Movie Gazette

I’ve never been much of a fan of big cities. They’re loud, cramped, polluted, and you’re statistically twelve times more likely to have a beggar stab you in the eyeball with a used syringe. Having said that, even I couldn’t fail to be blown away by the jaw-dropping urban sprawl of ‘Metropolis’, the lavish anime epic based on the 1949 comic book by Osamu Tezuka.

Painstakingly brought to the screen by director Rintaro and a ridiculously talented team of toonsmiths, this detailed and sumptuously designed sci-fi adventure is quite possibly the finest example of 2D animation I’ve ever seen. With Pixar king of the animation castle these days, it can be all too easy to fall into the same trap as Disney and write-off 2D as a dead duck. But it’s seeing stuff like ‘Metropolis’ that really hammers home just how wrong that assumption is.

Unfortunately though, making a film isn’t just about having incredible visuals – you’ve also got to have a bit of a story in there, and that’s where ‘Metropolis’ goes arse over tit. Set in a sort of 1940s vision of the future (I was reminded a little of the inferior Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), it tells the tale of political wrangling and technological upheaval in the multi-layered city of the title. Duke Red, an eagle-faced revolutionary, has hired a mad scientist by the name of Dr Laughton to build him an all-powerful humanoid – in the image of dead daughter Tima – to help him steal control of Metropolis from the elected politicians.

A rat is smelled, and private eye Ban Syunsaku is hired to do some snooping. He brings nephew Kinichi along with him for the ride, and before you know it the young ‘un has befriended – and perhaps even fallen in love with – Tima. He doesn’t know she’s a cyborg you see. But we do! Arf. Talk about your doomed romance. Just imagine what that kid’s parents are going to say when their son gets home from a day out with his uncle and it turns out he’s gone all dreamy-eyed over the equivalent of a state-of-the-art tumble dryer.

There’s much, much more to the story, but quite frankly writing about it all just doesn’t bear thinking about. It’s clunky, difficult to follow, and stops just short of using a sledgehammer to get the message across that we should all be more tolerant of each other. In short, it’s both preachy and complicated.

‘Metropolis’ is a difficult film to rate, as there’s a lot to like about it. Apart from the wonderful animation, it possesses a daring jazzy soundtrack, culminating in the use of Ray Charles’ ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ to accompany a climax instantly reminiscent of Dr Strangelove. The whole thing just reeks of ambition, and for that reason alone I’d hate to be too harsh on it. But, on the other hand, the plot is so impenetrable that it’ll appeal to only a very small number of viewers. It’s undoubtedly a feast for the eyes, but definitely not for the mind.