Metropolis

In the year 2001 the studio Madhouse decided to make a film of the manga of Osamu Tezuka which in turn is the adaptation of the famous German film. I will clarify things from the beginning: Is Metropolis a bad movie? - No, it's not a bad movie; Is it a good movie? - No, it's far from being a good movie. Let's remove the obvious things and then talk more about this peculiar film, Metropolis is a wonderful movie, the Tezuka design gives it an incredible personality and makes it stand out easily from many other futuristic films also the background art and the level of detail put in the city makes her feel alive. The movement is natural and feels with weight as the CGI does not feel intrusive and the love is noticed. Special mention to the sound and the soundtrack because they are also of a high level and to this day they have managed to maintain and even overcome several modern films. The great films of Sci-Fi are those which manage to maintain a clear focus, expose and treat their subjects through subtle dialogue and above all know how to manage the rhythm and cohesion, so let me tell you that Metropolis does not fulfill any of these characteristics as well as throw all its potential directly into the trash. One of the biggest problems in the story is that it takes time to decide what the conflict will be and how the climax will develop because most of it consists of an extended presentation about the characters and what they want to cover, after that the plot begins to add different sub-frames to give us the feeling that a great conflict is arming but this feeling is false, because the film is superficial when it comes to exploring these stories that end up hindering the main plot. On the other hand the rhythm suffers constantly from sudden changes because they decide to go from subframe to subframe and it is not that they add substance and the fact of overloading the film of so many plots affects the rhythm. Once we finally reach the great climax I realize that this has no impact because the film has been concerned very little to give weight to the characters and more to build a relationship without charisma. On the other hand it is the final one which is worth having been written by Katsuhiro Otomo, all being destroyed and all being abruptly closed as if they were trying to paste it with silicone. An honorable mention to the number of conveniences of script, plot holes, twists of no planning nut and a huge plot armor that covers and saves our characters from any situation of danger in very convenient ways. The cast is not good either, the main 2 barely and have a minimum degree of characterization and the conflict of Tima is so involved among so many subplots that in the end it loses strength and substance. Rock had one of the most interesting conflicts in the film but its treatment is too simple for something that shouted a development, even the work tries to victimize it when in the whole movie its actions have been exaggerated. The rest of the cast is simple but functional for the plot. And finally the dialogue and the direction are inconsistent, the first being totally exposing the plot and letting go of everything and the second, trying to count through the staging but it is curiously the lack of dialogue that makes these parts feel hollow and with some meaning, although there are certain moments where Rintaro hits enormously In conclusion: A great technical section added to some well-achieved scenes manage to save a disastrous script. I recommend it because at least it manages to entertain if you do not pay attention to its many mistakes. Versión en español: En el año 2001 el estudio Madhouse decidió hacer una película del manga de Osamu Tezuka que a su vez es la adaptación del famosísimo filme alemán. Aclarare las cosas desde el inicio: ¿Es Metropolis una mala película?- No, no es una mala pelicula; ¿Es una buena película?- No, esta lejos de ser una buena película. Quitemos las cosas obvias para luego hablar más sobre este peculiar film, Metropolis es una película que ve maravillosa, el diseño de Tezuka le da una personalidad increíble y la hace destacar fácilmente de muchas otras películas futuristas también el arte de fondo y el nivel de detalle puesto en la ciudad la hace sentir viva. El movimiento es natural y se siente con peso así como el CGI no se siente intrusivo y se nota el amor puesto. Mención especial al sonido y a la banda sonora pues también son de un alto nivel y hasta el día de hoy se han logrado mantener e incluso superar varias películas modernas. Las grandes películas de Sci-Fi son aquellas las cuales logran mantener un foco claro, exponen y tratan sus temas a través del diálogo sutil y sobretodo saben manejar el ritmo y la cohesión, pues déjenme decirles que Metropolis no cumple ninguna de estas características así como tira todo su potencial directo a la basura. Uno de los mayores problemas de la historia es que tarda en decidir cuál será el conflicto y como se desarrollara el climax debido a que la mayor parte consiste en una presentacion extendida sobre los personajes y lo que quiere abarcar, luego de eso la trama comienza a añadir diferentes sub-tramas para así darnos la sensación de que se está armando un gran conflicto pero esta sensación es falsa, pues la película es superficial a la hora de explorar estas historias que terminan entorpeciendo el plot principal. Por otra parte el ritmo sufre constantemente de cambios bruscos pues deciden pasar de subtrama a subtrama y tampoco es que sumen sustancia y el hecho de sobrecargar la película de tantas tramas afecta al ritmo. Una vez que por fin llegamos al gran clímax me doy cuenta de que este no tiene impacto pues la película se ha preocupado muy poco de darle peso a los personajes y más en armar una relación sin carisma. Por otra parte esta el final él cuál es digno de haber sido escrito por Katsuhiro Otomo, todo siendo destruido y todo siendo cerrado de manera brusca cómo si la estuvieran intentando pegar con silicona. Una mención honorífica al sinnúmero de conveniencias de guión, plot holes, giros de tuerca sin planeacion y un enorme plot armor que cubre y salva a nuestros personajes de toda situación de peligro de maneras muy convenientes. El cast tampoco es bueno, los 2 principales apenas y tienen un mínimo grado de caracterización y el conflicto de Tima está tan metido entre tantas subtramas que al final pierde fuerza y sustancia. Rock tenía uno de los conflictos más interesantes en la película pero su tratamiento es demasiado simple para algo que gritaba un desarrollo, inclusive la obra intenta victimizarlo cuando en todo la película sus acciones han sido exageradisimas. El resto del cast es simple pero funcional para la trama. Y por último el diálogo y la dirección son inconsistentes siendo el primero totalmente exposición sobre la trama y soltando todo de tirón y lo segundo pues intentacontar mediante la puesta en escena pero es curiosamente la falta de diálogo lo que hace que estas partes se sientan huecas y con algún significado, aunque hay ciertos momentos donde Rintaro acierta enormementel En conclusion: Un gran apartado técnico sumado a algunas escenas bien logradas logran salvar un guión desastrozo. La recomiendo pues logra como mínimo entretener si es que no te fijas en sus muchos errores.

(Check out my profile for a link to my site containing more up-to-date reviews and bonus media!) Metropolis is a 2001 anime film loosely based on Osamu Tezuka's 1949 manga of the same name, which itself has many parallels with director Fritz Lang's groundbreaking 1927 science fiction silent film. It's clearly a movie with quite the genealogy but this is no doubt deliberate. It's a film that celebrates its homages too grandly to be chastised as derivative, and by using this unusually vast well of influences it stands out among anime at large and becomes something special. Given the amount of changes from the original manga, perhaps it's less Tezuka who's responsible for the movie's qualities but rather the legendary anime director Rintaro, who not only combines his favorite elements of sci-fi, film noir, and animation with a sense of unrestrained nostalgia, but also visually frames them with their respective eras through frequent use of old-fashioned techniques like sidewipes and iris zooms, 50s-styled character designs, and a soundtrack composed by Toshiyuki Honda that draws solely upon western jazz and classical music. To get the most important thing out of the way first, Metropolis is one of the best-looking animated movies ever made. Even putting aside a huge budget that avoids simple frame rate problems, Metropolis is practically an ode to nearly every major type of animation, combining hand-drawn, painted, digital, and computer generated backgrounds and objects with fluidity I never thought possible by keeping background shading consistent even when parts of the backgrounds are from different origins, and by keeping colors and tones consistent yet broad in a fantastically surreal way. Similar to Rintaro's direction, Metropolis's animation combines the classic era with the modern era, and even borrows several architectures and themes from the sets and story of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. This is the kind of unrestrained imagination animation was meant to bring to life in ways live-action is limited by, and although it largely comes from a base of nostalgia, Metropolis is still a forward-thinking animated movie among any of its lower-aiming contemporaries. The advanced city of Metropolis is the world's leader in both technology and culture, but although the gigantic city has a glitzy outside and a powerful public reputation, turmoil is threatening to push the city downwards from under the surface. Detective Hige and his assistant/nephew Kenichi are sent to investigate Metropolis in search of the mad scientist Dr. Laughton. Dr. Laughton is hiding in Metropolis under employ from the city's ruler Duke Red, who's commanded Dr. Laughton to create an android (similar to the one in Lang's Metropolis) of his beloved yet deceased daughter Tima to soothe his grief and perhaps be part of a much more sinister plot. Meanwhile, Duke Red's adopted but neglected son Rock grows jealous of his father's attention, and also due to his prejudice against robots seeks to kill the newly awakened Tima as Hige and Kenichi attempt to protect her and discover Duke Red's true plans. Meanwhile, unrest increases between humans and the robot labor force (another theme borrowed from Lang's film), and at the center are a group of anti-robot terrorists known as the Marduks and Duke Red's latest pride and joy, the flying mechanical blimp known as the Ziggurat. It's quite a lot, isn't it? Indeed, Metropolis bites off a lot for its average 107 minute running time, and it never has a second to not talk with its mouth full. The faults of Metropolis and the reasons why it never caught on enough for the whole world to be aware of it are all located in the narrative, which is very dry despite the always impressive ambition and its attempt at a Shakespearean-esque tragic epic in scale. The story is in a bad spot of both recycling themes through its homages and not portraying them in any stronger or new ways beyond aesthetic, and even the fresh aesthetic is more of a hybrid of different sources rather than something truly unique. Most importantly though is that the story lacks any sort of a strong immediate hook. There are no great characters to get attached to other than the clearly complex Rock (who himself has little background or development like everyone else), and though this has the potential to be forgiven as individuals getting lost in a much larger story about a society, the city of Metropolis that is, the city's culture before the turmoil is barely established in order to service the plot and its downfall is sudden, not as natural as it should be, and not that cathartic. The characters being uninteresting is a serious blow to a what progresses as a detective story, as the background of the setting itself also takes the entire movie to unfold, so the full significance of what's happening isn't felt. This leads to the viewer being dragged through set pieces that are weak in important context. Metropolis hopes for its story to succeed based on sheer size, and hopes that the powerful art direction will compensate for the story and characters' lack of width. This is a successful gamble when it comes to being pure entertainment as there's not a second when Metropolis isn't visually engrossing, but as Fritz Lang would put it, style is the mediator of the brain and the heart. These disparate qualities of Metropolis should work together in tandem rather than be a series of pretty patches. Though Metropolis is a very frustrating film as its faults are practically pronounced alongside its great potential of what it wants to achieve, it still manages to cement a place in pop culture regardless. Why? Because Metropolis is far from a film that can be faulted for lack of trying. It's a gorgeous feature that never completely loses sight of its grand ambitions, and its excitement and the love put into it is perfectly palpable with or without its shortcomings. If certain other anime films can become renowned as classics for similarly "traditional" themes on the basis of affecting art direction, then so should Metropolis. It's a movie that should be mentioned to anyone with an interest in animation, and given how rarely a film comes along that tries to top it in that aspect, it'll probably remain a stand-out animated film into the next generation or further.

I really enjoyed this anime and would have given it a 10 but for one thing. The first thing you read in "review tips and guidelines" starts out "Don't steal anyone else's work...". I keep reading where "Metropolis" was adapted from a manga of the same name that is a load of BS. The reason "Metroplis" is so good is it's an anime copy, plot point for plot point, of Fritz Lang's classic silent picture "Metropolis" Nowhere absolutely nowhere is this mentioned. If you're going to adapt someone else's work you should at least give them credit.

Just got out of watching Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis; Written by Katsuhiro Otomo and directed by Rintaro, since it got reaired thanks to an Anime Expo Cinema Event. Always love that they do that so I can appreciate these movies in theaters. What an excellent movie. My theater was small but after we finished the film we all talked about Captain Harlock and how cool the movie was. I should get my parents to watch it. This movie doesn't get a lot of talk so it was nice to watch it and experience it blind as someone who hadn't read the manga. A must-watch for any older anime enjoyed!! I have to read the manga because I've heard it is very different, I wish Dark Horse would reprint it alongside a bunch of other Tezuka stuff, would be nice. Yeah would recommend, 9/10

I really enjoyed this film. End to end it kept me engaged in story whilst the animation continued to be stunning throughout. Animation wise, this reminded me a lot of the style from Porco Rosso. Its like it has hints of Disney whilst rooted in Japanese animation. This films animation is stunning. Everything moves fluidly, the characters, I feel anyway, are nicely designed and have their own originality. As we journey through the film we are treated to variety. The environments vary in a nicely contrasting way, the above ground segments looks vibrant and full of life and the below ground environment look dull and devoid of life, not physically but spiritually. The animation does a really good job of painting the picture this story is trying to convey and is honestly one of the most classy looking anime films I have every seen. I'd give the animation a strong 9. Ifs funny because I watched this straight after finishing Sigurui which is, in my opinion, one of the worst animations shows Madhouse has ever done, which is rather contrary to Metropolis. Music wise, I feel is rather strong. It takes a nice detour away from what we are used to from anime. We go from swing, to orchestral, to jazz, to just straight smooth and gorgeous tunes. Honestly one of the finest, best fitting soundtracks I have heard in a film. Its such a stylish OST and still manages to be coherent and fits the film perfectly. I is quite evident that just as much time was put into this soundtrack as was put into the animation. Though I'll be honest, I feel the music tops the animation by just a little which means I'm giving the score a 10/10. On to the story now, which I think is it's weakest point. Don't get me wrong, this film still kept me thoroughly engaged throughout, but I felt this was more down to it's stunning animation and the perfect soundtrack. The story doesn't have a whole lot of weight to it. Its still tells a great tale for sure, it just lacks much dynamic. There isn't many soring highs or heartbreaking lows, it's all just a little flat. The characters are well written but do little beyond what they deliver upon their Introductions. This film still has a story worth watching, it's just not hitting the levels it needs to be among the great stories of anime. For me it's a low 7/10 on the story front. All in all this brings us to an average of 8.6 but I never round up. So this is getting an 8/10 which is help up by the great animation and sublime soundtrack. Its still a film worth watching, it's just unlikely to be in most people top films/shows of anime.

I could feel those animators crack their knuckles, the blood and bones from their hands sticking out. A visual showcase of mastery like not many other animated films, sadly, I wish I could say the same for the story. Metropolis explores a futuristic dilemma of humans being replaced by robots. As functional beings, the story of robots being better is something of a typical sci-fi element these days. The story is taken from an old manga, and it really shows. A dated protagonist with dated sidekicks, dated villains with dated motives. By dated, I don't mean to say it's inherently bad, but when adapting a story from an old medium, compromises have to be made. The biggest flaw in the story is, if characters weren't the way they are, the story can't happen. Extreme people that go to insane lengths without much rhyme or reason; could be because they had to cut several parts of the story. Motives aside, I still give a 7/10 for the animation only. The movement of hair, clothing, eyes, facial expressions, tracking shots and the cinematography were flawless. If you like a visual style like no other, even pinned against a cliché story, give it a go. Maybe the ending was the best part, since it manages to shake off those clichés for a great second of perfection. Nevertheless, good experience.

I urge anyone who's interested in this anime to watch it. I think the top couple of reviews are being much to critical of the film. Although the story of this film is mostly symbolic and a bit off a mess, and the characters don't have much depth, the world this film creates is more than enough of a reason to watch it. With a team of veteran filmmakers behind metropolis, it's no wonder that every frame of animation is a joy to look at. For a film made in 2001 it still holds up incredibly well today. The colors are vibrant, the detail is striking and both work together to bring the city of metropolis to life. I think the use of music in the film is done very well. Chases sequences have fast pieces to keep the viewer engaged, while emotional scenes have slower more powerful pieces to add weight. While the characters are mostly used as vehicles for the plot, there are stand out moments that let the relationships shine through, including a very memorable end sequence. I think that the film fails to capture the essence of the 1927 metropolis, but takes elements form it that makes the film stand up on it's own as a classic. If you watch the film for what it is then I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and might find yourself thinking about the film long after you've seen it like I was.

Metropolis is a movie doing everything wrong. And I am not talking about the production values, which are great by the way. I am referring to the aesthetics, a complete mess of ideas and sceneries that strike a chord in all the wrong places and moments. It could definitely be a fine title, if it was aware of the way it presented itself. It could be great if it was: 1) a series instead of a movie. It has a very heavy on themes story yet only movie-worth of duration to show them. This obviously takes away a lot from what it could have been if more time was invested in each of its numerous aspects. 2) a lot more character-centric instead of story-centric. You are not made to believe that any one of its characters has the tiniest control over their actions. They are more like being pulled through events set in stone they can’t do anything about. There is also very little time invested one each one of them to feel like they are at least trying to do something significant in general. This tends to make the cast unsympathetic and even useless. 3) closer to the expectations of the era it came out. Its art-style is way too retro to appeal to the modern audience. Its themes have also been analyzed much better in older shows and movies to appeal to an older audience. 4) not feeling like a loose remake of the famous homonymous movie from 1927. Those who have seen it will most likely hate how they turned a live action to an animated feature with blobby characters. So, why they made this movie then? I suspect just for the nostalgia factor. It is based on a manga by the late Osamu Tezuka (inspired by but not based on the homonymous movie classic), so it would feel nice to the people who grew up with his works. It is also a retro-styled movie which will appeal to all those who grew up with cartoons and anime from the 50’s. So as you can tell, it aims at a very narrowed audience, since most of them would by now be either dead or not interested in cartoons for decades. As for the rest who would really sit down to watch it for old times sake, I am not sure they would appreciate how it combined the old style with modern computer generated images. Thus not even nostalgia will work. You get this obsolete-looking (in style) movie, showing a hundred events, each one not lasting more than a few minutes, and everything feeling like a dried up patchwork of sci-fi ideas you have already seen and analyzed much better elsewhere. How could it possibly work compared to Ghost in the Shell, or Blade Runner? How can these blobs of characters possibly make you feel anything? And skip all that; let’s just suppose we are to criticize the events of the movie based on context and not proper duration or presentation, and without comparing them to any earlier works of fiction. They still suck in reasoning. Here, let me tell you why. 1) Workers take up arms to drive away the robots who steal their jobs. It’s as if the robots are to blame for everything when in reality it was man himself who created them to be so damn loyal and efficient. So instead of attacking the root of the problem (the people creating them or making money from them) they just randomly attack the symptoms (poor robots just doing what they were told). And even if that is supposed to be showing the folly of man, as he directs his frustration towards the wrong issues, it still makes no sense as these workers end up being eliminated by said robots. This renders all this aspect of the movie as completely useless, since not only they attacked the wrong people (or in this case, robots), they also didn’t manage to accomplish anything. 2) A detective and his nephew come to the city to investigate a case. Trust me when I say they didn’t do much of an investigation, as the robot girl was found by complete accident and the man responsible simply revealed himself. Another useless part of the film. 3) The big boss of the city wants to create a robot that will apathetically control all other machines of the world, and for that he asks to resemble a dead girl with feelings? This makes no sense. 4) What would the bib boss’ son would gain by sabotaging the whole project? He would definitely not make his father to like him more. Thus not even he makes any sense. 5) What is the detective boy’s role in the film? To look all cute and innocent next to the robot girl? He didn’t offer anything other than being dragged from one scene to another. 6) Why would we consider the robot girl to be a tragic character? It is a robot that hardly does anything in the whole film. 7) Why did everything go to hell in the end anyway? It is never explained. So no, it is not a good film. Not by miles. And now for some excused scorings. ART SECTION: 7/10 General Artwork 2/2 (nicely done) Character Figures 1/2 (blobs) Backgrounds 2/2 (nicely done) Animation 1/2 (basic) Visual Effects 1/2 (basic) SOUND SECTION: 7/10 Voice Acting 2/3 (corny but fitting with the feeling of the series) Music Themes 3/4 (not great but fitting with the feeling of the series) Sound Effects 2/3 (ok I guess) STORY SECTION: 6/10 Premise 2/2 (interesting) Pacing 1/2 (slow) Complexity 2/2 (rich in context) Plausibility 0/2 (none) Conclusion 1/2 (messy) CHARACTER SECTION: 4/10 Presence 0/2 (very weak) Personality 1/2 (generic) Backdrop 1/2 (generic and simplistic but it’s there) Development 1/2 (overblown but it’s there) Catharsis 1/2 (overblown but it’s there) VALUE SECTION: 1/10 Historical Value 0/3 (none) Rewatchability 0/3 (too boring to rewatch) Memorability 1/4 (aside from nostalgia, no reason to remember it) ENJOYMENT SECTION: 2/10 Nice visuals but that is all. VERDICT: 4.5/10

An ambitious movie but with poor pacing. The story’s pacing is not great. The first few minutes were really good, it showed the utopian world very well. Unfortunately after that the pacing was really slow, it just started introducing the characters, and all the side characters seem boring, the uncle, Kenchi, Tina, the villian, and it was really slow. The two main characters Kenchi and Tina are interesting though. The places explored by Kenchi and Tina were shown really well and the new zones in metropolis are shown in great detail. THe second half was amazing, there’s a surprising moment I won’t spoil. Then the pace moved faster and Tina starts struggling with her identity, which was really interesting, and it was fascinating watching how she dealt with this. The story was good, and the themes questions what does it mean to be human is shown very well. A highly ambitious movie with great world building, but poor pacing in the first half. Constructive feedback is appreciated :)

Artificial consciousness. Emotions. Empathy. Power. Scientific Development. Religion. Segregation. Fascism. With all these themes, the show looks like a 2010s movie, but it's a 60s story by the manga God Tezuka Osamu, and, combined with the visionary, beautiful and well-worked direction of the anime God Otomo Katsuhiro, Metropolis is, by far, one of the best movies ever made. Story: 8/10 The plot is perfect, seems like a Urasawa Naoki manga and the conceptual social sci-fi was well-placed, combining mythology and science, like every Otomo's pieces. It's a political movie, so, the ideological discussions being so well-wrote has increased a lot more. The only defect I can find in the story is the classical Akira unique mistake: the self-overrated ending. The director has the bad habit of thinking their pieces are more than they actually is, and all Otomo's anime endings are pretty outcast and edgy, but not in a good way. If it wasn't a police mystery thriller, the movie would get 9/10 in terms of story, but this genre needs good ending to get a good story rating. Art: 10/10 Using a modern version of Tezuka's trait, the art of Metropolis is kinda nostalgic, and the animation is perfect. The Akira-like machine details, the kodomo style and simple visual effects turned the piece into a reference in terms of art. Sound: 9/10 There's no nostalgic non-mute movies without a good soundtrack, and Metropolis isn't an exception. Jazz, blues and 20th century pop had increase a lot the movie, and all the tracks were well-placed. Character: 7/10 The movie focus isn't the character development, despite it's kinda well-worked to a one and a half hour movie. Well, it's nothing like Perfect Blue or another Kon Satoshi's piece, but it has unforgettable characters and brilliant protagonists, combined with the well-done character design. Enjoyment: 10/10 The dialogues are pleasant, the movie atmosphere is nice and the story is well-wrote, with a jealousy script and incredible direction. Overall: 8/10 Buy it if you like: current topics discussions, good animation, good soundtrack, good level of story, soft thriller and social sci-fi plot. Don't buy it if you don't like: conceptual sci-fi, peculiar endings and dialogue-focused movies.

Upon wondering around for a good anime movie, I found myself instantly wondering what is Metropolis? I watched it in the worst quality on a anime movie website and I couldn't even see the faces. But, I can tell you I thought it was wonderfully created. The Music really drew me in with the 1920's feel and I loved that it almost borders on steampunk. I loved all the characters because, they really all had a large purpose. The story was well crafted and easily depicts a realistic sci-fi movie. Usually, I tend to drift away from anime movies that are not 2006 and up but, for 2001 it was genius and almost completely futuristic. I had heard of this movie before but, I never watched it until recently. I think that if you're looking for a movie that will keep you guessing and will maybe make you cry than I suggest this one :)

When I heard that Metropolis was a really good movie from reviewers, I had to pick it up at the library and try it. Highly disappointed I found it to be extremely boring. The story revolves around a city named Metropolis, a city filled with creation, structure, and many action. There is one scientist named Dr. Laughton, a Japanese detective named Shunsaku and his nephew Kenicihi. Soon, they arrive at Metropolis and the scientist (I guess or whatshisface) creates a robotic girl named Tima. Kenicichi befriends this girl and decides to help her through the dangers of the city. Since I'm a child, I couldn't really understand this movie. It didn't have enough action in it as I thought it would, but many adventures and suspense. The movie did have a tearful ending and some interesting scenes, but that still didn't enthuse me. The art and animation style didn't bother me too much; it was beautiful. Much like a Hayou Miyazaki film such as Spirited Away or Cowboy Bebop The Movie or anything that was made in 2001 with the same art style. I loved how this film was drawn and the characters too (even though they're a little smaller than I expected). The animation was also beautiful as well as the art style. The dub I guess wasn't too bad. Reminded me of some of the Fullmetal Alchemist actors who dubbed their characters (if they're in this film) and some of them sound like the ones from the Lupin III franchise. The little boy was very cute as well as the little girl and the scientist did well with his voice. The characters weren't too bad. Very imaginative and the kids were very cute, but sadly, I didn't have much enthusiasm with them as I thought I would; but they seem very connected to this movie. I didn't really enjoy this movie. Although, like I said, the animation/art/dub/characters didn't bother me too much so I guess I can't hate the movie, but it's just something that didn't really interest me as well as other movies out there in the world. The movie was a HUGE disappointment compared to all the other 2001 movies I've seen which were FANTASTIC but this one has to be the worst out of them. The movie put me half to sleep and I didn't really focus on it too much, it just made me almost turn the television off and watch a different anime. But I had to watch it so that I could review this, sorry. Overall: 4/10

This has the environmental visuals of Mob Psycho, the casually important scenes of Akira, the pace of Lucky Star to the soundtrack of... Team Fortress. I could hardly take this movie seriously, and barely was able to get myself to end this. Maybe it would've been better if it was your first political story ever, and the west was exotic to you. There's an excess of direct exposition and lack of indirect. At one point, character A flat-out tells character B a fact he should know given his position, but the audience already knows this, and it's not dramatic or nothing, just "factual". There also is one recurring word that's ineffective and pointless relative to how much it shows up. The pace seems entirely wrong. It walks to run, prowls to sprint, but whether you are given direct exposition, or are left confused — because this cannot do indirect exposition ever — whether music or silence, you don't get a sense of the stakes of *jack shit*. Though, between audio and video, the visuals are decameters better than the audio. This movie, it is one from which you can like scenes, and other parts, but the plot? Not one of them. The movie's primary antagonist is not the guy who looks like Jet the Hawk; it's a guy whose sole task at all his waking moments is to blast something out of existence. That guy is Dante if he got cancer, fell into a Victorian ditch and was found by a galvanic scientist who revived his poor restless corpse. The character in the cover is a lame horse for most of the runtime, even during the end. This is what I most despise about this story, truly unforgivable. The end is abysmal. It's a sequence of senseless "Aha, you didn't know X was gonna be present here", multiple endbaitings, interspersed with ineffective dialogue (at one point pleonasmic), that feels like it should've ended before it actually does. It is truly without analogy. Oh, and right on the cusp between the end and the epilogue, there's a fade to black, and suddenly, the "dramatic music" (let's call it that) that was playing gives way to Tom and Jerry easy-listening jazz. Absolute piss-take. One thing I suspected this early on, but took seeing the entire movie to ascertain: there is a deathly lack of sound effects where they should exist. The world that is, at times, visually alive, is auditorily dead. Sound effects and sound design generally are bad - the music is somehow better. For example, during the end, in one of the many times that character C ruffnecks character D to sling him elsewhere, so he can grab one of the locations's infinite ledges, this one happening to be his 8th ledge, there's no clothes rustling sound, just a minor cloth thump. I laughed at the movie's jarringness many times. The only genuine laugh that was intended I got early on, when character X teaches character Y. The strongest characters are one guy, and two robots, I won't say who, but one is a side-character, and the other two's best qualities are undermined by everything else, so they're worse than their equivalents in other stories. Comparing this against Karakuri Princess (2000), this is, in my opinion, worse than Karakuri Princess. KP is shorter, also paced badly, but the sound effects are present and sufficiently good No, the visuals are not peak, but they are consistently good. The titular princess is in the cover, but besides being a princess who is titular, she also DOES stuff. Where MP01 has weird musical and tonal clashes, KP has weird jarring thematic clashes. Both "movies" turn to abjectly pointless nihilism at the end - that is, where they should end - but then continue into something that has no reason to be there. When it comes to characterization, the character pair in MP01 is better than everyone in KP, and dare I say, combined with everyone else in MP01, and that's a feat, because this pair are undercharacterized. I wanted to give this a 4/10, because that's how I feel, but with my third eye, I can see... - a movie that doesn't have a character who, every time he appears, he shoots a thing in existence; - a movie that has beautiful silent shots of a malconceived world; - one that has cool premises for a story. So, I gave it a 5. Brief aside: I saw this after the 3DCG movie Scarygirl (2023), which was also better, and it's an interesting coincidence how both feature energy lasers that are beamed into the sun, and daughters that are remade. The best part of this movie is in its visuals, which you're better off seeing in Sakugabooru or thematic compilations. The 30-40 minute long OVA Karakuri Princess (2000), which was bad, was better than this. I am annoyed to have seen it and you should not.

Ah! Metropolis. I only watched this movie because I love the original by Fritz Lang (1927). This movie is inspired by that. That movie is a fricking masterpiece. A silent movie. (Ahem! 1927). It was one of the first silent movies that I watched, so it was obvious that it had to be an 'experience' in my life. The original had a good story to tell. A good message. (Won't Spoil). And this movie too tried have that similar kind of impact on the audience in 2001. I won't say that it failed but that I didn't love the execution. This movie is very different from the original. Only some of the core themes match. As the city of Metropolis itself, it's there in both versions, with their own versions of the tower of Babel. (It's a thing in these movies). The main story is completely different in both movies. Both movies tackle similar but different themes. This one is more based on the manga written by Osamu Tezuka than the 1927 movie. But it has its difference with the manga too. (Read The Synopsis). This movie captures the impact of artificial intelligence on our society very well. It also parallels and shows some of the real-life issues like oppression, racism, and the impact of self-righteous politics. And I think it does its job well. This aspect of the story is what I am most impressed with. Then there is the relationship aspect of the story. A parent-child-like relationship and a romantic relationship. Although I felt the romantic aspect to be weak. I just can't fully get the decisions made by the characters that evolved due to this relationship. Although not quite developed the parent-child-like relationship worked better for me. There are two of those in this movie. (Till now I was talking about the hero one). This movie had villains. Although I think it must have been better if it did the whole who is the better successor story well. For me the way it was done just produced a couple of cool action sequences. But if it had tackled it any other better way like not having the villain to be the assassin creed leader himself rather having him as the politically more evil version of his father, who behind his father's back did all the corrupt works for the same reasons. I dunno. It takes its time trying to develop some of the things but really doesn't give much time to others. It feels slow at some moments. Like boring vibes slow. It has the signature style animation of the director Rintaro. (I don't like his character animation style that much though. Astroboy!). But boy don't the environment looks beautiful in this movie. Reminded me of the original Blade Runner movie. It's great. I would give this movie a 7/10.

After a long intro, we get a interesting little piece like a dictator and then a futuristic looking town I could only believe was based on New York. Something about this show makes me feel that he was trying to comment on the social structure and where it’s going. It’s the natural thing of people in high power pushing down the lower class as they head to the top. Each of the characters that actually have a big part to play in this show actually has nice personalities even though they sometimes fall into a norm. Tezuka always had an interesting way of mixing robots and human characteristics. His robot creations are unlike anything you really ever seen before this time for the most part. They have a playfulness even if the story is supposed to get rather dark. Tezuka always had a reason behind his stories and this is no exception. The story talks about what separates man and machine, what it really means to be human, and all that wonderful stuff. The Artwork is definitely Osamu’s style with its large noses and hair that mostly falls over the eyes. Everything about it is rather fun looking and interesting. A lot of characters are strange proportions with rather thick legs, hands about the same size as gloved hands and so on. The colors are mostly bright and colorful even in the darker parts, of the show, the rust pretty much showing up brightly. There is a small feeling that we are looking threw an antic lens at times with some of the grainy feelings it gives off. Sometimes as well, we get a rather panted look for the still images like the face where the hair actually moves about it on a cell. At least, that’s what it looks like. The English voices aren’t bad for how odd the show is though they play it off sort of like a radio drama. It works perfectly with the feel of the show since it looks like it’s from the time of ‘War of the Worlds’. The music also plays into that with the 1950’s New York attitude. It makes the show a bit more relatable in a sense because it brings the old charms we know and love about a actually city with this new futuristic world that may come soon to us.

2001's metropolis is a cyberpunk dystopia written by Katsushiro Otomo (writter of Akira) and directed by Rintaro (creator of astro bot and founder of MADHOUSE) In the grand scheme of things this hyperstylised beautiful movie with gorgeous cyberpunk paronamic scenes is a story about the engineered conflict within the working class that tries to distract us from the real problem that is capitalism and the concentration of money to the top (hence the different vertically aligned zones) But between the lines it's a story about love and grief, it's also a story about jealousy and to how far all these things will take you. While I don't want to spoil much I want to point out that although the relatively simple/linear storylines of each character apart from the Tima. Most of the characters in this story are still very much well written and very charming, it's a beautiful movie and a must watch

First anime movie I watched and as a child I gained self awareness when watching this movie- very important lore The animations and details they added was some amazing at the time As well as the plot, which still hold strong in my mind, even made me cry, some some lessons to be learned in the movie as well- would recommend. As well as I think the character and the entire story could be symbolic if your looking at it from the right perspectives- the hold nior futuristic animation environment and style really is fantastic after all being the first anime I'd ever seen- it was truly like giving a child ego proxy to watch over and over agian until they understand.

I've never seen a film like Metropolis before, and I mean that in the best and worst ways. It is seriously difficult to describe, and having just finished it ten minutes ago, I have no idea how to explain what even happens in this film. The TL;DR is don't watch this if you're expecting a typical cyberpunk shounen like I was. But if you're into experimental, odd, or just plain weird shit you may actually really love this film. THE BAD There's zero character development. No-one, from the villains to the heroes to the side-characters have narrative depth. We know nothing of any character's backstory or motivation, and we don't know why they take most of the actions they do. The characters are simply representations of actions, emotions, thoughts, etc. Their existence is purely symbolic. I really like this concept on paper, but in execution it is extremely disorienting. Nothing in the movie connects. Plot points come and go by the scene. Characters arrive only to die minutes later. I seriously had no idea why most of the events even happened. Narratively, metaphorically, they rarely connected. Maybe if I was more familiar with the source material (I had no idea this was an adaptation going into it) I would have understood it a lot more. But even compared to other art films I've enjoyed, this was extremely disjointed. Violence and death are used incredibly weirdly in this film. I won't say too much since this is spoiler-free, but a lot of characters die or are violently injured throughout this film, and it always feels incredibly tonally odd. I suspect this is a quirk of adaptation, but violence really loses a lot of its bite when it's with these Astro Boy lookin characters. Speaking of which, tonally, this film is all over the place. I'm not big on this kind of character design to begin with, but the film never really finds a good balance between "kiddy mystery/action/sci-fi" and "grim cyberpunk dystopia." There's topless porno mags and mass murder, but cutesy characters and ditzy dialogue. There's themes of death, mortality, and the ethical usage of violence, and then there's a cute robot friend. There's gritty sci-fi squalor, but a jazz centric soundtrack. It feels extremely weird at times, again like the art style really didn't benefit the film at all. THE GOOD The animation and art are incredibly beautiful sometimes. Characters move extremely fluidly, and you can tell a lot of time and effort was put into every scene in terms of body language and movement. And a lot of the environments are beautiful. Even the tacky, old 3D VFX holds up well, if just as a nostalgic treat. You see so many locations and so many places and so really feel like the city is alive. Even if it rarely makes much sense. The climax of the film may be one of the best sequences of cinema I have ever seen. The visuals, the metaphors, everything the film stands for comes together flawlessly in the climax. The film went from zero to one hundred in seconds, and suddenly I could see why people would love this movie. It undid the previous one-and-a-half hours of confusion, and for a split second was truly a beautiful film. I seriously cannot do it enough justice even if I wrote three more paragraphs about it. THE VERDICT I didn't understand this film until the very end, and even though it was an incredible finale, I don't think the rest of the film is very good. It's dry, dull, and repetitive. While it keeps you intrigued, it doesn't stop you from getting bored. And certain segments especially around the middle of the film are barely cohesive. That being said, there's a lot you might love here as well. And as much as I dismiss certain elements of the film, you (the reader) may actually love those pieces. The obtuse characters, the odd pace, the completely unique and overdeveloped atmosphere; these are personal dislikes, not objective ones. So do I recommend this? No, not unless you really know what you're getting into and everything I listed above gets you excited to watch this film. But do I think it's a bad film? Not at all. It just wasn't a great film for me. I'm glad I watched it, but I never want to re-watch it.

First what I want to say is Motoko from Ghost in the Shell, Alita from Gunnm, or Dorothy from The Big O are more compelling characters. Actually my favourites in anime/manga or even in entertainment media overall. Tima has a basic plotline. Being the highly intelligent robot that rebels in the end. You can sympathize her when she has got saved by Kenichi, but when she goes berserk I just don't care. We have seen such plot in most robot movies. Even if mechanical life is possible and artificial intelligence may be real, if a robot is malicious it is an enemy. Otherwise it is a beautiful movie. Great direction, animation and music.

This film is an enigma to me. The visuals and its scope held a lasting impression, the climax/ending scene alone replays in my mind over and over again. Meticulous work was put into every frame of the animation, rivaling that of films such as Akira or End of Eva. Despite the enticing visuals, its story is hardly memorable. The plot is a cluttered mess and the characters are very one-note, which really hinders the enjoyment factor. The film suffers from the same predicament as the Akira movie, where it's attempting to tell the story of a multi-volume manga in an hour and a half. Despite my criticisms, It's an intriguing film worth a watch, however, I wouldn't put it past anyone who doesn't get much out of watching the film. I may come back to this movie, as I do appreciate its commentary on themes such as class warfare and fascism, I can definitely see myself coming back to it in the future.