Movie Review #19 - Jin-Roh
Jan. 4th, 2007 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catalyst2Breath-taking, he gasped! And it is. This movie just blew me away on every level!
First look at watch - shhhhh, I'm watching it again! Get away from me!
Several times I couldn't tell if we had cut to live action, so good was the animation. The story twists and turns and then turns back on itself, just to add further complexity. The early exposition is well done, given that about twenty years AU-history of entire nation is told and then it cuts to some of the tightest, most tense riots scenes I have ever scene, whether movie, animated or real-life! Then the traumatic event that sets off everything else occurs - Fuse (Foo-say), an elite paramilitary soldier, "fails" to pull the trigger on a terrorist and is traumatised by her subsequent suicide bombing.
Conventional (but very good) so far but then the genius unfolds - his recovery isn't instant or even quick. Indeed, he never recovers really and his actions spin out of control whilst he maintains a fiction of being retrained. He can't go back though - his eyes were opened too much by the suicide bombing. He seeks out other Red Riding Hoods (the nickname that The Sect gives to its bombers, teenage girls carrying baskets of bombs) and finds the sister of the suicide bomber. They meet several times and then form a bond of sorts - might be affection, even love, might not be?
Complex inter-agency rivalries and political fallout result in the squad and entire section being threatened with shut-down. But there are several counter-plans in motion and there is a complicated series of move and counter-move that push Fuse and Kei closer together. She confesses that she isn't really the bomber's sister - this was a set-up from the get-go to discredit the Special Unit by other government agencies. Eventually it also becomes apparent that Fuse isn't who he says he is either - he's been recruited by the Sect and has also done this in the full knowledge that he can't change sides without costs.
There is a climactic battle in the sewers after Fuse and Kei escape from an ambush in a museum. In the sewers, Fuse, we realise is the wolf - he was only pretending to be human (metaphorically), after all. The battle is against another government agency, not so much interested in The Sect but in the downfall of the Wolf Brigade. Fuse survives, killing a dozen or so policemen in the battle including his one-time mentor. When they escape the battlezone, Fuse has to kill Kei which he does with little emotion - the wolf finally got Little Red Riding Hood.
Stunning detail in the animation - the use of WWII German weapons, including the famous MG-42 with its unique square cross-section cooling jacket, even down to getting its unique sound exactly right and the use of German vehicles like Kubelwagens and so on. Every part of every scene is lavishly detailed, in proportion and perfectly drawn. The creepy re-telling of the fairytale version of Little Red Riding Hood adds menace to the entire movie as does the wonderful score, perfect on so many occasions.
Just a great piece of work. Magnificent!
First look at watch - shhhhh, I'm watching it again! Get away from me!
Several times I couldn't tell if we had cut to live action, so good was the animation. The story twists and turns and then turns back on itself, just to add further complexity. The early exposition is well done, given that about twenty years AU-history of entire nation is told and then it cuts to some of the tightest, most tense riots scenes I have ever scene, whether movie, animated or real-life! Then the traumatic event that sets off everything else occurs - Fuse (Foo-say), an elite paramilitary soldier, "fails" to pull the trigger on a terrorist and is traumatised by her subsequent suicide bombing.
Conventional (but very good) so far but then the genius unfolds - his recovery isn't instant or even quick. Indeed, he never recovers really and his actions spin out of control whilst he maintains a fiction of being retrained. He can't go back though - his eyes were opened too much by the suicide bombing. He seeks out other Red Riding Hoods (the nickname that The Sect gives to its bombers, teenage girls carrying baskets of bombs) and finds the sister of the suicide bomber. They meet several times and then form a bond of sorts - might be affection, even love, might not be?
Complex inter-agency rivalries and political fallout result in the squad and entire section being threatened with shut-down. But there are several counter-plans in motion and there is a complicated series of move and counter-move that push Fuse and Kei closer together. She confesses that she isn't really the bomber's sister - this was a set-up from the get-go to discredit the Special Unit by other government agencies. Eventually it also becomes apparent that Fuse isn't who he says he is either - he's been recruited by the Sect and has also done this in the full knowledge that he can't change sides without costs.
There is a climactic battle in the sewers after Fuse and Kei escape from an ambush in a museum. In the sewers, Fuse, we realise is the wolf - he was only pretending to be human (metaphorically), after all. The battle is against another government agency, not so much interested in The Sect but in the downfall of the Wolf Brigade. Fuse survives, killing a dozen or so policemen in the battle including his one-time mentor. When they escape the battlezone, Fuse has to kill Kei which he does with little emotion - the wolf finally got Little Red Riding Hood.
Stunning detail in the animation - the use of WWII German weapons, including the famous MG-42 with its unique square cross-section cooling jacket, even down to getting its unique sound exactly right and the use of German vehicles like Kubelwagens and so on. Every part of every scene is lavishly detailed, in proportion and perfectly drawn. The creepy re-telling of the fairytale version of Little Red Riding Hood adds menace to the entire movie as does the wonderful score, perfect on so many occasions.
Just a great piece of work. Magnificent!
