Purpledump
16-01-2002, 01:06
Just caught a screening at the London ICA. This is the TriStar release in Japanese with English subtitles. No knowledge of any cuts made. Not exactly sure whether this is the official release or special preview screening, but it had a BBFC PG rating. The ICA still has screening until the 24th I think, for anyone who's interested. In any case, this has definitely come out much earlier than the limited official stateside release (25th Jan).
I don't want to give the plot away, but the story takes place in a huge futuristic city. The Basic plot is about a Boy who meets a special Robot Girl. Sounds like your average anime. I don't think It's based on the 1927 film by Fritz Lang, but certain scenes may have been references to the black and white movie.
There are familiar anime themes of love, loyalty, human kind playing God, artificial life gaining conscience and emotions. Other topics like racism, class segregation, human rights are also given a quick overview. Overall, I felt thery were not tackled too well. Maybe the creators were trying to include too many topics, that the message got lost. It didn't keep my interest up. I didn't feel for the characters. There are quite a few of them, but most of them weren't fleshed out enough. For example, one character is only in a couple of scenes, makes a great impact on the plot, and that's it from him. For me, pacing was a little off. The mid-beginning felt rushed, with a long talk about background info, so the viewers are up to date with Metropolis' vision of the future. Afterwards, it slowed down. There seemed to have been some non-dialogue shots and CGI scenes which did not add to the story much. Pretty much to show off, unlike in most Myiazaki movies, where a lot of still scenes still tell a story.
So I wasn't too impressed by the plot. I did however like the character/set and art deco desgins. Some of the old style fades/ wipes used got a grin out of me at first, but got a little repetetive. However, the old style design with modern animation techniques really blends well. Music was interesting, too. Mostly orchestra pieces and jazz tunes. Some of the choices made were curious, like the jazz n' house beats tune or the song for the climax, or totally omitting music for dramatic scenes.
I went in without much prior knowledge about the actual plot. To conclude, not bad, but not brilliant either. Maybe there was a much much deeper meaning to it all, but I didn't read into it. Or Maybe I'm just not a Tezuka fan. Well, It's still great to see Anime on a big(ish) screen.
That was it from me. Anyone else care to comment on this movie? And BTW, anyone attending the Anime screenings at the London Sci-Fi Festival?
Edit: 'scuse the spelling if I missed any :).
I don't want to give the plot away, but the story takes place in a huge futuristic city. The Basic plot is about a Boy who meets a special Robot Girl. Sounds like your average anime. I don't think It's based on the 1927 film by Fritz Lang, but certain scenes may have been references to the black and white movie.
There are familiar anime themes of love, loyalty, human kind playing God, artificial life gaining conscience and emotions. Other topics like racism, class segregation, human rights are also given a quick overview. Overall, I felt thery were not tackled too well. Maybe the creators were trying to include too many topics, that the message got lost. It didn't keep my interest up. I didn't feel for the characters. There are quite a few of them, but most of them weren't fleshed out enough. For example, one character is only in a couple of scenes, makes a great impact on the plot, and that's it from him. For me, pacing was a little off. The mid-beginning felt rushed, with a long talk about background info, so the viewers are up to date with Metropolis' vision of the future. Afterwards, it slowed down. There seemed to have been some non-dialogue shots and CGI scenes which did not add to the story much. Pretty much to show off, unlike in most Myiazaki movies, where a lot of still scenes still tell a story.
So I wasn't too impressed by the plot. I did however like the character/set and art deco desgins. Some of the old style fades/ wipes used got a grin out of me at first, but got a little repetetive. However, the old style design with modern animation techniques really blends well. Music was interesting, too. Mostly orchestra pieces and jazz tunes. Some of the choices made were curious, like the jazz n' house beats tune or the song for the climax, or totally omitting music for dramatic scenes.
I went in without much prior knowledge about the actual plot. To conclude, not bad, but not brilliant either. Maybe there was a much much deeper meaning to it all, but I didn't read into it. Or Maybe I'm just not a Tezuka fan. Well, It's still great to see Anime on a big(ish) screen.
That was it from me. Anyone else care to comment on this movie? And BTW, anyone attending the Anime screenings at the London Sci-Fi Festival?
Edit: 'scuse the spelling if I missed any :).