Metropolis
Director: Rintaro
Year Released: 2001
Rating: 2.5
Took Rintaro and his crew five years to make this film based on Osamu Tezuka's manga (which, in turn, was based on Fritz Lang's silent Metropolis), but for the stunning visuals - I didn't think I'd like the intermingling of CGI and cel animation in the beginning - and all the attention to detail (and my God, what detail), the characters are virtually irrelevant (Harry Potter and Final Fantasy had the same problem), and the only one I had any feelings for (and can remember the name of) is the garbage disposal unit Albert II (whose purring-and-squeaking innocence suggest Miyazaki). The ending is a pastiche of other anime - being a minor-level otaku I can only name about five: Akira (no surprise - screenwriter Otomo directed it), Ghost in the Shell, Black Magic M-66, Appleseed and (most recently) the Cowboy Bebop series. Speaking of Cowboy Bebop, doesn't the score sound a lot like Yoko Kanno's work?
