Metropolis

Rating:
Summary: Wasabi Deco with a dash of nihilism
Review: First of all, this anime has almost nothing to do with the Fritz Lang masterpiece by the same name: I understand that the Japanese version was inspired by seeing a poster of the German classic. However, I would describe the anime as a "re-imagining" of Metropolis. This is not to say the anime is bad, it is just to warn the aficionados about what they are buying. Indeed, I think the anime stands remarkably well on it's own-except for the last five minutes.

I was awed at the technical aspects of the film, which I would describe as "Wasabi Deco." The characters (except for Tima) resemble some of the cartoons of 1920's. In fact, Detective Shunsaku bears an eerie resemblance to Rich Uncle Moneybags from "Monopoly." These nostalgic visuals are augmented with vintage 1920's jazz music.

The cell are is seamlessly overlaid on dazzling computer graphics. This film puts all American animation to shame, Disney and Pixar not excepted. It is pure eye candy.

The story was lush and layered. Even the secondary characters, such as Pero and Atlas seemed interesting. The story focuses on Detective Shunsaku and his nephew Kenichi trying to track down am organ-cyborg pirate, and they get quickly caught up into the balkanized politics of the city: The robots verse humans, the Marduks versus the President, the lower class versus the upper class. All of these tensions are counter-pointed by person struggles: Rock verses his foster father Duke Red, Rock verses Tima, Detective Shunsaku verses Dr. Laughton, and lastly, Tima discovering if she is human, which is a question for all of us.

This story is very engaging and thought provoking. With the exception of the last five minutes, it was executed very well. As with all anime, there is much detail given to the sub-plots that contribute to the overall plot. You feel like you are given a thicker, heavier story that is all the more satisfying.

This Metropolis has all the normal anime conventions: evil military, evil technology versus righteous nature, the displaced families (everyone is a nephew, adopted, or both), a young boy as the morally superior character, people dealing with the "ultimate Weapon," the peculiar absence of a mother figure, and lastly the cult of the idealized woman. It is great fodder for fans of Joseph Campbell and "The Hero with 1,000 Faces." But this fantasy core to sci-fi is what makes it so exciting.

Now for the last five minutes. Everything in this film was executed flawlessly, except for the last five minuets, which should be the resolution to all of the ideas brought up in the plot. What happened was that instead everyone died. In fact, everyone with an issue or an idea was killed off in the movie, without a resolution. Instead of writing a good story, Rintaro invokes a "Deus Ex Machina" with the god being the grim reaper. Wholly unsatisfying, which is the normal pap you get from fatalistic/nihilistic storytellers.

(Question: By pointing out that there is no resolution, do nihilist inadvertently resolve something?)

As if this wasn't bad enough, the collapse of the Ziggurat was orchestrated to Ray Charles's "I Can't Stop Loving You." This is rather puzzling and elicited an expletive from your humble reviewer. Was something lost in the translation? Was it meant to show how Kenichi loved Tima, despite her cogs and diode? Or was it an homage to Dr. Strangelove? Kubrick's film was equally as nihilistic, but it was black comedy at it's finest, so the song "We'll meet again" flowed logically from the previous humor. However, Rintaro's work was rather serous and solemn, so Ray Charles singing at the end was rather odd, and barely even funny.

So the ending was a magna-letdown. One of the problem with much anime is that is obviously retelling how Japan lost World War II. True, there is a guilt associated with the military expansion in all of Asia, and shame in being conquered and nuked by the US. But these are forgivable sins. What anime needs are stories not just about guilt and nihilism,, but about atoners or saviors who can forgive past sins, and prevent future problems. That is what Metropolis sorely lacked and desperately needed: a savior.

Rating:
Summary: Give Metropolis a Chance
Review: I have noticed many reviwers compare "Metropolis" to anime greats such as "Akira" or "Ghost In The Shell", and that's unfair footing for ANY anime. "Akira" and such shows are anime greats because few can compare, and to judge anime by that grading bar would mean the majority of anime would fail. We should judge anime by whether it entertained us or provoked an emotional reaction.

That said, I found Metropolis to be a wonderful film. The animation, as many have noted, is certainly different- bubbly anime characters look at first awkward against such fabulous backgrounds, but you get used to it. The music takes the form of great, jazzy mixes that empahisize life in the city.

Sadly, character development doesn't really exist- and that's one of the main flaws, aside from the plot (which really isn't that original).

However, just because there wasn't much character development doesn't mean the characters were bad. In fact, the main reason I kept watching was to watch the romance unfold between Tima and Kenichi. The ending really packed a punch.

All in all, Metropolis is a good movie. Try it.

Rating:
Summary: A new milestone in anime
Review: The characters' appearences didn't stop me from buying this movie. I just wanted to see a good movie. This is how Osamu Teuka's work looks. Too big of feet is stopping you? To big of girly eyes for all the characters, including the boy ones? Don't let anything on this movie stop you from buying it. And don't let the other reviews stop you. Every penny is worth it.
This movie is based on the comis book{manga} Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka's. To all of you who want to know what the word based means, I highly doubt this is supposed to be a different version of a movie for Astro Boy, but I honestly don't know. but what I do think this movie is based on for Astro Boy that's not a far-fetched answer is the fact that Osamu Tezuka made his characters from Astro Boy look similar to the characters appearences{big feet,big eyes]in this movie.
I also think there will be a sequel to this because this was released just over a year ago, and Ithink Kenichi might become a detective. I wonder if he'll still look like a girl, though.
But I can't believe I was afraid to buy this movie. It kinda looks like it has subtitles at the beggining, but i can assure little kids, it doesn't.
But parents before this movie sells out{ I've noticed that a lot of things that I want to get is sold out} maybe you should buy it. Even you might like it also. Also, if you have a son/daughter or you think is too young to watch PG-13 movies you should buy for them or yourself and let them watch it when you feel they are old enough.
Here is a summary of the movie:
Duke Red creates a robot named Tima, and thanks to his son, Rock, he thinks Tima is destroyed. But she's really befriending the nephew of a japanese detective. Buy the movie to see the ending.

Rating:
Summary: I can't tell which is worse: The animation or the story?
Review: I am going to make this review short. Three major reasons why I didn't like Metropolis:

The Animation -- What is up with the fat heads, mustaches or other body features? Placed on a computer generated background, it either looks like an very very old Japanimation, or a really bad attempt to immitate American cartoons. I can't seem to tell which.

The Story -- Lack of character developement, and with few action sequences in between a boring plot.

The Music -- Where did they get the music they used for this movie? Are you sure I'm not watching an old American cartoon? I know that this anime was a remake of an old anime, but don't you think they could've at least updated the music a little? Awful!

If this is the evolution of Anime, then I had better finish off my Dragonball Z collection while I still can and look for a new hobby.

Rating:
Summary: Like no other Anime out there. Dragon Ball Z is in the dust.
Review: This movie had the most incredible animation. The music was a little odd, but the older Jazz music sounds almost like they're indicating it's like the depression of the 1930s. Movies like this make you realize Dragon Ball Z is mindless and I'm a kid. I also enjoyed some of the bullet scenes where you see it pass by Tima's hair and when they show the bullet come right out of the gun in slow motion. This movie is just incredible. And the part where they have ''I Can't Stop Loving You'' is great. And I just love the first ever pocket DVD. Metropolis is the highpoint of Anime!!!

Rating:
Summary: Shines despite its flaws
Review: First there was the classic 1927 silent film called Metropolis, pitting the wealthy city dwellers against the poor people below. Next there was the famous comic created by Osamu Tezuka, the originator of anime. Finally in 2001 came Metropolis, directed by Rintaru.

From the opening sequence of golden fireworks shimmering over an art-deco cityscape, you know you're in for a graphic achievement. The movie is extremely clear about the difference between sharp-edged technology and architecutre and the soft, round, big-eyed humans.

This is a movie about contrasts in many ways, and the graphics are just the start. You have the human workers both cared for by and upset with the very-useful robots. In some ways the robots do all necessary chores, but on the other hand humans feel they've been put out of work.

Next, you have the rich vs the poor. The humans up above have the life of art deco, elegance and ease, with a great, jazz-tune-filled soundtrack. Down below, the seedy locations are full of grime, dirt and despair.

In the midst of all of this comes a very human tale of love and hate. Rock is the adopted son of Duke Red, head of the Marduk faction. Duke Red has built a Ziggarut, or massive skyscraper, to hold a large weapon and control the world. They even explicitly compare the Ziggarut to the Tower of Babylon, which the Gods destroyed.

All Rock wants is the Duke's love, and dutifully does his job of killing out-of-control robots. Duke doesn't want the love of this orphan boy. Instead, he pines for his long-dead daughter. He has a criminal doctor create a cyborg version of his young daughter. Furiously jealous, Rock destroys the factory and kills the doctor.

Luckily, a PI was hunting down the doctor. The PI, a classic 30s detective a la Philip Marlowe, brings along his nephew, Kenichi, to help out. Kenichi hooks up with the cyborg, Tema. And while Rock tries to kill them, the Revolutionaries help out the young duo, and class warfare begins.

The movie has vaulting ambitions and a lot of ground to cover. There are a lot of cliches floating around, like "Pretty soon they won't need humans any more" from the disgruntled lower class and "No mechanical puppet is going to steal my father's heart" from Rock. There are humans killing other humans without a second though, and robots sacrificing their lives nobly while humans cry out in sadness. "Humans are inferior creatures, confused by love and morality." Tema gets shot in the heart, and looks sadly at the hole that should have held her soul and life.

It's an ambitious experiment, and on many levels it will serve as a model and inspiration for years to come. But the characters are extremely one-dimensional; none have any depth. The plot and dialogue was cobbled together from many disparate ideas, and the seams show. It aimed to be a stellar work of art, and even with its flaws, it still will inspire artists for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated anime
Review: As an avid anime fan, Metropolis was a movie I was looking forward to for a long time. But when I finally saw these movie I was left with dissapointment. There are no main flaws of this movie, it was just bad. First of all, there is no character depth whatsoever. No background information is given on any of the characters. The second thing is the animation, all the characters have fat legs and it really looked weird. And third they mixed too much CG in the anime, it gave it a look like "Iron Giant"

Anyway, for a similar genre but better movie, check out ghost in the shell, much better

Rating:
Summary: Way over-rated, but great to look at.
Review: While most parts of this animated movie are visually stunning in the extreme, the story and characters leave an awful lot to be desired. In spite of how nice the movie is to look at, much of the time I was saying to myself how hokey the dialog and plot was. I mean, we've got a robots vs. humans theme, a slightly mad/powerful genius bent on world domination (and recreating a long lost daughter to run it instead of an envious and violent son), a detective straight out of a grade B 1950's black-and-white movie -- well, you get the idea: the story is really dumb for the most part (when you can actually figure out what's going on) and the characters are about as deep as a rain puddle; their motivations are either knee-jerk simple or inscrutable. The entire thing seemed like such a waste of extraordinary animation ability and artistic technique. I give it 2 1/2 to 3 stars, and say it's really only worth seeing for the visuals.

Rating:
Summary: A great movie
Review: What is it to be a human? Is it making contact and interaction with others? Is it a soul, or the warmth of blood flowing inside us? Perhaps it is merely being humane, or being kind to all the life around you? What if this life that lives around you is artificial, lifeless and robotic? Director Rintaro's Metropolis examines this question throughout the film, and makes it the central theme of the film, from beginning to end.
The cast of Metropolis is filled with imaginitive, diverse characters. There are both humans and machines in the story, ranging from the robot-destroying Rock, to the cute, helping robot Fifi. These characters become symbols in the story, showing man's aggresion toward his creations, and bringing back someone who is dead, as seen in Metropolis by Duke Red, who attemps to build a robotic replica of his dead daughter Tima.

Metropolis is a very complex piece of art, and it shows it. Characters have several agendas, and are multi-layered. The story of Metropolis is also filled with references to various ancient stories, most notably the Tower of Babel.

Metropolis has majestic, elegant animation. This is the first review I have written where I have mentioned the sheer beauty of the animation, and deservingly so. The animation is a mixture of both CGI and traditional cel animation, so it just pops off the screen, capturing our attention and imagination both at once.

In all, Metropolis is wonderful anime, and is one that I like to call a piece of art. It makes the viewer think, and very few films, animated or not, can do that. For this feat, I commend Rintaro and the staff on the film. I love Metropolis.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible Animation
Review: Excellent animation. Story could have been fleshed out a little more, so the issues it raises about humanity and machinery could be explored a little more. Still, for what it does give, is worth having.