Blame!

Blame! throws us into an unknown far-future post-apocalyptic setting that's unlike most post-apocalyptic settings we're used to. Natural formations like land, sea, sky, plants, and rocks are completely non-existent and what we are left with is a colossal, cavernous, metaled mess of a megastructure. Any adjective with the basic meaning of "large" that I could have chosen to describe this structure should be seen as an understatement since - according to the manga from which this film is based on - the megastructure itself, which initially started on Earth, now extends past the orbit of Jupiter.

The massive labyrinth interior of the megastructure is created and maintained by "Builders" (giant skeletal, mechanized creatures who slowly roam around)and to us humans, their design theory can probably be best summed up as ordered chaos gone amok. The viewer is overwhelmed with scene after scene of grand metal-type architecture. One can't wait to see what fresh, new, metallic gloomy backdrop is waiting around each and every corner. The animation used to depict this cold and miscalculated world is phenomenal. Based on this reason and the given "nature" of the setting, any viewer who is attracted to films because of their dark atmospheres should give this one a try.

Not to say the story is dull by any means. Plot elements include a tribe that's on the brink of destruction who question whether they are the only humans left, hyper robots with spider-like bodies and ultra-artificial human faces who eliminate humans upon detection, a wandering protagonist with a synthetic body and a super gun, a female engineer sidekick with Netsphere (cyberspace)insight and the ability to transfer her consciousness into reanimated forms, and that's just to name a few. This is a sci-fi nerd's wet dream.

Some might criticize the protagonist's quiet and shadowy attitude, but I suppose it fits since who knows how long he has been wandering around for. Maybe thousands of years? I found myself longing to know more about his own history, the sights he'd seen, and the experiences he'd had along the way.

My own point of criticism would be the children characters' "coming of age" story whose names, faces, and personalities seem to all run together. Their part in the film should probably be included, but maybe with a little less focus and their characters a little more distinguished.

One warning I give to the potential viewer is there are some sci-fi concepts in the film which are unexplained and rely wholly upon the audience's familiarity with sci-fi in general. Some examples of these concepts are transhumanism and theoretical replication technology.

Have fun watching Blame!. I thought it was a blast!

This movie was much better than I expected.

As a fan of the Blame! manga, I think the film keeps the same pace and atmosphere as the original.

The movie has no deep development of characters or the universe, but it gave enough details without destroying the original pace of the narrative, what many screen adaptations are often do trying to explain everything in a limited time.

It's definitely worth watching.

I was surprised to so see such a low rating on IMDb. It's clear that those who follow this manga feel it was butchered but for me, it was a really fresh concept and pretty epic by all accounts. Would love to see more ! If you enjoy anime, this is definitely worth watching.

I suppose after the gigantic Netflix logo spins around on the screen, announcing yet another copycat production, the expectations drop considerably. Fortunately but it seems (I didn't bother to check) like Netflix just signed the cheque to purchase the title, I doubt they could have much to do with this movie. Firstly, it's anime made by the Japanese in Japanese language and everything about it is Japanese, it feels way more genuine than Appleseed. The story was excellent and the visuals were absolutely stunning, I think that's why I'm giving it 7 stars. Otherwise it wasn't a masterpiece but still very solid and enjoyable. The characters were a little bit flat, for example they don't seem to be bothered much when dozens of men and children get ripped to shreds or lose limbs, they all mostly stare at the camera with their fakely large eyes. But well, it's mostly an action anime, so there isn't much time to develop any depth. So yes, there is a lot of shooting, running, action but the balance is right - there is also a lot of suspense, story, sci-fi, dreamy cityscapes, exoskeletons, cyborgs, monsters and heroes. However, it's far away from the American superhero movies with happy ending, the overall mood is gloomy, post apocalyptic and the ending is more of a "walk into the mist" rather than "drive into the sunset" which I personally like.

The visuals and the overall concept are great. The world is believable and explorable. I wanted this to be as wonderful a film as it looked.

Trope alert: They took the basic villagers against an overwhelming outside threat from Seven Samurai or Princess Mononoke, and the "system" seeing humans as the problem, from basically every science fiction film or book.

Cliché anime characters fill the world. The tough, spirited young teen; the wise old leader; the guy who is afraid; the wimpy young teen that everyone protects even if they die to do it.

Add the handsome, battle-scared loner who has traveled the unsurvivable depths of the city. He doesn't blink, he doesn't emote, he says about ten words in the whole film, yet let him in with his superweapon and let him walk behind you. You can trust him, he has intense blue-eyes and hero hair.

What made me go ballistic were the endless dramatic pauses. They could have tightened it by fifteen minutes. The standard time is running out, war is here, people are dying in horrific explosions. Oh, I know, let's walk slowly to do the only thing that might save everyone from a gruesome death. Cue the extended standard hero fight.

Other characters stop to stare at each other or talk. If our base/home/village is being overrun and you stop and want to talk about your loss or tell each other about how much you love them, I am going to slap you until you wake up.

Hint: If you come to a vast factory that can make hundreds of football stadium-sized batches of anything in a few seconds, how about creating some automated weapons systems, powerpacks, weapons, vehicles, or hover tanks? I understand that is too easy. If your plot is destroyed by something simple, then your plot is too weak.

Here's my suggestion. These films take years of incredibly hard work by thousands of extremely talented people. Several months into the planning, ask some of your staff if the plot or characters reminds them of another film. If so, change it or you risk this becoming another cookie-cutter trope anime film.