Why so much hype?

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Okay, so it's really good computer animation. Really good, visual and visceral and with all sorts of tones, shades, and personality.It also feels incredibly derivative of just general fantasy and science fiction archetypes. The Cathedral looks like Minas Terrath from the Lord of the Rings, the world looks like a mixture of Fantasia the movie and Phantasia the land from the Neverending Story, the silent character looks like any hero from CGI land and the music sounds like it was developed as the beginning to a video game.Is that necessarily bad? Well, I can't say I could care about anything that happened despite its visuality. It has a strong feeling of deja vu in it, which might in fact actually increase the ineffability or fatefulness of what happens but really just makes it seem all superfluous.--PolarisDiB

Cathedral is such a simple film that it is even more amazing how powerful it is. There is not a word of dialogue and almost no plot, but there is just enough going on so that you can insert your own meaning onto it, it means whatever is most important to you. The animation is spectacular, it reminds me of Final Fantasy, from a purely technical standpoint (this film is much, much better than Final Fantasy), and the music, by far my favorite part of the film, is breathtaking. There is a fascinating cross breed between techno and classical chant that fits with the material like no other kind of music ever possibly could. When the music picks up near the end of the film, it is some of the best combination of sound and sight that I have ever experienced.The movie delves into the meaning of existence and suffering in such an obscure but powerful way that it is unbelievably moving to witness the fate of a person who we do not know anything about, especially since it plays off of the meaning of cathedrals themselves in a way that pays respectful homage. It uses them as a catalyst to tell the story but does so respectfully, returning the power to them that it borrowed for its own purposes. Bravo.

While having just the barest of a discernable storyline and no plot to speak of (at least not one that I could find), this matters not a whit in my eyes. This is a treat for the eyes, first and foremost, an absolutely breathtaking piece of work. This blows the "crowd" scenes in Gladiator away, though that is admittedly not a difficult feat to manage. I suspect that Gladiator had a larger budget for SFX alone than was spent on Katedra in its entirety and the lead in Katedra is likely more amiable and personable (if just as laconic) than the chap in Gladiator. Quite impressive, even if work done three or four years from now makes this look like a Model T compared to a Rolls. Nominated for an Academy Award and deservingly so. Most highly recommended.

I agree with all the previous comments - excellent animation etc...-a masterpiece indeed. However I find the plot of the movie at least as fascinating as the visualization. It's about the power of existence and coming to an end - beautiful, magnificent, unavoidable and horrifying, about sacrifices that allow us to last. ....and thousand other interpretations. You may not agree with mine but what can be said without any doubts is that the plot IS NOT LIGHT!