Early reviews are coming in on Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly and they’re not promising.

The Book Standard: “Visually, this Scanner is no phantasmagoria, unlikely to inspire comparison to great animated head-trips of the ’60s past. The film’s muted pallet of pastels, while immensely suited to bath soaps, is less dynamic as a filmic eye-grabber.”

Eric Synder: “I think some people will be tricked by the unusual visual style into thinking the film is more interesting than it is. I say look beyond that at what’s actually happening and you’ll realize that without the rotoscoping, the movie would be completely undistinguished, competent but only mildly entertaining.”

Tim Ryan: “…if ‘A Scanner Darkly\ doesn’t match ‘Waking Life”s wonderfully fluid meditation on the nature of existence, it’s still a remarkable visual experience and an involving drama…”