Samurai Jack

One of the things that sets Jack apart from other animated action series is its use of subtlety. Though full of scenes of intense action, there are also long stretches with no dialogue, using imagery to tell the story. The art direction is excellent. Some viewers find the characters have a strange graphic style but it works well in the context of the strange world where Jack finds himself.

I especially like the use of different sizes of wide-screen to aid in the story-telling. A full-frame scene will shift to different ratios of widescreen to emphasize images such as a great distance between two characters or to focus on one's eyes. The series also includes subtle humour (note again, subtlety), such as Jack dressing up as a teenager to infiltrate a rave party or accidentally being transformed into a chicken!

Phil LaMarr is excellent as usual as Jack and Mako is the perfect voice for Aku. Those who dismiss it as an anime rip-off should consider the difference between "rip-off" and "inspired by".

Samurai Jack is the definition of an action cartoon series.

It shows a magnificent samurai, dubbed the name Jack, on a journey to return to the past after he is sent to a dark and unwelcome future run by his archnemesis, the dark shape-shifting wizard Aku.

Along the way, he helps restore order to the forsaken wasteland run by evil controllers in often incredibly action-packed, or otherwise hilarious, ways (in one episode, Jack is turned into a rooster and is forced to take part in cock fighting--which is actually legal during that time).

Genndy Tartakouvsky is an animation genius, coming out with ideas such as Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and the micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars, which has a second season coming up. The artwork for Samurai Jack is beautiful and the battle scenes are well-thought and brilliantly drawn. The adventures that Jack goes through can be sometimes funny, but still are always action packed. The ideas for Jack's adventures are brilliant as well.

Overall: solid storyline, brilliant characters, well-thought adventures, beautiful artwork, and even more brilliant action.

Rating: 10 out of 10. This series rocks period.

I love this show so much. Someone might complain that there isn't much of a plot for this show, but it's meant for people to watch one episode at a time. There's no need to watch the entire series. The art is AMAZING!!!!! (!) Genndy Tartakovsky changes the ratio of the screen for dramatic effects, how they tell the story is amazing. There is no over all plot that carries throughout the series, all the plot you'll ever need is in the episode itself. Even if you don't like the story, the art in itself is beautiful. Full of style and grace.

Rich in visual design, and with an dark, gritty atmosphere, SAMURAI JACK is a landmark cartoon in the making. It tells the story of a Japanese warrior with the unlikely name of Jack who undergoes some serious training to take on a ruthless wizard named Aku (which means "evil" in Japanese). Filled with hard-edged action (but with no grapic violence, since SAMURAI JACK is a product of the Cartoon Network) and a nifty storyboard that switches from feudal Japan to a BLADE RUNNER-like future, SAMURAI JACK is an animated revevaltion waiting to happen.

It seems that Genndy Tartakovsky was only getting warmed up with "Dexter's Laboratory" and "Powerpuff Girls". With those shows he proved he was a comic genius; with "Samurai Jack" he demonstrates that he is a genius, period. Every single aspect of the movie premiere is top-notch. Phil LaMarr is wonderful as Jack. James Venable's score beautifully captures the tone and has just the right mix of traditional Oriental and electronic sounds. I liked the fact that there did not seem to be any unnecessary dialogue (in fact several scenes--most notably the beginning--have almost no dialogue at all). The animation and backgrounds are very stylish and striking, and the filmmakers even allow the art to escape the confines of the square 1.33:1 TV ratio with some split-screen and widescreen shots used to great effect. It is my hope that the series continues to be as good as the premiere is. This will be on you "must-watch" list.