Metropolis is based on a classic 1940s manga series by Osamu Tezuka, brought to life on the big screen by the writing of Katsuhiro Otomo (of Akira fame) and the cinematic direction of Rintaro(Galaxy Express 999). The film has received world-wide critical acclaim and managed a successful, if small, theatrical run in the US. So, what does it take to win "critical acclaim" for an anime film these days?

At first glance, Metropolis's plotline is a fairly straightforward, focusing on the adventure of young Kenichi's meeting with the robot, Tima, entwined with the problematic relation between Duke Red and his adopted son, and a general backdrop of political turmoil. The introduction is quite slow, exacerbated by the bland credits that start the movie off - seeing twin lines of red cross with names appearing in the center of the screen for minutes on end just was not the best way to start off a slow-paced movie. Once the pain of the credits has ended, jazzy celebration music begins as the audience is treated to a tour of the glamour of Metropolis and its newly constructed marvel of science, the Ziggurat. The opening speeches show the politicians posturing under the limelight. But, all is not well - in a side area, an unauthorized robot has made a ruckus, marring the ceremony by both its lawlessness and the subsequent brutality with which it is shot down by young Rock, leader of the Mardukes.

From here on, the threads which will weave the tapestry of the show are revealed...slowly. Duke Red has commissioned a mad scientist to create what appears to be a replica of his dead daughter. A Japanese detective and his young assistant have come to track down this mad scientist for violating human rights in his research. The threads meet when Rock, jealous of this robot daughter that might steal his adopted father's love, decides to kill the mad scientist and destroy the robot. Coincidentally, the Japanese detective and company happen to be in the area when Rock burns down the scientist's laboratory, and manage to save the robot and the scientist's research notes, the detective uncle being separated from his young nephew in the process. Kenichi's adventure with Tima begins as coincidence after coincidence drive them towards the predictable yet tragic conclusion.

Rock's unwillingness to allow a robot steal his adopted father's affection is one of the driving forces behind the surface plot.	But, the spotlight is on the innocent Tima and her quest for self-discovery against a shadowed backdrop of racism, civil and political unrest, and revolution.

But, the key strength to Metropolis is the symbolism and composition of the scenes it presents, not its ostensible plotline. The film is a symbolic revisitation of the Meiji Revolution, with a heavy focus on the consequential industrial revolution and Westernization Japan underwent at that time. Listen to the jazzy background music. Observe how gritty and old-looking all the technology is, and how much smoke seems to billow up into the air in spite of the seemingly advanced level of science the Ziggurat is stated to represent. And keep in mind the traditional dehumanization and resentment of factory workers when you see the robots that serve as the slave labor of the film. All of this is but the tip of the iceberg, as far as the thematic roots of the show lie - one could also easily link the movie's various revolutions to the struggles between the outlying daimyo and the bakufu shogunate, or to the ikki catalysts of the actual Meiji Revolution, and so forth. Suffice to say, the symbolism suffuses the film, and is implemented in a very artistic fashion, with a good deal of ironic dualities between the beginning and the ending of the movie.

Yet, historical and allegorical symbolism aren't the only places artistry shows up in Metropolis - visually, it is quite a feast for the eyes. One of the reasons the film seems to move so slowly is that a good deal of the focus is on snapshot scenes of life in Metropolis, which are heavily packed with artistic detail. The stills that serve as backdrops are often heavily detailed and very realistic - so much so that they generally blend perfectly with the CG that is periodically thrown into the mix. Furthermore, cinematographic uses of the camera balance out the fluidity of the action scenes with some cinema style not ordinarily seen in anime movies.

Fitting with the "old-fashioned" theme of the technology, music, and setting, the character designs also have a more "old-fashioned" feel - the characters are generally more rounded and less realistic than recent character designs, and sometimes animation with a more loose, "cartoony" feel. The designs for the robots show a very memorable creative quirkiness in their conception, from the bizarre medley of mecha that combine to form the firefighting robots to the sweet sewer-janitorial robots that are cobbled together out of trashcans and other junk.

All in all, Metropolis is quite a work of art. That being said, it isn't for everyone - if you aren't interested in the symbolic tapestry or the general artistry of the film, the strung-together, coincidental plot and predictable characters probably aren't going to do much for you. Furthermore, because of the importance of the artwork and the sheer level of detail in the scenes, I strongly recommend that you focus on the DVD of Metropolis, and not the VHS version. I've personally seen it both in the movie theaters and on VHS, and believe me, watching the colors bleeding all over the place for at least a third of the scenes on the VHS version is not something that will let the film's artistry be adequately experienced.

And, as a side note, I've only been able to see Metropolis dubbed - both in the theaters and on the promotional VHS I reviewed. The English dub voices are reasonably done - no important emotional moments ruined a la the Escaflowne movie - and the dubbing does let one focus on the wealth of visual details, while somewhat fitting the overall theme of the industrializers being Western, but I am still curious as to how the Japanese voices sound. From what I can tell, those who buy the DVD will have that option of listening to the Japanese voices for this movie, unlike the recent Vampire Hunter D movie.

Distributor: Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
Creator: Tezuka Productions/Metropolis Project
Released: 2001

Plot: A-
Character Design: A
Animation Quality: A
Music: A
Overall: A