The Maxx

The Maxx is the most intelligently written story every to hit the genre of animation. The story -- a psychological thriller -- is complimented with a haunting, other-worldly style of animation. It's a shame that this movie hasn't had a chance to collect a larger audience. Perhaps if MTV replayed it's "Oddities" series instead of endless repeats of "Real Life", there might be more postings for this series. I think I got the last copy that Amazon had to sell. Hopefully, someday, the movie will make it back to the airways. Don't miss it if you ever get a chance.

I loved this series! Having been a huge comic book fan, I had heard about Sam Keith's Maxx characters several months before they premiered on MTV's Oddities series. I was very impressed with the performances of the voice actors, especially Barry Stigler as Mr. Gone. Kudos to everyone involved, this cartoon got me so interested that I had to read the rest of the series in comic book format, and I was very disappointed that the second season never made it onto television. Hopefully, someday in the future, the first season will arrive on DVD or some other collectible format because this show deserves better than to just fade into obscurity.

The Internet Database lists this as a TV show. And yes, it was a series on MTV shown on the "Oddities" program, after "The Head" and before "Aeon Flux" if I recall correctly. But the version I watched this time was a VHS tape with all the episodes run together into a film without annoying credits in between or having to wait a week for the next fifteen minutes.

You have the story of the Maxx, Julie Winters, Sarah and Mr. Gone. The Maxx is a super-hero or a bum, Julie a social worker or a leopard queen, Sarah a girl who should listen to less of The Smiths and Mr. Gone a guy who can't seem to keep his head on. And then there's the other weird creatures...

I use "or" with Maxx and Julie, because part of the fun is trying to figure out which parts of the story are real and which are dreams. Maybe they're all real or dreams. Maybe one of the characters doesn't exist. Maybe only one exists and dreams of the others. You'll have to wait and find out.

I had the comic books before the show came out, and it was one of my favorites. The artwork was spectacular and the story was original -- unlike anything you'll find in Superman or Batman. It will bend your mind, and has strong adult overtones without being obscene or offensive. And the show used basically the same exact artwork (only now it moves) and the same story... guaranteeing that the beauty intrinsically found in the comic would be faithfully reproduced. This was the best show to appear on "Oddities", hands down.

If you like comics of a darker nature or need a good mind trip, this is a show to check out. It's "Donnie Darko" before there was ever such a thing.

The most astonishing thing is that this never went on to become another movie or television series, but I don't say this in disappointment. By keeping it simple, they have sealed this movie in gold and kept it free from the blemishes brought on by successive failures.

I tried watching one of MTV's newer....TV shows...if they can even be considered that. MTV had some awesome TV shows, Aeon Flux, Liquid TV, Beavis & Butt-Head, and The Maxx: a dark twisted trip into the psyche of a tortured girl trapped in the body of a woman. It was an original piece of work, and I absolutely loved it. MTV used to be about music and TV shows that were actually tolerable. Shame on you MTV!

This is some of the best animation I have yet seen come out of this country. "The Maxx" is, after its two hours have passed: scary, very funny, thoughtful, intelligent, profound, disturbing, highly imaginative, and ultimately quite moving.

Part of the charm of "The Maxx" is that it's clear that the directors of the series are familiar with how people read the comics; how all the elements and dialogue reach the eye. In this way "The Maxx" is far more imaginative than live-action stuff, because it's loose of the bounds of physics laws and a clear-eyed camera. It makes other films based on comic books, "Batman," "Blade," etc., seem clunky and artificial by comparison.

The plot, though drawn from a mish-mash of dream interpretation stuff, pop psychology stuff, Freudian stuff, and miscellaneous mythological references, matters little in the end -- when all is explained, it's a little disappointing because the confusion that "The Maxx" envelops around the viewer was part of what was so good about it. It's the confusion, the intricate layers of reality and unreality, that helps make this show so special.

When you get down to it, it works anyway, thanks to a number of really magnificent things. First, the characters of The Maxx, Julie, and Sarah are multi-faceted and very endearing. Despite the exhilarating cascade of visuals, this is ultimately a character-driven fantasy/drama. That's not all that "The Maxx" ought to be treasured for, though. Sam Keith has created a world (heck, a number of worlds) that are so fiercely original, so imaginative, that nothing short of a complete lack of sympathetic characters would be able to ruin his visionary achievement. To his credit, Keith gives us everything that we've been missing in Hollywood's interpretation of the comics: not just strong visuals, but great writing, a mass of original ideas, and memorable characters.