SnoopyStyle
In the futuristic Metropolis, robots are segregated and used for all the menial work. Many unemployed blame the robots and pushing for revolution. Duke Red is building a vast skyscraper. A robot disrupts the opening and Duke Red's son Rock destroys the robot. Private detective Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi are hunting for scientist Dr. Laughton who is supposedly trafficking organs. Laughton has actually been hired by Duke Red to recreate his deceased daughter with an advanced robot.The visual style of this animated movie is beautiful. This is worthwhile watch simply for the visual aspect. The story is functional for more than half of the movie. Kenichi and the robot on the run is pretty good. The rest is a bit disjointed and complicated. Motivation is tricky. The twists and reveals are questionable and the story is overstuffed. It is still a beautiful looking piece of animation.
bennyhagen
Director Rintaro stubbornly refuses to progress a barely existing plot, expose motivations, make connections or build towards any kind of conclusion simply wasting your time for 108 minutes. While the visuals are of course great, with nothing remotely available to serve they also are totally f***ing pointless (like this whole thoughtless movie). Anyone who is into the genre knows, that for what reason ever, anime does barely ever provide you with a tight narrative or even a solid plot, but let me tell you this movie is just pointless.Because I have said everything I can about this thing and still don't meet the required amount of lines, I will recommend other anime here. Skip this and if you heaven't yet, watch anything from Akira to GITS to Sky Crawlers, to Studio Ghibli movies, Soul Eater or Claymore instead.
eferoth
I watched the first third of this movie about two months ago and then stopped because it made me angry. I finished it now, because I was bored. I'm still angry, so I give it a 5/10.First of, the animation is top of the line. I found the 3D elements sort of lacking (given the fact that its a cinema release), but still eye-pleasing.Metropolis looks simply gorgeous in every single shot. (like Blade Runner in blaring colours or Midgar in FinalFantasyVII(the game, not the movie)).The storyline is OK. Nothing too grand, and more of the "been there more'n once, seen it"-sort, but its still solid and carries the movie. Still, it was sort of predictable the whole way through. They could have done with a little less pathos, too. (come now, the most advanced robot that's ever been has a human shaped heart and it stops beating when the robot loses its humanity??? ...please...)The soundtrack is eerily fitting and, as someone wrote before me, I will probably always remember the final scenes of the movie because they absolutely nailed the music there.Now to the angry factor. I know it's a classic, and all the hardcore fanbase would have screamed in agony, but the character design is just grossly misplaced (to put it mildly), for this kind of movie. It's like Sin City would be drawn by Albert Uderzo. Storyline and Art just don't match. While Kenichi and Tima are not too bad (as they are kids), everyone else just falls out of the background. That duke for example. Or the detective. Every time they were on screen I got ripped out of an otherwise consistent world. You just shouldn't mix a serious story with visual oddballs. Look at the "Ghost in the Shell"-movies. They pretty much kicked Shirows Manga Designs into the can and went for a more realistic approach. What did we get? A more believable world.Well, this single fact pretty much ruined a lot of the fun this movie could have been for me. If you don't care about that (watch the trailer first), you're in for an above average piece of anime.
piemii
I first head of metropolis from my brother, who was researching Fritz Lang's Metropolis from 1920. Although this Metropolis does contain many influences from the 1920's version, it is almost completely different. Derived from a Japanese Manga series, the movie follows a young boy who meets and helps the most advanced robot of the age from her 'destiny' as ruler of the world. I was originally used to the 'normal' anime animation, where the characters look very realistic. This animation however is very much like a children's TV show, but who cares. Some will say that its a bad movie because of its bad animation, this is not the truth. The animation fits in very well with the music and background. The audio track works almost perfectly with the visual experience. The last scenes were very powerful because of the well picked music that tugged at your heartstrings. The plot is well connected and easy to follow, making this a great movie for older children, teenagers, and adults. Metropolis is a masterpiece of Japanese Anime, and should be seen by all. Enjoy!
AD
