Metropolis

Rating:
Summary: A living hell
Review: Maybe the worst three hours of my life. First, I do not know anime too well, but I know the worst movie of my life when I see it. Whoever wrote that worthless material should know that they made me want to gorge my eyes out with spoons. I do not know what was going on, but I remember for like 30 minutes of the movie it was this just stupid Japanese girl scribbling names on a wall.

Rating:
Summary: Strong Plot, But Never Fully Develops Its Ideas
Review: Based on Manga by Osamu Tenzuka (the "Godfather" of anime responsible for the familiar doe-eyed look) and adapted to the screen by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), "Metropolis" only bears passing resemblance to the Fritz Lang film that obviously inspired it. While the animation is breathtaking and the story good, it never fully delves into the possibilities of the various philosophical problems it raises: artificial intelligence, surrender of freedom for security, and responsibility of outsiders to do the right thing. As a result, "Metropolis" ends up coming off as a really, really nice piece of fluff - one that, unfortunately, cannot compete with other 'serious' anime titles like Princess Mononoke, Akira, or Grave of the Fireflies.

The story alternates between Kenichi, the son of a Japanese private eye sent to the gigantic future-city of Metropolis to find a doctor who is accused of making illegal human-robot hybrids, and Rock, a slightly off-kilter policeman who is head of the fascist-leaning goon squads that kill robots and revolutionaries with equal gusto. When Rock discovers that his adoptive father, a powerful Duke who plans on taking over Metropolis, has ordered the creation of a robot that resembles his dead daughter, he attempts to kill her, but she falls into the city's seedy robot/worker underworld where she meets Kenichi. He forms a bond with her, but her innocence is soon replaced as she realizes she was created for one purpose: the completion of a mysterious ziggurat that sits at the center of Metropolis. As the story moves towards its inevitable, Akira-esque conclusion, the revolutionary workers in the city attempt to gain control, although it becomes clear they are merely pawns of a larger force.

As other reviewers have noted, it's difficult not to see the strains of other movies in this one: Akira most notably, but Ghost in the Shell as well, and probably quite a few others. It's not a problem, but it makes "Metropolis" seem a little soul-less - as if it were cobbled together from stolen parts. The good parts of Fritz Lang's classic are present, but incredibly watered-down - robots with souls, workers revolting, and arrogance in power. Again, these concepts are never fully explored, leaving the viewer wondering, 'great, well, what next?' It should be noted, however, that the soundtrack is a lively collection of old jazz, blues, and swing tunes, and adds a very unique side to Metropolis - probably its most outstanding feature.

While many of the backgrounds are rendered, the animation is far more fluid and traditional than other recent computer-assisted efforts, most notably the short and rocky "Blood-The Last Vampire." While the viewer notices them, it's never a distraction. The characters are all animated with the traditional 'super-deformed' large heads, hands, and feet, and of course eyes the size of dinner plates (if you're a cute character, anyway). The DVD is the perfect exhibition ground for this movie, as its presented in stunning anamorphic widescreen that looks so good it hurts. The colors are lush and clear, and there are two DD 5.1 soundtracks (one English, one Japanese) and - an anime first - the original Japanese track in bass-blowing DTS. There are subtitles for the purists (and hard of hearing), of course, but the dub is pretty darn good. The extras are all contained on a second small DVD similar to promotional CDs they used to hand out. It's more of a gimmick than anything, but it's your standard making-of fare and interviews. In other words, you'll watch it once and forget about it.

Metropolis should probably stay in the "rent it before you buy it" category, especially if you are used to more depth from your anime. It's one of those movies that grows on you, and you end up liking it despite its problems.

Rating:
Summary: Wavering Opinion
Review: Alrighty, I too am less than an otaku, but I know how to enjoy a good Anime movie. This one, in case, is rather questionable. It was so exulted, promised to be better than Akira, since it was made by alot of the creators of the anime greats combined. Unfortunately, it was less than expected.

First of of all, the most apparant thing to me(and frankly the most annoying) was the soundtrack. Many, many, many, many people are into the whole alternative method of setting the mood with strangely obscure music, in which case Metropolis was destroyed. At a few points in the movie, the music kind of gives you that contradictory "humor when it's not funny, vibrant music in a dull setting" feel. However, once it keeps playing, you begin to wonder why there's cheery gospel in the midst of a few murders and later Tima falling from the tower. I mean, it just really kills the mood. At some points, it abruptly plays "Loony Tunes" style orchestra when in a dramatic scene. Needless to say they could (and should) have done MUCH better, but that was about the only problem I had in viewing it as a whole.
Music Soundtrack: 1/5

Now the good stuff. The plot was pretty captivating. I saw alot of spoilers from the climax, which more or less ruined it for me, so that's not to say others won't eat this up. Anyhow, since I won't ruin it for you all, if you see this movie for anything, see it for the plot.
Plot: 4/5

I was surprised(again) to hear alot of the voice acting greats working on this project. You'll suddenly remember Hiro from Gundam Wing and many more from other animes. I'd say that I only had a problem with one character whose voice I didn't think really fit to the animation(but then again, who am I to decide?)
Voice Acting/Soundtrack: 4/5

The animation and the smoothness of the Cel characters was amazing to say the least. Some may protest that the AstroBoy sketches look too innocent and cartoony. Well, that's not to say it's something of an acquired taste, but it's also not to say it doesn't work for Metropolis. The CG was a little more than mediocre. Expect something from G-Saviour or Digimon, but more complex and more confusing. Overall, it was exceptional.
Animation: 4/5

The overall movie was just okay. I'm very serious when I say that the soundtrack kills the mood. Upbeat jazz just doesn't follow the dramatic and action-filled scenes of Metropolis, and if the creators hadn't made this so annoyingly apparant, this movie would have been up there with Akira. Other than that, animation and lighting effects came together to create something truly beautfiul. See it, if only to rent it, but don't buy it for keeps to only watch it once.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be fooled by it's look
Review: I brought this, after being very surprised my little local Blockbuster actually had it in stock, to watch over at a friend's house. We watched it for a bit, but they didn't like the cartoony graphics and such. I enjoyed and brought it home to watch the next day.

I have pity on their poor souls.

This movie has an excellent story, a bit similar to Spielberg's underrated flick "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence", great jazzy music, and suberb, fluid animation. The reviews on this tend to get a bit gabby about spoilers, so I'll keep it as unrevealing as possible.
Metropolis is a huge city, where robots and people live together, until a man named Duke Red builds a huge tower called the Ziggurat and forces the robots to live underground and serve the people. They do all kinds of things for humans, even save their lives, but everyone still hates them. The Ziggurat is even equipped with a ray that makes solar flares pop up so the robots malfunction, allowing humans to blow the circiuts out of em' with shotguns. A scientist, Dr. Livingstone, I believe, creates a robot, Tima, who is so real, she thinks she's real. A boy befriends her and protects her from the unforgiving humans. This movie is flat-out excellent!

Rating:
Summary: Technicolor Eye Candy and MORE
Review: Don't let the Disney-looking characters fool you; this is an anime movie! And that means don't expect a happily-ever-after ending, characters to break out in song, or regurgitated material to sell videos to kids. Not that I dislike Disney, but at any rate, let's talk about Metropolis!

5 stars is bold, so I'll give a reason for each star.

1 LOOK. Eye Candy alone - beautiful ART, COLOR, and CGI work

2 STYLE; many compare this film to Blade Runner and I can understand why; there are moments where you just sit back and... WATCH... Beautiful, breath-taking scenes.

3 STORY. Though not completely original or ground-breaking, it holds its own and has the basic elements of a mystery / romance / adventure film. It even contains an underlying biblical message.

4 MUSIC. This is where Metropolis really shines; what an incredible score to the colorful canvas. The Dixieland Jazz reminds me of the Cowboy Bebop flavor; hip, different, and stylish. No wonder James Cameron endorsed this picture.

5 DRAMA. I'm a sucker for the innocently powerful heroine-type anime films (Serial Experiments Lain) and Metropolis certainly delivers. However young, there is a great chemistry between her & Kenichi that plays softly yet strenghtens as the film progresses.

Is this a 'must-see' anime? You bet. To me special effects are always secondary to a film, and while this movie certainly has more obvious weight in the effects department, it uses them tastefully with style and grace. Don't pass this one up because the characters look 'cutesy' or plain. They come to life and the story does the rest.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible backgrounds
Review: I admit, I watch most videos with only half my attention while doing something else. This time, I just had to see every detail. The backgrounds in this animation rich and varied. Some, with meshes of building-sized gears, catch the early-industrial mood of Lang's "Metropolis". Others have an art-deco esthetic with monumental symmetries, or tech-noir grunge. They create unique moods for each passage, and are the distinctive strength of this movie.

That said, the script and action are ordinary. The characters came from central casting: boy-hero, grasping industrial mogul, bounty hunter, and central character with identity angst. The action is well paced and the script follows its own rules. Earth is saved in the end, as usual.

The one real disappointment came from the title "Metropolis," staked out almost 80 years ago by Fritz Lang. That title creates a very high standard to live up to, and this movie falls short. I have tried and failed to imagine any reason for this self-inflicted injury. A few of the choices for background music border on the bad, as well. At worst, though, they came across as 'trying too hard.'

It's good. I'll watch it again, if only for the backgrounds. I just wish it could have given the greatness that it wanted to.

Rating:
Summary: Tima's last scene
Review: It'd been a long time since I hadn't seen a 'one scene' capable of rescuing a whole anime movie. (I wished for a scene like this one all along Akira for instance, and ... nope, it never happened, not one scene saved it, it sucked until the very end.) Other anime don't need such scenes because they are entertaining or decidedly good; not quite the case with Metropolis.

The design of the characters is quite dull, which contrasts distastefully with the (for the most part) great scenery of the picture. I'd say though that the major achievement of the designers was to portray the robot girl so beautifully, which was essential for the movie itself.

On the whole, the plot seems week, as does the script; but we'll always have that last scene between Kenichi and Tima ... which would have been the only reason for a third star, but it does not pay off for a rather mild film.

Rating:
Summary: You don't need to be an otaku to feel the love
Review: At one point in my life I was an unabashed otaku (huge fan of anime and manga) and I loved this movie. After taking a break from anime, I came back to it and found...that I still loved it. This isn't just great anime, it's a great movie. While some people find the animation "babyish" I wholeheartedly disagree. While the characters aren't exactly what most people think when they think "anime," they work perfectly. When the story gets incredibly dark, Kenichi is still a cute kid, which keeps you from losing all hope in humanity. Another element that's pure genius is the jazz/big band soundtrack. It's perfectly in synch with the movie, and never used gratuitously.

The dub is great. Good acting, the voices fit the characters, and the dialogue still works--don't worry if you're not a big subtitle fan because the dub's fine. Over all, Metropolis is the perfect combination of apocalyptic story, great animation, and beautiful music. A must-see.

Rating:
Summary: God Why, please tell me why people like this film!
Review: I bought this film, understanding from the reviews that it would be the best Anime film I had seen since Akira. I was existed, but what did I find, Crap. The question is why did people like this film at all?

To start the animation has got to be the weakest form I have seen since Digimon / Pokémon came onto the scene. The terrible mix of the childish animation and bad CG that could be picked off from the original in a flash. I'm I wrong in thinking that CG should mix into a feature seamlessly. Well if they were trying they failed.

The script also fails to deliver anything to the viewer. It is dull, and the writers where far to eager to throw facts at the viewer. Next the voice acting is terrible, the voices badly chosen and badly acted! This is meant to be the future of anime?

My final rant is the dull plot, which has been done as has been said before it is BORING. This is a truly terrible film. If you want to be introduced or just want good Anime look for the true greats like Akira, Evangelion, Escaflowne and 3x3 Eyes. Your eyes will thank you for not seeing this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie!
Review: From what I've heard from fellow anime fans and manga readers here at home is that this anime sucks. The reason for this is probably that it doesn't have enough violence for seinen (young adult anime, usually more bloody or sexual) tastes. However, the plot is amazing. It has multiple symbolisms, including Japan's view of the Cold War and Babylon (I recently heard a rumor that it's also symbolic of Nazi Germany.).