Metropolis (2001)

 Metropolis (2001)

In 1927 German silent film director Fritz Lang released what might be arguably the best science fiction film of the silent era, with Metropolis.  The film helped to inspire mangaka Osamu Tezuka in 1949 to create a manga of the same name, even though Tezuka hadn't actually seen the film.   That manga became a well loved manga series, and in 2001 an anime was made of the classic manga.  The 2001 anime film diverged significantly from the original manga, and pulled in more elements from the original Fritz Lang film, and the resulting anime, is one of the greatest science fiction anime films released.   Metropolis was well loved by critics and fans alike, and is considered one of the must-see anime films. 

Metropolis was directed by Rintaro, with a screenplay written by Katsuhiro Otomo.  The film was produced by Madhouse, and distributed by Toho (Japan) and Tristar Pictures and Destination Films (internationally).   Metropolis was met with high critical praise, and has been a well loved film among the fans, as well as currently holding a very high score on film review sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.   Many praise the film for its breathtaking animation and effects, as well as its rich characters and writing.   

Metropolis was originally released in Japanese, since it is a Japanese film, but was also released with an English Dub.  Though many anime fans claim that an anime film MUST BE watched in its original language, I tend to prefer English Dubs so that I can focus on the animation and what it happening on screen rather than focusing on trying to read the sometime fast paced dialogue.  That being said I will therefore be talking about the English language voice acting cast for the film.   Metropolis features the voices of Brianne Siddall as Kenichi, Tony Pope plays his uncle a Shinsaku Ban, Shinsaku and Kenichi have been sent by the Japanese government to hunt down Dr Laughton (Simon Prescott) for human rights violations.  They are assisted by a robot named Pero (Dave Mellow), and when they track down Dr. Laughton, they discover that his lab has been set on fire and they save a young girl named Tima (Rebecca Forstadt).  Tima however is being hunted by Rock (Michael Reisz) who is the son of Duke Red who is the unofficial leader of the country, and sits basically at the right hand of president Boon (Richard Plantagenet).   Duke Red has built a giant skyscraper called Ziggurat, which is a weapon that can control all of the people on the planet, and Tima is the key to the Ziggurat.     The film has a great voice acting cast, that does an excellent job at conveying the emotions of the characters, bringing them to life and making them characters that the viewer can feel for. 

Metropolis is an absolutely beautiful animated film, with cutting edge animation.  I like that in some ways this film reminds me of what a Ralph Bakshi film might look like if it was made in the era of computer animation, mixing styles such as traditional animation, digital animation, and there are some scenes that look like they might be rotoscoping.  Overall this is just an absolutely breathtaking film as far as animation goes.  I will say though personally, I feel like some of the CGI is a little distracting, and at times stands out too far from the other animation, and it feels like it doesn't always fit as well.  But, keep in mind I am not a fan of CGI and I feel that outside of a video-game cutscene that CGI looks subpar compared to either practical effects (in a live action film) or to traditional animation (in an animated film).  That being said, as a whole it works in the film, and even with that criticism, I will say that this is an absolutely beautiful film, with breathtaking animation.   Then to couple the animation with a great multi-layered story, and some well written characters, this film has all of the elements needed to be a must-see film.   One thing though, don't go into this expecting to see an animated version of the 1927 film of the same name, because you will not get that, though this film draws some inspiration from the original film, Metropolis, this film is more so based on the classic manga, and even compared to that Metropolis is a great work of it's own, standing as an original film.

Metropolis is a must-see animated film, whether you are a fan of anime or not, you should still check out this beautiful film.  If you don't already have this film in your film collection, do not pass it up if you come across a copy of it, it is definitely a film that belongs in any film collectors library.   This would definitely rank among my favourite animated films, and one that I will rewatch many times in the future.