Highlander: The Search for Vengeance

This version is an alternative of the original Highlander movie! The rules (concerning immortals) are the same and the story involves a character originated from the Highlands (Scotland)! His name is Colin Mcleod from the clan Mcleod! Other than this there is no relation to the film series or the TV show! But I have to say I enjoyed this a whole lot better than any sequel made after the original Highlander! The animation is beautiful and there is plenty of action! Even the story (simple but effective) is enjoyable! As a first animated movie this is a great one! This anime revives the "Highlander" myth in such a way that movie producers of any sequel from the Higlander film series should wonder what they are doing wrong! I don't know if there are plans to make a sequel! But if there aren't any there should be!

As one has to expect from Yoshiaki Kawajiri, this film will get you glued to the screen, it has loads of action, a decent story, and details typical from previous films Kawajiri's directed before (A cynical hero, strong willed women, ruthless and cunning villains, and annoying, but wise, old men).However, it seems to lack the distinctive "atmosphere" that previous Kawajiri anime flicks had (at least in my opinion, for those who have seen Ninja Scroll or Cyber City Oedo you can feel that "darker" atmosphere). Probably because the color scheme was brighter. I won't spoil the story, as it's very interesting and you'll probably and up watching it even if you aren't a Highlander fan. As for this movie, its not linked to the original in any way (sans the immortality plot), but somehow demonstrates how the follow-ups should have been, instead of making those bad sequels with rather bad concepts.

First things first, this is a typical Kawajiri film, as you may or may not know, Kawajiri is like a Japanese Frank Miller, meaning all his work share a distinctive feel to them, and follow a similar path story-wise. Some people call this auto-plagiarism, and bash it. However if you are like me, and have really liked his work, from Ninjascroll, to the Animatrix short, from "wicked city" to "vampire hunter D bloodlust", "lens-man", "Cyber city Oedo", etc etc. Then the mere prospect of watching some part of the highlander myth animated in this fashion will have your blood boiling. If you haven't guessed it yet, I really liked the film.

Lets start reviewing it part by part.

Story: It fits in the Highlander myth, this is not about any known Mcleod, so you may think of it as an alternative story-line. Everything is a little clichéd though, still beats the crap out of any Highlander sequel so far.

Setting: The movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, very kawajirish, it has this "Fist of the north star" feeling to it, huge bad guys, wrecked urban landscapes, silent heroes, you know the drill.

Character design: Again typical kawajiri film, busty women, sharp factions, impossibly muscular males, you may love it or hate it, I really like it. This is no Inuyasha, boy....

Animation: Very Good, some less than stellar CG shots, and "matrix moments", if you can deal with that there are really well choreographed fights to be seen. Specially gorgeous are the fights that take place in the past.

Sound: Mostly OK, some voice overs could have been better, the movie comes in English just like Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust. There are some great accents to be heard when the Highlanders speak, however some secondary characters could have used better actors.

Music: Gorgeous, really symphonic gives the feeling of epic and greatness to the whole movie.

So if your love for highlander allows you to overlook some small flaws, and some kawajirisms you'll really like the movie.

Ah, 'Highlander.' A fairly big franchise. A fairly big franchise that I couldn't say one word about beyond "I once watched the first film." I don't think it's unfair to suppose that much the same could probably be said for any average bloke. So what about an anime rendition, and at that one from the same visionary filmmaker who gave us the hyper-violent genre fare of 'Wicked City,' and 'Ninja Scroll?' Well, before five minutes have passed we get repetition of the immortal line (sorry) that will have fanboys and meme generators yipping, and the moment that our protagonist announces himself is accompanied by pathetic fallacy and a big, rock-driven surge in the score. Within a matter of minutes it becomes very clear that 'The search for vengeance' is full of style; the question is, can it claim any substance?

Proliferate flashbacks telling of a journey through time - golly gee! - check. Sexy women and tough-talking, square-jawed men, check. A plucky wannabe-sidekick kid, check. Graphic violence, blood, and gore, check (and bonus slow motion). Dystopia, intractable societal inequality, and a madman lusting for absolute power and dominion, check. Beyond those first touches of rock the music is reliably dramatic, dynamic, flavorful, and invigorating, a deft complement to the proceedings. The animation of Madhouse is reliably superb, as one expects of anime: rich detail and texture; nice consideration for lighting, shading, color, and perspective; gorgeous backgrounds and environments, and eye-catching designs for active elements including characters and creatures; sharp effects, and fluid movement and action sequences; duly keen implementation of 3D digital rendering to supplement or augment the dominant 2D style. The story is complete and duly engaging, the scene writing is strong, and filmmaker Kawajiri Yoshiaki unquestionably had a firm vision for his picture.

Yes, this flick looks good and sounds good. It's quite solid and well made. While style is foremost it can, in fact, claim substance, not least while spending some time in passing on the idea of living a life for vengeance alone, and what that means for one's proverbial soul. Ironically, evil as the villain is, he demonstrates a kernel of wisdom that the protagonist lacks, and won't necessarily learn in ninety-five minutes. So with one question answered, here's another: is all this enough? We can get all these qualities elsewhere; what makes this 2007 release special? In what way does 'The search for vengeance' stand out from the crowd, making it something we should seek out over any comparable fare? The kindred answers to these questions, I think, is in the eyes of the beholder. Some viewers will watch this and find it a terrific experience. Some will watch and find it dull and trifling, or simply too extreme. For my part I believe the movie is just swell, a darkly enjoyable slice of sci-fi, fantasy, and action. Only, I'm also unlikely to remember much about it hereafter.

That's fine, though. Not every title needs to be a revelation. It doesn't seem to me that Kawajiri or anyone else involved had any illusions about what this was; it wanted to entertain while expanding the Highlander saga after its own fashion, and it ably achieves these goals. Maybe this is enough, after all. Even with a grand finale it's not majorly stunning, or essential, and unless one has an overriding impetus of some sort, there's no need to go out of your way for it. But all told the feature is pretty good, worth checking out for those who are open to all it represents, and such as it is 'The search for vengeance' is suitably fun and well done to earn a fair recommendation.

I am big fan of Yoshiaki Kawajiri and it pains me to see such a production with his name on it. Yes, the visuals are great, but even they get irritating as the movie goes on, because someone decided that almost every action scene and many of the ordinary ones should be done with 3D, and when you see that same method re-used for the 50th time in just 80 minutes... well not only isn't it impressive anymore but very annoying.

Whatever the problems the movie had, I wouldn't be that disappointed if it wasn't the *STORY* - awful, cliché after cliché, unbelievably cheesy b-movie lines and one of the worst juxtaposion of sex scene ever (lighting candles??? what the hell?!)... The script really ruins everything good, and the characters are very flat and stereotypical, not to mention most of their designs are almost copy&paste from Kawajiri's previous works. And not only the characters are copied but whole scenes (e.g. the battle on the rooftops - Animatrix: Program), and though not 1:1 you still get a bitter deja-vu quite often.

So thank you but I'd stick with Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Ninja Scroll - Highlander is no way near them.