The extraordinary world of April and the Extraordinary World is no simple one, and it’s welcome that its worldview veers away from the simplistic.

| Nov 13, 2023

Feels fresh and new.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 3, 2021

April and the Extraordinary World is a pure delight of wonder and invention.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 2, 2021

An excellent animated feature with likeable characters, stunning and creative imagery, and a fast-paced and nicely complex storyline.

| Original Score: 7/10 | May 17, 2019

Pure enjoyment, but then I've always been in the bag for humanist sci-fi, lizards wearing robot armor, unusual and meticulous production design, and adventure stories where one of the heroes is a brainy woman and the other is a talking cat.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 5, 2019

I loved it, and I think it is a film that will improve with each viewing.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 11, 2019

It is compelling, not convoluted, and, best of all, takes place in an imagined steampunk world that is wondrous to behold.

| Aug 23, 2018

... at times I seemed to be seeing some kind of tribute to the adventures of Indiana Jones... [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 16, 2018

Imagine Oliver Twist meets Jules Verne as a whimsical fantasy fable, a film made for kids but clever and creative enough for adults.

| Oct 6, 2017

In the manner of this kind of thing, the story is too complex to spell out, but it's as entertaining as the design of the film is compelling to look at.

| Sep 27, 2017

The movie is interesting but that is not nearly enough to entertain, even if only for 106 minutes.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 19, 2017

The movie radiates quaint period charm from the start.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 11, 2017

A dignified, honest and comfortable epic in which the progress of man depends not only on his ingenuity in the invention and creation of artifacts that facilitate his existence, but of having an authentic interest for humanity. [Full review in Spanish]

| Aug 8, 2017

April and the Extraordinary World doesn't turn away from the darkness of the world - in fact, that darkness is integral to the plot. But our final impression is one of hope and wonder.

| Jul 14, 2017

As much as April and the Extraordinary World veers around a little too often and gets too self-indulgent with its exposition, the film effectively builds a whole other steampunk-inspired world in which viewers can get lost, gas masks and all.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 9, 2017

This hand-drawn animated feature by first-time directors Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci is a steampunk marvel that will enchant both kids and adults with its high-concept premise.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 1, 2016

Given how sumptuous the details are in every scene, the alternate universe here, even as far from reality as it is, is conceivably real.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 31, 2016

"April's" sophisticated animation and unabashed visual invention more than make up for its unwholesomeness as an emotional vision.

| Original Score: 6/10 | May 22, 2016

Even in today's world of banal CGI wonders, it would be a tall order to render the scope and detail of the Franklins' ominous steampunk world in a live-action tent-pole.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 18, 2016

Soot and steam seep into every frame, so that you can almost sense the picture wheezing.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 8, 2016