Love, Death + Robots is an anthology series from David Fincher and Tim Miller that is available on Netflix.
Lucky 13
Directed by Jerome Chen
Animation Studio: Sony Pictures Imageworks
Based on the Short Story by Marko Kloos
Adapted Script by Philip Gelatt
Lucky 13 is about a military transport that is considered jinxed and given to a rookie pilot who quickly bonds with the vehicle.
This is another favourite of mine. Again, fantastic visuals here. The character’s are all but photo realistic. I quickly recognised the main character by voice as well as looks. It was like watching Samira Wiley on screen! That’s how good the animation is in this episode. I’d be interested to see if they used motion capture on her face as it is that good. But that’s not just why I like this episode. The story is told at a solid pace and has some fantastic action keep the episode really interesting. I got invested in the bond the protagonist, ‘Cutter’ Colby has with Lucky 13 pretty quickly. You feel the emotion of this episode pretty heavily as it comes to its conclusion.
Definitely one of the strongest episodes for me.
Zima Blue
Directed by Robert Valley
Animation Studio: Passion Animation Studios
Based on the Short Story by Alistair Reynolds
Adapted Script by Philip Gelatt
Zima Blue is the story of an experimental artist. It is also the one in the entire anthology that doesn’t really do anything for me. It’s beautifully animated, although the character designs weren’t my cup of tea. The story was way but never grabbed my attention. I did like the overall message of the story, but as a whole it didn’t do a lot for me.
Blindspot
Written and Directed by Vitaliy Shushko
Animation Producer: Elena Volk
This one is a super fun heist movie with robots. What more do you need to know folks?!? It is a fast paced, action filled thrill ride with ups and downs, entertaining characters and like the rest of this series, beautiful animation. It’s a really nice change of pace and just good fun!
Ice Age
Directed by Tim Miller
Animation by: Digic Pictures, Blur Studio, and Atomic Fiction
Based on the short story by Michael Swanwick
Script Adapted by Phillip Gelatt
This is the only episode which isn’t fully animated. It stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Topher Grace as a young couple who move into a new apartment which has a very old fridge in it. They soon discover there’s a civilisation living in the ice box.
It’s a fun story that has a good pace and Grace and Winstead are good on screen. The animation is good and the story zips by at a decent pace.
It’s an interesting episode, but doesn’t stand out a lot. The change of visual styles, like having actual humans in it, does change it up a little from the rest of the anthology.
Alternate Histories
Directed by Victor Maldonado and Alfredo Torres
Animation Studio: Sun Creature Studio
Based on the Short Story by John Scalzi
This one is a series of examples of what would have happened to the world if Adolf Hitler had died earlier in life than he did.
This one was okay, albeit a little long. Like all of these episodes, the animation is great and the design suits the story well.
The Secret War
Directed by István Zorkóczy
Animation Studio: Digic Pictures,
Based on the Short Story by David W. Amendola
Adapted Script by Philip Gelatt
The Secret War is a World War 2 era story that is set in a Soviet wilderness. Soviet soldiers are fighting an enemy that is revealed as the story goes on. It’s a very sombre piece that has some fantastic action and an animation style and design that fits the era it’s et in as well as the tone of the film.
The big bad in this story I really liked. The design they had really got my imagination going. The final confrontation is epic. It gave me what I wanted from the and finishes the anthology off on a high note.
Peter Germany's World 