This is an animated movie that's awesome and sucks at the same time.
It's awesome because of its spirit of adventure and experimentation. I'd rather see ten weird, experimental, and personal movies like "Heavy Metal" than one boring pander-fest like "500 Days of Summer" which, like a smooth politician, is guaranteed a wide audience because it's engineered to appeal to as many people as possible. What it loses in the process is a human touch, the sense that I'm getting to know a real person's dreams and aspirations, not being manipulated into thinking that it's hip for young women to have borderline personality disorder (as in most popular RomComs like "Juno"), or that grand special effects are more exciting than a good story (as in the Avengers or the Phantom Menace).
This is just a guess, but I think these animated stories are very close to the hearts of the people who wrote and designed them, and this movie was made out of love for the stories instead of expecting to get rich off of it. I love it for that alone because even if it's a bad story, someone believed in it enough to not let it get (too) watered down by someone who didn't think it had enough mass appeal. So for better or for worse, it's a window into another person's heart, which makes me feel connected to humanity. You can't buy that with all the special effects and cinematography in the world.
So I love this movie for the spirit behind it. But the movie itself - eh. It's a mess. Stunningly detailed background plates vie with very hit-and-miss animation. In fact it's shockingly bad in many places, the battle scene in "Den" is almost as choppy and wooden as in "GI Joe."
And it's juvenile -- there's not much going on underneath the boobs, violence, and cool drawings. I want some kind of cohesive message to justify all this eye candy, like making the green orb only destroy people who are evil anyway (the B-52 pilot wasn't necessarily evil).
And why is it some busty chick, of all people, who defeats evil? Since this plot device is just plopped in there, it makes me think that the answer to this question is that the filmmakers thought chicks with swords and big boobs just look cool, that's why. I want more reason why it's HER who defeats evil, because I don't think hot Amazonian chicks who dress like pole-dancers defeat evil in real life; they'd create it by frustrating men with their hot and exposed bodies. A more plain- looking woman in a monk's robe would be more believable, but (I know) a lot less cool-looking.
That's not to say there aren't some gems here and there that shine on their own. There's a scene towards the beginning of the "Taarna" part where townspeople are turned evil by being immersed in green slime. That part on its own has a strange, resonant power like a story from the Bible, and is worth the entire movie. I think it resonates because of its chilling similarity to Marxist and feminist brainwashing, but that's just my opinion. :P
A must-see if you're into the art of animation or just have a taste for strange movies, its heart is in the right place but watching it is like looking through a talented fourteen-year-old boy's sketchpad.
It's awesome because of its spirit of adventure and experimentation. I'd rather see ten weird, experimental, and personal movies like "Heavy Metal" than one boring pander-fest like "500 Days of Summer" which, like a smooth politician, is guaranteed a wide audience because it's engineered to appeal to as many people as possible. What it loses in the process is a human touch, the sense that I'm getting to know a real person's dreams and aspirations, not being manipulated into thinking that it's hip for young women to have borderline personality disorder (as in most popular RomComs like "Juno"), or that grand special effects are more exciting than a good story (as in the Avengers or the Phantom Menace).
This is just a guess, but I think these animated stories are very close to the hearts of the people who wrote and designed them, and this movie was made out of love for the stories instead of expecting to get rich off of it. I love it for that alone because even if it's a bad story, someone believed in it enough to not let it get (too) watered down by someone who didn't think it had enough mass appeal. So for better or for worse, it's a window into another person's heart, which makes me feel connected to humanity. You can't buy that with all the special effects and cinematography in the world.
So I love this movie for the spirit behind it. But the movie itself - eh. It's a mess. Stunningly detailed background plates vie with very hit-and-miss animation. In fact it's shockingly bad in many places, the battle scene in "Den" is almost as choppy and wooden as in "GI Joe."
And it's juvenile -- there's not much going on underneath the boobs, violence, and cool drawings. I want some kind of cohesive message to justify all this eye candy, like making the green orb only destroy people who are evil anyway (the B-52 pilot wasn't necessarily evil).
And why is it some busty chick, of all people, who defeats evil? Since this plot device is just plopped in there, it makes me think that the answer to this question is that the filmmakers thought chicks with swords and big boobs just look cool, that's why. I want more reason why it's HER who defeats evil, because I don't think hot Amazonian chicks who dress like pole-dancers defeat evil in real life; they'd create it by frustrating men with their hot and exposed bodies. A more plain- looking woman in a monk's robe would be more believable, but (I know) a lot less cool-looking.
That's not to say there aren't some gems here and there that shine on their own. There's a scene towards the beginning of the "Taarna" part where townspeople are turned evil by being immersed in green slime. That part on its own has a strange, resonant power like a story from the Bible, and is worth the entire movie. I think it resonates because of its chilling similarity to Marxist and feminist brainwashing, but that's just my opinion. :P
A must-see if you're into the art of animation or just have a taste for strange movies, its heart is in the right place but watching it is like looking through a talented fourteen-year-old boy's sketchpad.