60
If the storytelling and English-language voice work are a bit functional, the visuals dazzle.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
60
Lovely visuals are key for the success of any animated film, arguably more so even than for live-action movies. But a compelling story is also essential, and that’s where “Long Way North” trips up.
63
Slant Magazine by Keith Watson
Even if Long Way North's narrative makes for a bland frame, there’s no denying the beauty of the picture it holds.
90
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
Long Way North is a complete pleasure, a gorgeous piece of wide-screen animation that is as delightful as it is unexpected.
80
The Guardian by Leslie Felperin
It’s a proper animation buff’s piece of work, and admittedly a little slow to get its yarn ripping, but mesmerising and moving in the later stretches.
70
The New York Times by Neil Genzlinger
The frosty landscapes have a subtle beauty, pale and sometimes shrouded in mist, giving the film a very different look from what often comes out of the big studios — somber, which is appropriate to the story.
63
Long Way North is a different vision, using clear-defined colors, shapes and shadows for hand-drawn beauty, giving the film a bold, intricately-cut-construction-paper look. Especially as the characters are surrounded by ice and cold, the stark white images prove simple yet expressive.
70
Where most post-Shrek animated films are manic and all too eager to please, Rémi Chayé's deliberately paced Long Way North tells its story with clarity and an urgent calm.
80
The Hollywood Reporter by Sheri Linden
You don’t have to be an animation buff to appreciate the chances this stirring saga takes.
40
Time Out London by Tom Huddleston
The visual style here is pleasingly simple, with round, Moomin-ish faces and washes of icy pastel colour. But the story is pretty flat, spending ages setting up a rivalry between aristocrats that turns out to have no bearing on the story at all.