Redline (2009)

Unironically Awesome
by Silence Do_nothing

     That a surly blue gorilla traffic cop who braves the hostile forces of a military planet called Roboworld to enter an illegal anything goes death race with brazen alien hot-rodders is a great idea in theory, I take as a given. What matters most, though, is how well that idea would translate in practice.
     Going back to VHS tapes from Blockbuster in the 90s, I've learned that most anime ideas which sound cool or quirky in the synopsis aren't as entertaining when executed on the screen. Poor dialogue (perhaps a a weak adaptation by the translator?), glacial pacing, or choppy cost-saving psuedo-animation have doomed many which sounded good. But just as I think it's time to give up on the medium, I come across one which reminds me how it can offer an experience not found in American animation. Redline (2009) is the latest to do so.
     Those whose interest in Japan comes from video games, giant battling robots and mulleted superhuman martial artists with implosion powered punches, as opposed to the more traditional route of cherry blossom viewing, tea ceremonies and zen gardens, will be attuned to the film's awesome visual style. The movie radiates garish delight. It has Las Vegas style architecture, pachinko color schemes, futuristic Hot Wheels influenced hot rods and characters that wouldn't feel out of place in the Heavy Metal (1981) animation. It's the perfect antidote to the restrained taste of Apple's much vaunted design aesthetic.
     The animation is giddy fun that wrings smiles out of even the most reserved demeanor. Frames were dense and hyperkinetic without losing clarity. Vehicle and driver stretched towards infinity during a nitro boost. A gaggle of wild eyed reporters who've invaded a racer's hospital room contracts and expands like one breathing entity. The production went against the CGI trend by using 100,000 pages of paper based hand drawn animation. The fluidity wasn't equal to a Hollywood production (although Ghibli is presumably the only Japanese studio currently making feature length cartoons which are comparable in this respect), but it's still noticeably better than television quality.
     Thanks to good pacing, the film's vast amount of frenetic action never became repetitive or numbing. The sequences in between the two races allowed for a better look at all the awesome design work. Background guys looked better than many animations' main characters. From the larger elements, like an orbital beam cannon or giant mutant bioweapon, to the small, such as an unmotivated anthropomorphic squid shopkeeper (which struck me as a Japanese dig at foreigners' customer service), the movie had so much stuff that would have made a cool toy (I leave it to the reader to decide if the merchandising-appeal-as-cinematic-excellence standard should be applied to a Citizen Kane (1941) ).
     CliffsNotes aren't needed to follow the story, but when you have a movie that looks as awesome as Redline, it only has to avoid gumming up the works. There wasn't any cringe-worthy dialogue to ruin scenes. JP, the rockabilly looking hero with an improbable pompadour (officer Gori was only a minor character), is likable enough to give a rooting interest and provide an emotional anchor to the action scenes. He isn't racing for money and he rejects his competitors' habit of arming their vehicles with deadly weapons. JP is a purist who wants to compete on racing ability alone. His earnest hunger for victory manifests itself near the finish-line as the strain of every fiber of his body is so great that his eyeballs bleed (although that display still wouldn't be enough to save him from the "lazy" label if he were running wind sprints for my former coaches).
     I've used "awesome" to describe its visual excellence, even though the public doesn't respect the word as much as I'd like. The term has become debased by attaching it to things far from awesome (I won't get into whether using it to describe entertainment, rather than nature or the divine, was a prior devaluation). Add to that a generation's cynicism [several decades after Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966) and Leave it to Beaver (1957-1963), the pendulum continues in one direction] and you have the word more often employed sarcastically than seriously.
     Hopefully, applying the term to high quality works like Redline is a step towards shoring up the currency of awesome and rehabilitating its sincere meaning. Because I refuse to use "epic". Forget that.
     For neophytes, Redline is good enough to spark an interest in other anime. For lapsed fans, it will renew their faith. It would be totally awesome if my wait for the next anime of this caliber were less than the five years the characters had between races. "Totally", not to betray my 80s upbringing, but because nothing is ever somewhat awesome or a little bit on the awesome side. Awesomeness knows no moderation, but it is well acquainted with Redline.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)

     Maybe the problem I had with Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), other than its lengthy title, is that it is a truly unsatisfying children's movie.  Maybe the source material is much better – I have no means of judging since I didn't even know there was a Guardians of Ga'Hoole book series until the movie came out – but in the movie, the story is a little all over the place, occasionally sweet, sometimes bitter, and often very violent.  Much of this seems to be a little too intense for children (especially young children), but the dialog and relationships is too simple for adults.  The characters are often too cute, and many of the lesser characters are not developed at all.  The most damning thing may be that the characters are owls – and a snake – and several of these owls are just not built to be very expressive or to carry to mantle of anthropomorphism the story implies. 

Protagonist Soren learning to fly in a storm.

     The movie looks great, though.  It has some of the crispest animation I have ever seen.  Even in watching it in 2D, it is clear how well suited for 3D.  Director Zach Snyder once again indulges in the use of slow motion during the action sequences, but here it does not look forced – as it did in Watchmen (2009) – or ridiculous – as it did in 300 (2007) – and not doubt served the 3D effects well.  He does not, however, get overly graphic in the combat sequences (probably good for the children, but ultimately unsatisfying for the adult viewer) as he did in previous efforts.  Still, the combat looks good.  It makes me think that if there ever were a hard-R, ultra-violent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated movie, then Snyder and this team would be the ones to handle the technical aspects.

Evil pure one Nyra and some minions.

     There is a good story in there, somewhere.  There is hero worship, betrayal, more betrayal, dangerous beasties, dangerous journeys, and standing up for what is right.  It has the elements that should appeal to children and adults alike.  But the voice acting is a little flat (which is surprising given the cast) and the characters don't have enough depth.  Soren (voiced by Jim Sturgess) seems perpetually lightweight and lacking in resolve – even when he is following his gizzard.  Gylfie (voiced by Emily Barclay) seems to do nothing other than to give Soren another owl with whom to speak.  Nyra (voiced by Helen Mirren) should make for a compelling villain, giving voice to the righteousness of bigotry and domination.; instead she comes off as a slightly mean surrogate mother and little different from the Guardians when they finally appear.
     The movie looks good enough to give it a look, especially if you have the 3D set-up at home.  Just don't expect much in the way of an engaging story.  I kind of wish this kind of technical expertise had been applied to a more faithful remake of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1971). 

My Time with Netflix - Part Five: The Good Streaming Content

     Now I finally get around to the movies and television shows available to Watch Instantly I found rewarding.  No big preamble to this one.

Streaming Movies and TV that were Worthwhile

The Crazies (2009)

     This is another cheat.  I saw The Crazies in the theater, but I wasn't sure if I liked it as much as I was glad Breck Eisner handled the tone with the right mix of tension and absurdity.  Given a second viewing, I might like it a little less, but I am more convinced that it works as a movie.  I'll give Radha Mitchell a chance in nearly everything, but it is Timothy Olyphant who is most successful in hitting the right notes and meeting the intensity level required throughout the calamity.  The Crazies satisfies nearly everything I look for in a disaster movie – it introduces the audience to the characters, then to the disaster, and the audience gets to watch (in this instance) the disaster kick those characters asses.  There is no uniformity in how the people are afflicted in The Crazies, which plays as both more realistic and more terrifying.  Even with a somewhat limited budget, it doesn't feel constrained.  Given how much I enjoyed it, I thought it would only be fair to give the original 1973 version a watch.  I couldn't make it through the first half hour.  Where Romero appeared more concerned with selling conspiracy theories and orchestrated inefficiency, Eisner opts for a more focused approach showing the deterioration of a town through the eyes of a select few residents.  Maybe it doesn't work as commentary, but I'm convinced it was not intended to.  It is an almost horror, mostly suspense, disaster movie where people behave in decidedly less than civil ways.