Movie Review - Metropolis (2001 film)

Back in the day, Suncoast (and it's associated stores) had a membership program. A short-lived part of this program was a monthly magazine promoting the latest media. One month they featured a movie I had never heard of and knew nothing about, but I was intrigued.

Metropolis is a 2001 Japanese science fiction anime film based on the Fritz Lang film of the same name and the manga by Osamu Tezuka, the God of Manga. It is rated PG-13 and is appropriate for teens and up.

The Good

Visuals. This movie is so beautiful. Every frame is a masterpiece you could hang on your wall. It was an early experiment to mix traditionally hand-drawn characters with digital cgi backgrounds that worked better than any other attempt. The filmmakers actually went in and recolored the rendered 3D with traditional colors to give it such a natural look. And the Blu-ray really makes the visuals shine.

Music. This movie has great music that fits the unique modern/retro look and feel. It's jazzy and fun.

Characters. This movie has a lot of characters, many of them very flat and undeveloped. But the few main characters they do develop are fleshed out so well and their interactions are so natural and human. When they get it right, they really get it right.

Overall Story. Overall this film has a great story with several separate but connected plots going on that all connect and add to the message of the movie. Unfortunately, the actual telling of the story is a bit garbled.

World. This film creates a wondrous world filled with so many amazing buildings and people and conflict and intrigue. It is a lot of fun just to admire the world and explore it with the main characters.

The Bad

Story Development and Pacing. This movie has story problems with certain important plots underdeveloped and other less important ones labored over. The pacing is good in parts, too quick in others, and too slow in others.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish they had developed certain parts of the story more and ignored some of the stranger parts that felt like side trips.

Overall

Metropolis (2001 film) is a breath-taking visual feast with the perfect marriage between hand drawn animation and computer-generated backgrounds. Almost every frame is a masterpiece you could hang on your wall. The overall story is great with several separate but connected plots going on that all converge and add to the message of the movie. Unfortunately, the actual telling of the story is a bit garbled. When the character development is done right, it is masterfully done creating characters with such depth and humanity you can't help but love them. But many other important characters serve little purpose beyond being plot devices. The music is unique and fits the mood and vibe perfectly. I highly recommend this film and give it 4 out of 5 Boxes of Popcorn.

   

 

Book Review - Clockwork Apple by Osamu Tezuka

I've been a huge Tezuka-sensei fan since I first picked up his science fiction trilogy (The Lost World, Metropolis, Next Word) and Astro Boy. He never ceases to amaze and impress with his wide range of genres and incredible amount of output.

Clockwork Apple by Osamu Tezuka is an anthology of comics book stories. It is available in paperback.

The Good

Miraculous Conception. This story felt like a classic science fiction story from the mid-20th Century. A human and a robot are isolated in space, get married, and miraculously have a child. The story examines the fallout of such an event. It wasn't a great story but was interesting.

A Clockwork Apple. This story was really enjoyable and had a lot of meat. It reminded me of the classic Tunnel at the End of the World. It is about a world that isn't what it seems to be and what happens to an individual who figures that out. The story took a unique spin on a familiar tale, and the execution was well done.

Night on the Bypass. This story involves a conversation between a cab driver and his passenger and the secrets they each have. Short, but really intriguing.

Sack. This was an interesting story about split personalities and medical conditions that can change a persons identity. Not a lot to the story, but an interesting concept.

The Bad

The Execution Ended at Three O'Clock. This was the fist story, but not a great start. It's a generic Nazi-like army killing Jew-like innocents. The only unique point was the secret formula and how it backfired on the main character, which was mildly interesting.

Yellow Dust. This story was very dark about a hostage situation that went very wrong.

Showtime with the Devil. This story is about political intrigue, assassination, and betrayal. It was pretty standard fare. Not a bad story, but not a particularly standout one either.

Homecoming. This is a revenge story about an STD from space. More bitter than clever.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

It's an anthology with more good than bad, so I can't complain.

Overall

Clockwork Apple by Osamu Tezuka is an anthology of dark short stories covering horror, war, crime, science fiction, and just plain weird. All the stories are well done (like most things Tekuza-sensei does) with some being more clever than others. There were some interesting twists on familiar stories that were enjoyable, but there were some that were pretty standard fare. I give this book 4 out of 5 eReaders.

   

TV Show Review - Atom: The Beginning

I am a huge fan of Osamu Tezuka and his most famous creation Mighty Atom aka.Astro Boy. I own all the Manga and have both TV series Tezuka worked on on DVD. There is something magical about his creation that transcends time and national borders. I've been less fond of adaptions of Tezuka's work by other people. They always seem to miss the essential heart in most of Tezuka's work.

Atom: The Beginning is a 2017 12-episode anime based on Osamu Tezuka's Mighty Atom (aka Astro Boy) that focuses on the creators and early attempts at creating a robot. It is rated G and appropriate for all ages.

The Good

Main Characters. The main characters are so well developed and explored; they feel real and I want to see more of them. They also have such a great relationship that is masterfully explored both with times they get along and times they lock horns. It's very dynamic. In the Astro Boy manga, Tenma is shown as a fairly sinister character with little compassion. This version explores why he's like that and makes you feel sympathetic for him.

Six (Mighty Atom Prototype). This takes place before the creation of Astro Boy, a robot that is so human. This offers an excellent explanation for how that is possible and shows you what early attempts to create such a personality look like. It is so well thought out.

Action. This show is filed with some amazing action that is beautifully animated and makes you feel like you are in the middle of it. It couldn't have been handled better.

The Bad

Pacing.  Like most anime this show is very decompressed, which means it moves very slowly and takes awhile to get anywhere. For a western audience, this would be pretty boring.

Flat Characters.  While the main characters are extremely well developed and interesting, most of the other characters are very flat and uninteresting. Most are little more than plot devices.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I think the producers took the right approach and did a great job adding to the existing mythology. There's nothing I would have done differently.

Overall

Atom: The Beginning is a charming anime that focuses on Tenma and Ochanomizu's years in school developing robots. It does an excellent job examining their relationship, their differences, and their goals as well as the birth of Astro Boy's basic character. Like most anime, it is slowly paced with amazing action scenes disbursed throughout. I give this show 4 out of 5 remotes.

   

Blu-ray/DVD Review: Black Jack The Movie

I've been a fan of Osamu Tezuka ever since I read my first Astro Boy comic. And it wasn't long after that when I read my first Black Jack comic and instantly became a fan. Black Jack is an unlicensed surgeon who performs procedures (usually surgeries but not always) that others can't or won't and charges exorbitant fees for his services. He stared in a series of 20-page manga stories beginning in 1973. Half his adventures are medical dramas, and the other half are unrelated adventures.

Black Jack The Movie is an animated Japanese anime that has recently been re-released in the United States on Blu-ray and DVD by DiscoTech Media. It was originally released in 1996 along with a 10-episode series in the same style. Included is the original Japanese track and an English dub. If it were released in theaters today, it would probably receive a PG-13 rating for medical-related gore and is appropriate for teenagers and up.

Quick Summary

This film stars Black Jack, an unlicensed medical genius, who is called in my a large corporation to investigate the mystery of the sudden appearance of super humans and their unexplained violent deaths.

The Good

Story. This movie had a really enjoyable story. The point of this movie is the mystery of the superhumans, where they came from, and why they are sick. Because of this, the character development is kept to a minimum, which many people will probably complain about, but character development isn't the point of this type of story.

Animation. This was animated in the 90s, which (in my opinion) was the height of craftsmanship for Japanese animation. The character designs are edgy, the colors bold, the action exciting. Everything was still mostly done by hand, and it looks like it. Today anime is too clean with too many filters and effects to cover up the poor draftsman skills.

Mystery. This movie is actually a series of mysteries with the solution of one leading into a new mystery that continues until the very last minute of the movie. It kept me at the edge of my seat with the resolution of each mystery being very satisfying. Too many shows nowadays fall into the trap of presenting the major challenge at the begging of the show or season (like Flash or Green Arrow seasons 2+) and bore the audience with failure after failure at solving it for the two hours or the 22 episodes. Black Jack does not fall into that trap.

Pacing. This movie starts with an interesting incident, the Olympics, and continues at a steady pace that never feels too rushed or too slow. This film never lost my attention.

Medical Illustration/Animation. A lot of time and care was put into making the surgical scenes look beautiful and accurate. It really sets this anime apart from others.

The Bad

Songs. This movie had the most random, dated track that had a completely different mood than the intense action scene it was set against.

Shoe-horned Environmental Message. At the very end, one of the main characters explains the mystery and then out of nowhere suddenly says people are killing the Earth and has this impassioned plea to take drastic steps to save it. This comes out of no where. There is not a single environmental or anti-industry message in the entire movie. Even if you agree with the sentiment, it still feels completely out of place and bizarre. If you want to make such a statement at the end of the movie, have a little foreshadowing beforehand.

Convenient Plot Elements. This movie flows pretty smoothly from one scene to the next with everything working out perfectly to advance to the next scene. There is no real challenge or

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I would have enjoyed a little more effort put into the writing. There wasn't a lot of conflict, the obstacles were quickly and easily overcome, and there were a few too many convenient occurrences in the plot to advance the story to the next scene. It wouldn't have taken much to justify why the characters did what they did or decided to try what they did.

Overall

Overall, Black Jack The Movie was an exciting, thrilling, mystery that kept me thoroughly entertained and wasn't fully resolved until the very end. It felt more like an American movie with very little evidence of Japanese culture which most people in this country will enjoy. I give it 4 boxes of popcorn out of 5.