The Secret of Kells

Data
Title: The Secret of Kells
Year: 2009
Length: 75 minutes
Directors: Tomm Moore & Nora Twomey
Writer: Fabrice Ziolkowski, story by Tomm Moore
Starring: Evan McGuire, Christen Mooney, Brendan Gleeson, Mick Lally
Music: Bruno Coulais
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature

My reaction
Synopsis: a boy raised by medieval monks under threat of Viking attack befriends a fairy and learns to be an artist
How I saw it: in the theater, yesterday
Concept: Indifferent. Sounds a bit muddled, doesn't it?
Story: Good. It is a bit muddled; there's a lot going on here for a 75-minute movie, and things don't always mesh together 100%. I liked it anyway.
Characters: Indifferent. Gleeson's character is pretty tedious and hackneyed, which is a shame since he's the driving force of a lot of the drama.  It probably doesn't help that I recently saw the same Harsh Father Figure Who Means Well device in How to Train Your Dragon.
Dialog: Good.
Pacing: Good.
Cinematography: Great.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Indifferent.
Music: Great.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great). It's like somebody made a feature film version of Samurai Jack. It's notably missing the beautiful simplicity of story that Jack had, but otherwise the resemblance is uncanny.  Which is awesome.
Objective Rating: 3.1/4 (Very good).