Metropolis (2001)
2.5/4
Starring (voices): Brianne Sidall, Tony Pope, Jamieson Price, Michael Reisz, Rebecca Forstadt, Scott Weinger, Simon Prescott
Rated PG-13 for Violence and Images of Destruction
One can call Rintaro's "Metropolis" (not the 1927 Fritz Lang classic) many things, but no one can claim that it is not ambitious. On the whole, the movie doesn't work, but at least it tries to do something different. And as is usually the case (except for when the director is completely in over his head or on an ego trip), it's more interesting for all the themes and ideas it presents.
The city of Metropolis is the city of the future. It consists of three zones which together form a fully functioning society. A major politician (and the city's unofficial leader), Duke Red (Price), has just completed the Ziggurat, a technological breakthrough of a building. The opening of the Ziggurat is besmirched by a revolution, where anti-robot protesters are revolting against the increasing reliance on robots because they take their jobs. Meanwhile, a private detective named Shunsaku Ban (Pope) and his nephew Konichi (Sidall) are in Metropolis to arrest Dr. Laughton (Prescott), who is wanted for organs trafficking. But Laughton is working on a secret project, a robot named Tima (Forstadt), for Duke Red, which angers his adoptive son, Rock (Reisz), enough to try and destroy Tima. These plotlines will collide and how they resolve will determine the fate of mankind itself.
"Metropolis" contains many influences, ranging from Fritz Lang's landmark film to the Bible. There's so much going on that it's impossible to keep track of it all. That's really the film's problem. The filmmakers try to do too much. The set-up is inadequate, and the story is unorganized with a few glaring plotholes. The ending itself is a disaster; it doesn't make any sense at all.
The film has a terrific pedigree. The manga upon which the film was based was written by the Godfather of Japanese animation, the late Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka created, among other things, the iconic "Astro Boy." The film was written by Katsuhiro Otomo, who wrote the manga "Akira" and directed the film version of it (which I found to be overrated). The film itself was directed by Rintaro, who directed "Galaxy Express 999," which I haven't seen. Considering the creative forces behind the film, the troubled result of the film is a little surprising.
The voice acting is also lacking. Unlike Miyazaki's films, with which great care was taken to adapt and cast the English translation, the English dub is pretty bad. Of the cast, only Rebecca Forstadt, Dave Mallow (who plays Pero, the robot who assists Shunsaku Ban) and Scott Weinger (who plays Atlas, the leader of the revolution) distinguish themselves as being good. Everyone else is either unremarkable, or in the case of Jamieson Price and Michael Reisz, awful.
The film isn't as bad as I've made it out to be. For one thing, the film is visually dazzling, at times approaching Miyazaki (although this film is completely different than anything the Japanese master ever created). It's literally a feast for the eyes, especially the shots of the top level and Zone 1. Although the action scenes use bizarre montages as substitutes for showing the action are unsuccessful and a little annoying (it's at least understandable since it would take thousands more drawings to illustrate), on the whole it's almost worth watching just to soak it all in. The merging of hand drawn images and computer animation is at times inelegant, but I think it works this way because it gives a sense of being futuristic (which, obviously, is the setting for the film). And as messy as the plot is in the first half, I was always curious as to who Tima was and what role she had to play in this story.
I can't recommend this film since it's really doesn't work, although because it has so much ambition and shoots for brilliance, I respect it.
Starring (voices): Brianne Sidall, Tony Pope, Jamieson Price, Michael Reisz, Rebecca Forstadt, Scott Weinger, Simon Prescott
Rated PG-13 for Violence and Images of Destruction
One can call Rintaro's "Metropolis" (not the 1927 Fritz Lang classic) many things, but no one can claim that it is not ambitious. On the whole, the movie doesn't work, but at least it tries to do something different. And as is usually the case (except for when the director is completely in over his head or on an ego trip), it's more interesting for all the themes and ideas it presents.
The city of Metropolis is the city of the future. It consists of three zones which together form a fully functioning society. A major politician (and the city's unofficial leader), Duke Red (Price), has just completed the Ziggurat, a technological breakthrough of a building. The opening of the Ziggurat is besmirched by a revolution, where anti-robot protesters are revolting against the increasing reliance on robots because they take their jobs. Meanwhile, a private detective named Shunsaku Ban (Pope) and his nephew Konichi (Sidall) are in Metropolis to arrest Dr. Laughton (Prescott), who is wanted for organs trafficking. But Laughton is working on a secret project, a robot named Tima (Forstadt), for Duke Red, which angers his adoptive son, Rock (Reisz), enough to try and destroy Tima. These plotlines will collide and how they resolve will determine the fate of mankind itself.
"Metropolis" contains many influences, ranging from Fritz Lang's landmark film to the Bible. There's so much going on that it's impossible to keep track of it all. That's really the film's problem. The filmmakers try to do too much. The set-up is inadequate, and the story is unorganized with a few glaring plotholes. The ending itself is a disaster; it doesn't make any sense at all.
The film has a terrific pedigree. The manga upon which the film was based was written by the Godfather of Japanese animation, the late Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka created, among other things, the iconic "Astro Boy." The film was written by Katsuhiro Otomo, who wrote the manga "Akira" and directed the film version of it (which I found to be overrated). The film itself was directed by Rintaro, who directed "Galaxy Express 999," which I haven't seen. Considering the creative forces behind the film, the troubled result of the film is a little surprising.
The voice acting is also lacking. Unlike Miyazaki's films, with which great care was taken to adapt and cast the English translation, the English dub is pretty bad. Of the cast, only Rebecca Forstadt, Dave Mallow (who plays Pero, the robot who assists Shunsaku Ban) and Scott Weinger (who plays Atlas, the leader of the revolution) distinguish themselves as being good. Everyone else is either unremarkable, or in the case of Jamieson Price and Michael Reisz, awful.
The film isn't as bad as I've made it out to be. For one thing, the film is visually dazzling, at times approaching Miyazaki (although this film is completely different than anything the Japanese master ever created). It's literally a feast for the eyes, especially the shots of the top level and Zone 1. Although the action scenes use bizarre montages as substitutes for showing the action are unsuccessful and a little annoying (it's at least understandable since it would take thousands more drawings to illustrate), on the whole it's almost worth watching just to soak it all in. The merging of hand drawn images and computer animation is at times inelegant, but I think it works this way because it gives a sense of being futuristic (which, obviously, is the setting for the film). And as messy as the plot is in the first half, I was always curious as to who Tima was and what role she had to play in this story.
I can't recommend this film since it's really doesn't work, although because it has so much ambition and shoots for brilliance, I respect it.
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