Review, Metropolis

There is a city-state with unrivaled economic and technological power called Metropolis. They are currently working on finishing the ziggurat, a new marvel of unspecified use. Kenichi and his uncle who is a detective are hunting down Dr. Loten, a mad scientist. It seems that Dr. Loten was working on something very important for Duke Red, one of the leaders of Metropolis. When Rock, Duke Red’s adopted son and leader of an Anti robot faction, kills Dr. Loten and sets fire to his laboratory, his latest creation escapes down the sewage hatch with Kenichi.

The movie Metropolis is based off an manga by Osamu Tezuka, which in turn was based off an old movie (pre talkies) also named Metropolis. While the original movie also focused on the disparity of power, the new movie uses robots to fill in the position of the oppressed workers with lower class humans reduced to abject poverty. While the movie is functional as a tale about the abuse of power and the dangers of relying on technology the movie does not try to bore the viewer with philosophical posturing.

The animation for Metropolis is the best part of the movie. The computer animation used for the backgrounds is expertly drawn giving Metropolis a retro futuristic look. The character designs might seem out of place to some viewers being true to Tezuka’s artwork. Added to this is some old Jazz music Including a song by Ray Charles.

While he was extremely influential with the formation of anime as we know it today, Many American fans are unfamiliar with the works of Osamu Tezuka. While this movie gives the viewer not only the chance to brush up on the works of one of the masters, it is also a worthwhile movie even without that angle. Both philosophically and ascetically pleasing, metropolis is simply a good movie. I give metropolis a rating of very good.

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