This film is based on 1973 Japanese anime film of the same name. With modern visual effects, the film captures the feel of anime to the T. However, this film doesn’t rise above anime’s tendency to ramp up outlandish action with tacked on pretentiousness.
The film is set in an industrialized future — a mix of Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS and Kerry Conran’s SKY CAPTAIN. Kotaro Azuma (Akira Terao, RAN) is a famed scientist who has discovered the “neo-cell” that can regrow any human cell. He desperately wants his experiment to work because he wants to cure his ailing wife Midori (Kanako Higuchi, 1989’s ZATOICHI), who is going blind. Kotaro’s rebellious son Tetsuya (Yusuke Iseya, AFTER LIFE) joins the army to spite his father and witnesses the horrors of war first hand. Tetsuya is engaged to Luna (Kumiko Aso, KAIRO), who loves him dearly.
As time passes, time is running out on Kotaro’s experiment’s success until a freak occurrence makes the neo-cell bath work, bringing back from the dead fallen enemy soldiers. Lead by Akubon (Hiroyuki Miyasako), a group of neo-sapiens attacks the city. Tetsuya has died in the war and his father uses the neo-cell technology on him, which leaves his body so volatile that if he doesn’t wear a special suit his body will explode.
First off, the visual effects are impressive and are often gorgeous. But I think this simple fact blinds people from realizing the plot is clichéd, boring and often preposterous. First time director Kazuaki Kiriya’s pacing and tone is all over the map as well as injecting the film at times with too much style for its own good. The SAVING PRIVATE RYAN light flare effect is way over used and annoying.
The staging is ridiculous as well. Tetsuya’s coffin coming to his father’s work is just for plot convenience. The neo-sapiens just happen to find an arsenal on top of a mountain. Yeah, right. Why does Tetsuya’s body freak out in the neo-cell bath, but no one else’s, especially the people who go in it who are still alive?
The characters are all clichéd. I didn’t care one bit for any of them. Luna is so underdeveloped that her character should be put on life support. The action sequences are videogame-like and one of them used videogame sounds, which elicits unintentional laughs. At some times, Kiriya is able to create some iconic cool moments, but for this film to work it needed more of this style. Too often the character’s posture themselves like their in a Mexican soap opera.
Then there’s the tacked on message of co-existing, which is really lame. It’s great that visual effects can make anything possible, but a story is still needed. This is what goes wrong when you can do anything you want.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
