I saw "Metropolis" last night and wanted to briefly share my observations. To begin, the movie is beautifully rendered, as befits the talents of Rintaro, who has previously directed "X" and "Galaxy Express" and Kastuhiro Otomo, the screenwriter for "Akira". Apparently, a decision was made to keep the animation in the style of the originator of "Metropolis", Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy). This could be described as something akin to early Disney in its styling. Not being a fan of retro-animation, I didn't care for this type of cutesy character design and it detracted from my enjoyment of the picture.Originally posted by KidD01
@thantor3 : Can't wait to hear your review on Metropolis![]()
I have read many glowing reviews of this anime, but to be honest I found it somewhat disappointing. While the visuals were breathtaking, the rather inhibited pacing made it difficult to really allow yourself to be immersed in the story. The story itself did not explore themes that were particularly unique and I found the character development rather shallow, a flaw particularly apparent in the lack of emotional force in the dramatic conclusion. For example, I found some interesting parallels between the character of Tima and the character of Mima Kirigoe in "Perfect Blue", but because the character of Tima was less developed, I was more impacted by what happened to Mima than to Tima.
The soundtrack was well done, using several musical standards from the big band era of the late 20s to 40s, as well as an exceptional score of jazz. The song selected for the climax was used to particularly devastating effect. An interesting musical note is that Rintaro played bass clarinet with the orchestra for the soundtrack. The DVD has dual 5.1 surround options in Dolby Digital & DTS formats.