Rating: PG13
Genres:
Adventure
Science Fiction
Theatrical Release: 06/zz/2001(Japan),
Release Date: 04/23/2002
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol/Por/KO/TH
Dubbed: Japanese/English/French
Sound: DTS/DD5.1/DS
Run Time: 108 min
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Columbia TriStar
Playing like a candy-colored hybrid of
Fritz Lang's film of the same name and
Ridley Scott's
Blade Runner,
Osamu Tezuka's
Metropolis borrows its plot liberally from numerous legendary
sci-fi sources (despite the fact that the original manga was released in 1945, certain cinematic aspects can't help but appearing overly familiar), all the while dazzling viewers on the same cutting-edge visual level as such
anime classics as
Akira and
Ghost in the Shell. The common
anime practice of combining amazingly rendered backdrops and more traditionally hand-drawn characters continues here, though with such nuances as beautifully flowing hair and soulfully expressive faces, it becomes obvious that painstaking detail was paid to making the characters both visually and emotionally involving. However, as expressive as some of the central characters may be, it's the elaborate tri-level industrial labyrinth that encompasses the world of
Metropolis that forms the film's central character, and it is a kalidescopic animated marvel to behold. Director
Rintaro's beautifully composed visual design is so awe-inspiringly colorful and complex that, from the opening frames, the viewer is fully absorbed in the environment, with plot and characterization almost coming as an afterthought. And that is precisely where the film's ultimately forgivable main weakness lies. In between scenes of wide-eyed, jaw-dropping visuals, the story of human and android tension set against the backdrop of a futuristic city borrows from so many sources that it borders on cliché. Thankfully, writer
Tezuka's characters are given a depth and sense of purpose that, while not altogether unconvincing or original, consistently connect with the viewer's sense of recognition and sympathy. Viewers will no doubt attest that
Metropolis works almost flawlessly on a purely visual and asthetic level within the opening frames of the film. Thankfully,
Tezuka's storytelling skills compliment that on a level which, while not entirely new or original, is at the very least genuinely sincere and thoughtful.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The gulf between backdrop and foreground never seems so large as in
Metropolis. Imagine a comic strip that features the characters from
Family Circus dropped into the bleak urbanscapes of
Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer, and you have some idea of what this film looks like. Even the villains in
Metropolis don't come off as particularly menacing-looking;
Duke Red, the builder of the Tower of Babel-like Ziggurat, is just a little less cuddly than the good guy detective and his nephew. Boldly titling your work (as source comic artist
Osamu Tezuka did) after an iconic film is asking for trouble. While the rendering of this metropolis is in many ways, thanks to 70 years of cinematic technology, even more jaw-dropping than that in
Fritz Lang's original, the characters, especially that of the robot
Tima, can't be taken as seriously as
Maria (both the real one and the "false" one) and
Professor Rottwang. The filmmakers try very hard to dramatize the aching love that
Ken-Ichi, the nephew of the detective, feels for
Tima, but ultimately, their relationship comes off as something out of a bad early
John Hughes movie. Nevertheless,
Metropolis has to be seen, because director
Rintaro and his production team have crafted a visual masterpiece not without its moments of wit, though the use of
Ray Charles'
"I Can't Stop Loving You" seems more than a little jarring, if not totally obvious.
~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
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