siderite
I heard this was the best Highlander film out there, with the exception of the first, of course, and I also love good Japanese anime, so I thought it was going to be a win-win. Wrong. While the animation is well done, the script is abysmal, the characters cardboard and the story the lowest common denominator in Japanese and Hollywood visions (the writer of the script is not Japanese).The story is that of Colin, who gets the honorary and completely pointless McCloud after he helps the Scottish clan in a battle. He is on a quest for vengeance against the guy who killed his girl. He goes on doing that for more than 2000 years, relentlessly. That's it. Nothing more. The bad guy is a Roman who wants to create the perfect order, so he is progressively furthering every dictatorship that ever existed: Japanese warlord, Nazi, etc. and now, in the post apocalyptic future, he built his own little empire, again.The fact that every time Colin appeared and destroyed this guy's dreams I was thinking of "God dammit, why do every time Chinese people try to build up a wall, Mongolian people have to come and knock it down!" did not help to make me take this film seriously.Bottom line: the ridiculously simplistic and clichéd script, with weak undeveloped characters stoped me from enjoying the otherwise good (but in no way original) animation. Almost a complete waste of time.
jvle100
As one has to expect from Yoshiaki Kawajiri, this film will get you glued to the screen, it has loads of action, a decent story, and details typical from previous films Kawajiri's directed before (A cynical hero, strong willed women, ruthless and cunning villains, and annoying, but wise, old men).However, it seems to lack the distinctive "atmosphere" that previous Kawajiri anime flicks had (at least in my opinion, for those who have seen Ninja Scroll or Cyber City Oedo you can feel that "darker" atmosphere). Probably because the color scheme was brighter. I won't spoil the story, as it's very interesting and you'll probably and up watching it even if you aren't a Highlander fan. As for this movie, its not linked to the original in any way (sans the immortality plot), but somehow demonstrates how the follow-ups should have been, instead of making those bad sequels with rather bad concepts.
Robert_90
The Highlander mythology was always one of the coolest concepts for a movie - immortal swordsmen battling each other across the ages until one remained. Combine the potential within with the skills of Yoshiaki Kawajiri, the man responsible for Ninja Scroll, and you sound like you have quite a winner on your hands.The Search for Vengeance is about the plight of Colin Macleod, the eponymous Highlander, and his centuries-long feud with Marcus, a Roman general who murdered Colin's true love. Time and time again throughout history, Colin and Marcus clash with each other until they come to their final showdown amidst a futuristic New York riddled with plague and war.Like any continuation of Highlander, The Search for Vengeance crafts its own fiction by combining the original's mythology (holy ground, Quickenings, death-by-beheading etc) with several of its own ideas (in this case, demons, robots and spirits). Although some of the more fantastical elements (e.g. Colin's communication with a druid-like ghost) grated a little, they're tolerable enough changes to the Highlander world. In the end, it feels like it leans more towards the animé side of things.As for the film itself - visually, it's pretty good. The animation is fluid and the action looks great. The constant changing of era (a staple of the Highlander series) works a treat, as you see battles of all kinds across the centuries. The showdowns look a treat as well (I expect nothing less from the maker of Ninja Scroll), as do the battles during the futuristic scenes. I will say that fair chunks of the plot are fairly clichéd and if you've ever really watched prior Highlander material, you can probably predict a fair bit of it.The last word on The Search for Vengeance - who do I really recommend it to? It's a decent enough watch for anyone with even a passing interest in animé, and it's a more watchable experience for Highlander fans than the film sequels, but outside of those two groups, it'd be a little hard to recommend. In any case, it was a decent watch and if you need a good fix of sword-fighting or animé, this isn't a bad choice.
SubtleFury
I am big fan of Yoshiaki Kawajiri and it pains me to see such a production with his name on it. Yes, the visuals are great, but even they get irritating as the movie goes on, because someone decided that almost every action scene and many of the ordinary ones should be done with 3D, and when you see that same method re-used for the 50th time in just 80 minutes... well not only isn't it impressive anymore but very annoying. Whatever the problems the movie had, I wouldn't be that disappointed if it wasn't the *STORY* - awful, cliché after cliché, unbelievably cheesy b-movie lines and one of the worst juxtaposion of sex scene ever (lighting candles??? what the hell?!)... The script really ruins everything good, and the characters are very flat and stereotypical, not to mention most of their designs are almost copy&paste from Kawajiri's previous works. And not only the characters are copied but whole scenes (e.g. the battle on the rooftops - Animatrix: Program), and though not 1:1 you still get a bitter deja-vu quite often.So thank you but I'd stick with Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Ninja Scroll - Highlander is no way near them.
AD
