War of the Worlds: Goliath

I don't know where this "style" of animation comes from. No, seriously, I don't know. But it seems like a lot of similar stuff was cranked out back in the eighties in shows like "He-Man" or "GI Joe." Every man a steroid-abusing lunk, every woman an astringent big sister. Is that how the world looks to eight-year-olds? I don't know.

I do know that what we see here is an alternative Earth where Martian steroid technology was adapted by Nicolai Tesla to enable all men to be gigantic muscle gods. Or something. But the 'roids also cause them to have bizarre behavioral changes--including constant teeth-clenching, weird grimmacing and a propensity to engage in suicidal fights--with each other, with Martians, with inanimate objects. All the actors spit out their lines like they are The Pharaoh cursing the Israelites. "Where're my pancakes!" sounds like a call to battle in this demented world where everything is macho and nothing is...well, um, "un-macho"?

It's all about the booming and the bashing and the hitting and the smacking, with unintentional comic relief provided by the tiny (of course)"girl" who has one heck of an anime hair-do. Anything--anything would have helped this dead whale get off the ground, except what they did. In this demented world, everything is based upon the social structure and skills of eight-year-olds. Conflict? Fight! All it needs is music by Metalica to be a perfect example of why maturity is a good thing.

Give this one a pass.

I've seen this film twice, in theatres, in 3D, and loved it both times. The 3D is really good, and the production values far exceed the film's modest budget. As a steampunk sequel to the Wells classic, Mr. Pearson and his team have nothing to apologize for. I know that some find it hard to accept the blending of 2D hand-animation with 3D CGI (for the mecha) but this technique has been done before with both Korean and Japanese theatrical anime. As WOTW Goliath was animated in Malaysia, it fits right in with these other examples. I hope that western viewers will be able to check their prejudgements and enjoy the film for what it is.

As a fellow animation director, I understand how difficult it must have been to make this beautiful film on a low budget but Joe pulled it off nicely. Some very innovative camera work and nice direction kept this film on track. The look is very refreshing for an American made feature. It reminded me of some of the great Japanese anime films like Steamboy and Akira. I only wish the character animation could have been done here in the states. I would have loved to work on it. Science fiction fantasy films that are animated are the type of productions we all like to see. It's rare to see one done with such love and attention to detail. Joe is a fine director and did a great job guiding his overseas animators to deliver the best acting possible for this film and they did well.

At face value, this seems pretty cool - the Martians return to Earth years after their initial invasion attempt and face off against Earth's newly advanced armies. Animation isn't high grade but it isn't bad either, and the 3d-style robots are great if that's your kind of thing.

But execution is pretty miserable. The writing isn't the worst I've seen, but it's not great. The worst parts is the lack of consistency. For example, as is common with a lot of movies, the monsters alternate between being invincible to laughably weak depending on the needs of the heroes. On top of that, they seem to determine in the beginning of the movie that heat rays are the monsters' weakness, yet they continue to throw barrages of bullets and missiles as if they do any good. Then there's the outrun-the-chain-explosion sequence. And what really drives me nuts, in one sequence they're fighting 3 monsters, they shoot 2 down and are fighting 1, then suddenly they're fighting 2 again, then 1, then 2, then they shoot down 1 of the remaining two and fight 1 until they kill it.

So I guess I was expecting too much out of this movie. Maybe it's more of a kids movie, but the flesh melting scenes made it feel a bit adult to me. If you hate plot holes, this movie isn't for you, but if you just want to watch some anime action sequences, then it's right up your alley.

Please forget all the "professional" critics who are disgusted by any movie without strong social and political commentary. This is not such flick. This is not movie about weak characters and their development. This is just a non stop steam-punk battle in alternative history. If you want to enjoy father who just wants to hide in a basement, be my guest and watch the War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise. You know it is pretty cool as well.

This movie is "just for fun", more for the anime / scifi / steam-punk fans. The plot is somewhat weak, it is very linear - but what? The setting is pretty amazing, the alternative 1914 looks pretty cool and the battles are hardcore. The violence is here but is is actually mild so this movie could be even fun for older children.

In a summary: Not great but good enough and fun enough. Thumbs up!