Da Vinci: O Grande Inventor

Oftentimes da Vinci is pleasantly lost in the cosmos of his mind, what Willy Wonka called "Pure Imagination." The target audience of "The Inventor" will surely relate.

An engaging and amusing history lesson.

There's an undeniable boldness to Capobianco's decision to channel a biography through the medium of stop motion, but it's perfect for the untrammeled exuberance and boundless ingenuity of Da Vinci.

The movie is marvelous, in a way: It's enchanting to see Leonardo drifting along in a reverie as his sketches fill the screen and sweet Renaissance-style music decorates the soundtrack.

"The Inventor" is rife with somewhat didactic lessons - about power, innovation, curiosity - yet a presumably unintended one might be that lessons themselves, however insightful, are not always captivating.

An animated film suitable for both adults and children that is truly full of marvels.

It has an interesting concept but a very meandering narrative that makes it feel like it might have been better off as a tightly executed 30-minute short - even at just over 90 minutes long, The Inventor is creative but has a tendency to drag.

It asks big questions about life and meaning that might compel adults, but it's ultimately hard to see this landing anywhere outside of a niche audience. If you appreciate stop-motion as an art, it's a must. If you want a good story, maybe not.

There is nothing bad about The Inventor, but it would have been better if it had settled on a tone.

Even though Leonardo learns a profound lesson in the end, in this film, his quest to find the human soul doesn't have much heart.

A visual treat (and a great history lesson), "The Inventor" shows how valuable following one's passion truly is. Seeing is believing.

All the things that I thought were outrageous inventions of the filmmakers turned out to be real when I checked the history. It's really quite dazzling in that way.

The biggest problem is the story. Although I think of Capobianco as a very talented story man, this just rambles, fumbles and stumbles its way along.

While The Inventor does not wholly work, it is still ultimately worth seeing.

Perhaps this could have worked better as a short but I grew tired of it even with the enchanting animation.

A gentle stop-motion fantasia about Leonardo da Vinci.

The animators do a good job of illustrating the way Leonardo's active mind works. The story is a bit flat because you never really believe that Leonardo is in any kind of jeopardy. The mood is light and the stakes are low.

The story doesn't portray da Vinci as some type of intellectual anomaly... Capobianco includes all those elements, but his film is a reminder that the incredible brain was housed in a very human body.

It's a role written for Stephen Fry... it's perhaps harder to know exactly who the audience is.

The Inventor doesn't do anything groundbreaking in animation, but it's a charming option for viewers who want to see an adventure story about Leonardo da Vinci. The movie has positive messages about reaching for our best potential.