Last year’s Persepolis was a Cannes-anointed animated drama that turned out to be an audience favorite, and Sony Pictures Classics must certainly be looking for another sleeper hit in that vein. Yet I’m not sure Ari Folman's Waltz With Bashir will be what they’re looking for. For one thing, Persepolis was a popular graphic novel prior to its big-screen version, whereas Bashir doesn’t have that built-in recognition. But more importantly, the animation isn’t as impressive this time around. Persepolis made use of the expressively stylized black and white drawings of the original comic, but Bashir’s animation isn’t nearly so impressive. Most of the negative reviews from Cannes focused not only on the quality of the animation but also its necessity, and based on the trailer, I’m not sure this story really required animation to be told. Based on the positive reviews from some critics I respect, my misgivings could be unfounded, but for now, I’ll just wait and see.