 2015. It is an animated feature film produced by Folimage and directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, the filmmakers of Une vie chat.
Visually, Phantom Boy resembles all Folimage productions. It is enough to see a few seconds of animation and to recognize the graphic style of the Studio Folimage.
In their characteristic style, with colorful graphics, Folimage attract attention with an interesting story about a boy who becomes an 11-year-old superhero when he discovers he has
the ability to leave his body and fly through walls.
Phantom Boy is a boy who suffers from cancer being at the hospital for chemotherapy. He helps a policeman to solve a serious case about an enemy of New York City.
French filmmakers are using clichéd superhero in order to present in a unique way the story of a child who is fighting cancer. We get two plans: the story about the boy and the story about the policeman who is ignored by his bosses. Both planes intersect the time that the police in the hospital as a patient and this way they get to make acquaintance. The boy uses his superhero powers and helps the police to catch the enemy of New York City.
The scenario is a bit Americanized. We get plenty of action and suspense, as in Hollywood movies.
