Infinity's Child

Although I recommended Jan C. Nickman's Planetary Traveler--with some reservations--back in our Nov/Dec. 1997 issue, I find that my attraction to/tolerance for narrative-less eye candy has waned even further as we enter the 21st century. Featuring less backstory than a typical Barney video, Infinity's Childtakes a brief minute to mumble some gibberish about the Phleig's (an alien race of interplanetary travelers) discovery of a "gateway world" before embarking on a 40 minute flyover of landscapes produced by extensive noodling with color and texture tools in an admittedly advanced computer graphics program. Wondrous? Quite often, yes; but the cumulative effect--in the absence of either story or psychotropic drugs--is rather boring. Paul Haslinger's bombastic musical score--featuring majestic crescendos that seem absurdly overwrought considering that no meaningful dramatic action whatsoever is taking place onscreen--doesn't much help. While it's sad to see so much creative energy expended to no discernible purpose, budding animators will find the technical aspects interesting; unfortunately, the technical aspects are all that's interesting about Infinity's Child. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)