Metropolis

8 reviews - 27.5 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (3.4)

8. DFuzzy1

A while back, someone recommended that I get Metropolis from him. Like 90% of what happens to the stuff I get, the movie ended up buried somewhere within my collection. Recently, in my World Literature class, all of the students were required to choose a book from a list and review one of its film adaptations. Since I figured I already had the right film version, I picked Metropolis. Unfortunately, I realized I had to review the 1920s version instead. Still, I decided to give the anime movie a try.

A word of caution to the viewer: if you're looking for Harbou's original story, look elsewhere. Harbou's vision of a bipolar world where man is a slave to the machine doesn't exist here. In its place, you have a story dealing with class warfare, political power shifts, a man determined to rule the world, and a bumbling duo determined to find out what's going on. The story here is still loosely based on Harbou's original, with common elements like the orphaned child, the Tower of Babel, and the female super robot. But the end result is more like a completely new story instead of a mere adaptation.

So what's the new story? The movie starts with the people of Metropolis celebrating the completion of a huge tower called the Jiegulate (ziggurat, I'm guessing). What the people don't know is that the Jiegulate is a military device designed to take over the world. Lietgong, a political official, has plans for the Jiegulate, but the final component is still under construction: a robot girl named Tima, modeled after Lietgong's deceased daughter. His adopted "son", Luke, finds out about the plan but shows hatred for Tima, since he wants Lietcong to use the Jiegulate rather than have a machine do it. In a fit of rage, he kills Dr. Luodun, the creator of Tima, and destroys the laboratory where Tima is being built.

Enter Banjunzuo and his nephew, Kenichi. Banjunzuo is a detective from Japan, sent to locate Luodun, who has a criminal record of organ smuggling. While searching Metropolis with the help of a robot detective, they happen to be in the vicinity of Luodun's laboratory when it explodes. As the citizens watch the fire robots put out the fire, Banjunzuo and Kenichi go into the wreckage to see if Luodun is still inside. Banjunzuo finds the dying Luodun, while Kenichi finds the newly activated Tima before both of them fall into the sewer system. The rest of the movie revolves around two subplots. Banjunzuo and the detective go off to find Kenichi and figure out what Luodun was working on, while Kenichi and Tima are on the run from Luke, who wants to finish what he started.

Does the story work? While it doesn't quite match up to Harbou's, the story is decent. The only question I had was that the class warfare aspect wasn't completely justified. There is also confusion as to which class is rebelling. Near the beginning, you see clashes between rebel robots and humans, but later on you have underground human rebels staging a coup d'etat.

But one doesn't watch Metropolis for the story. No, one watches Metropolis for the animation and the backgrounds. Capturing the essence of Metropolis is a tough feat to accomplish, but this movie manages to do it. The character designs are reminiscent of Astro Boy, but the animation is very smooth. Watching a police officer stamp papers in dim light somehow pointed that out for me. And the robots... from the clunky, loveable service droids to the hyper fire robots zooming around, each robot model is unique. The backgrounds are nothing short of incredible. The city (as well as Zone 1) is vividly illustrated with a mix of reds, yellows, blues, and greens. The inner workings of the Jiegulate are done with breathtaking CG graphics. And speaking of computer graphics, their integration is almost flawless, since they match the gritty, classic look of the hand-drawn animation. Case in point: a piece of wreckage, in CG, falls to the ground with an animated crash and dust cloud. But the essence of Metropolis cannot be captured just in the buildings. Each background scene has small events going on, from two guys struggling with a broken robot on the stairs to a man trying to strike a deal with a potential buyer. Almost no background is static. And this attention to background detail was what amazed me the most. The only problem I had was that the color scheme made Metropolis look like a carnival, which didn't quite match the vision I had from Harbou's book.

I haven't mentioned anything about the music yet. It's very jazzy, with instruments like saxophones, pianos, brass instruments, and banjos. Kinda has an early 1900s feel to it. But it works. In fact, I can't see how it could have been done any other way. The jazzy feel somehow reflects both the wacky atmosphere and the crazy antics of Kenichi and his uncle. And hearing Ray Charles' "I Can't Stop Loving You" dubbed over everything in the finale reminds me of an old black-and-white film.

As a story, Metropolis falls a bit short. As a work of art, Metropolis shines. Overall, a solid piece of work.

7. Chris

Metropolis is one of the most well animated films I've ever seen. It has excellent over-simplified character designs and amazing visuals throughout. Unfortunately, it's one of those movies that you've seen before. The story starts out quite well, but halfway through you realize that this is a story that's been done a million times before, and the characters aren't good enough to make this special.

However, if you just want to see some great animation, feel free to watch it for a bit. It's a decent enough movie, just nothing special.

6. Q

I read the reviews for Metropolis, and was honestly hesitant to start watching it, (as I was with Laputa - Castle in the Sky). As you can see for yourself, it didn't score very well with most reviewers, (although everyone gives Metropolis its props when it comes to the CG). And two hours out of my day is two hours...I'd prefer to spend it watching something I'd enjoy...

Anyway...I figured I'd give it a try. And just like with Laputa - Castle in the Sky, I was not only surprised but pleased. Excellent CG as mentioned...and although the main animation it dated, and a stark contrast to the CG, it reminded me of the re-releases of the early Final Fantasy games. Nintendo graphics during gameplay with PS2 CG cut scenes, so I really didn't mind.

I found the story to be better than most, probably because it reminds me of alot of other movies/ games/ anime, that I've enjoyed. And the same with the characters. They have been done, but it really doesn't matter. I enjoyed them. Funnily enough my favorite was Kei-Kei...go figure.

Here I'll give another nod to the music from an anime. I listen to all types of music, and I found that Metropolis has a Blues/ Jazz feel to it. I especially enjoyed the song during the ending...It just added to what was an already good one.

Animation - It's tough. On one hand you have the dated main animation (3 stars), then you have the background CG throughout (5 stars). Which way do I go? Down the middle. 4 stars.
Storyline - 4 stars. Its elements reminded me of other things I enjoyed.
Music - 4 stars. Not to everyone's taste, (especially the younger viewers...if you don't know what vinyl is, I mean you), but again...It's my review, and I liked it.
Overall - 4 stars...See last sentence ^

5. Yogi

Metropolis has a futuristic city which is controlled by a corrupt government that wants to dominate the world with a new uber-weapon. To help in this endeavor, they create a robot that looks human and longs to be human. All of this has been re-hashed in other science fiction stories before, and this re-incarnation really doesn’t bring anything new. A nice story told in a nice way, but we’ve heard it before. The art style is drawn in a rather old fashioned "American" style, a point of interest that doesn’t really add or detract from the story.

4. Tempy

Metropolis boasts impressive credentials - directed by Rintaro (X Movie), scripted by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), and based on legendary Osamu Tezuka's manga of the same name, which in turn is based on Fritz Lang's classic 1927 silent movie Metropolis. Metropolis' most striking aspect is its unique visuals. The character designs are classic Tezuka, practically unchanged since the 60's, giving the movie a definite retro style. The lower levels of the sprawling Metropolis is your more typical futuristic run-down, anarchistic, sci-fi setting. Also thrown into the mix are CG backgrounds and a jazzy soundtrack. Metropolis starts out quite promising. There's a detective story, political intrigue, mad scientists, a rebellion, but mostly it's about robots and their arduous relationship with humans. Various robot themes arise - Can robots have feelings and emotions? Are they a danger to humanity? Unfortunately none of these themes come to fruition in a satisfactory manner. Action sequences are unexciting and the drama lacks emotional intensity when not enough insight is given to the characters. Some scenes come close to their potential greatness, like Pero's confrontation with the rebels and the aftermath, but Metropolis disappoints overall. While the movie kept me interested, the ending fell totally apart. I think I'm going to read some more Isaac Asimov stories instead.

3. Polaris

I am not the biggest fan of CG in anime but this was an exception, the CG was really well done and made the world of Metropolis come alive. The only problem was the character animation did not blend with the CG and took some time to get used to. Another problem I had with Metropolis were the characters themselves. I found they were highly underdeveloped and lacked some emotion. This made the movie, which already seemed incredibly depressing in a bad way, drag on forever. Until the end, which happens to be the movies saving grace. Unfortunately, most people are not going to make it through the hour and forty minutes to watch the ending.

2. weasl

Based on a manga created by Osamu Tezuka (Astroboy) Metropolis manages to mesh Osamu's old character designs, with a stunning 3D city, and some top notch animation. Ultimately a sad tale dealing with politics, class structures, and human greed the story follows Kenichi, a young Japanese boy, who meets Tima, a strange girl who's destiny is tied to the events that are about to unfold in the massive city. Metropolis' strong point is in it's visual quality, and when combined with it's unique soundtrack and strong story manages to deliver a excellent piece of animation that while not perfect, is worth viewing by any anime fan.

1. bremmi

Metropolis has a unique style to it, with very old, artistic style character designs mixed with some good CG. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of the old-style art and the only thing that saves it is the good CG blend. I saw absolutely nothing new in Metropolis, most of the plot elements have been done and redone in other shows. Robotish girls.. Key the Metal Idol, anyone? Robots going crazy... Bubblegum Crisis? And a kind of grandiose crappy plot that reminds me of Akira. I found myself looking at my watch as this relatively short movie seemed to drag on forever.