Metropolis

I knew little about this film but when I saw that it was going to be on television I decided to watch it; there is so little non-Ghibli anime on TV one has to take what one can get. When it started I knew this was going to be different; most of the characters didn't look like anime characters, they looked more like characters from western cartoons of the 1930s. This fitted in with the feel of the whole film which was a 1920s/1930s view of the future reminiscent of Fritz Lang's film of the same name.

Set in the city state of Metropolis where the robot underclass must stay in their designated areas and a scientist is building a robot that looks like a girl but is destined to run a new skyscraper known as the Ziggurat. Into this city comes a Japanese private detective and his nephew Kenichi who are seeking to arrest the scientist for organ trafficking. The state's de facto leader Duke Red's adopted son Rock is determined to destroy the robot thinking his father is replacing him. Rock starts a fire in the lab. During this the robot is activated and escapes with Kenichi although neither know that she isn't human. Rock continues to hunt them as the flee through the various layers of the city to a climax in the mysterious Ziggurat.

I loved the retro feel to the animation along with a sound track that also felt like it was from that time. The use of the song "I Can't Stop Loving You" during the climactic scene was inspired. Even if you don't normally like animation this is worth watching as it is a good story which is well told.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

I have always been a fan of the 60's and 70's anime. I feel that the 80's and 90's Anime got a bit out of hand, but this film brings me back to the experimentation, the wonder, visuals and the drawing you into forgetting this is only 'anime' at all.

The story is an update of the fantastic silent film Metropolis, and at points in this telling, the story falls flat, but just watching the film drew me in and made up for those story gaffs. There isn't any one who can look at this and not be taken with its ambition. Old anime elements, new ones, stop action, realism -- you name it, its all in one nice package! I am looking forward to additional works from this team, I hope they continue on for I feel this project was a great venture and to what they are capable of. This film is really wonderful, I recommend it highly.

In the futuristic Metropolis, robots are segregated and used for all the menial work. Many unemployed blame the robots and pushing for revolution. Duke Red is building a vast skyscraper. A robot disrupts the opening and Duke Red's son Rock destroys the robot. Private detective Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi are hunting for scientist Dr. Laughton who is supposedly trafficking organs. Laughton has actually been hired by Duke Red to recreate his deceased daughter with an advanced robot.

The visual style of this animated movie is beautiful. This is worthwhile watch simply for the visual aspect. The story is functional for more than half of the movie. Kenichi and the robot on the run is pretty good. The rest is a bit disjointed and complicated. Motivation is tricky. The twists and reveals are questionable and the story is overstuffed. It is still a beautiful looking piece of animation.

Fritz Lang's original 'Metropolis' is an enduring classic of cinema. The techniques used at the time that it was made were absolutely astounding and it is still astounding to consider the technical achievement that Metropolis represents even these days. This Japanese re-telling of the classic story doesn't follow the plot of the original film, but they are linked due to the way that they both utilise grand settings for their thrills and although it was a lot more impressive in 1927, this version of the story is still a very decent film. I can't say that I'm a big fan of Japanese 'anime', but every time I see a film in it's style I tend to at least enjoy myself, and that can be said of this film. The plot has too many elements to be fully coherent, but it serves its purpose and is always second to the visuals anyway. The story follows two societies; robots and humans, and comes together when a private investigator's nephew meets a robot girl constructed to rule the city. The script is somewhat taught, this may be because of the fact that it has been translated into English, or it may just be a bad script. It doesn't really matter though as, again, the sharp visuals are always enough to distract the viewer from the other areas of the movie. It's almost a shame that this movie isn't better when you consider that it has an absolutely great source of inspiration, but then again you can hardly expect it to rival Fritz Lang's classic. On the whole, I recommend this movie if you've seen Lang's and want some more, but otherwise I just recommend the original classic.

I am a fan of anime, so after hearing all the great acclaim this movie got, I knew I had to see it.

Visually, the movie it top-notch. The blend of computer graphics and hand-drawn animation is seamless, with incredible detail given to each. Graphically, this movie is indeed a milestone in animation, one that will definitely be referred to over and over in the future. If you are a fan of animation (Japanese or otherwise), you MUST see this movie.

As for the story and character - they were somewhat underwhelming. Occasionally each got to the point where they intrigued you and made you want to learn more - but you got no more. You learn really nothing about the youthful male protagonist or the female humanoid who he saves and takes care of. They hardly even say a word to each other! There were also some big jumps in the storyline, feeling like a lot of important information was cut out.

The movie was based on a long manga, so it's obvious that A LOT of character and story development had to be cut out so that the movie would run at an acceptable running time. I honestly think this story would have worked - it certainly would have been somewhat better - had it been done as a miniseries. Maybe the visuals wouldn't have been so stunning, but a more compelling story and more memorable characters would have made up for it.