Casshern

Using 'neo cells" Dr. Azuma is 'trying' to create living cells, to regenerate
limbs etcetera that can be used to repair injured soldiers, or so he says. In a Frankenstein-ish accident the limbs of the dead copses combine and re-attach and create an 'undead-monsters' race "Neo-Sapiens" who then decide to eliminate the humans. Without going into the subplots, this Japanese movie has familiar sci-fi/horror themes to many American movies; but maintains a uniquely Japanese feel to it. Yes, the effects are gorgeous; CG that is simple cool, and it has a strong element of anime interfused. It jumps between various styles of animation and live action. A few of the shots seem almost unfinished but I’m sure it is a stylist choice. The live action fight scenes start as you would expect in 'kung fu' movie. After we meet the 'superhero' there are some fights that remind me very much of The Matrix and even to the extent of their Faith in Casshern, the one! =). I would not call the anime portion the *best* anime I have seen come out of Japan. The Martial Arts is not the best I have seen either. However, together the movie as a hole works well as a hybrid style. Artistically the movie is excellent. The use of color and light is magnificent. The sound track is invigorating as well. This movie has a lot going for it. With many different elements that combined, create a unique hybrid genre film. The themes are deep; dealing with subjects like the meaning of life and humanity (and it’s flaws) selfishness, hatred, and rage then moves to contemplate destiny and ultimately love. It asks questions like; who is the real terrorist? There is a huge portion of spirituality doused throughout this movie as well. My one problem with it is that there is too much to keep up with. There is the spirit world, the real world, the dream world, the present time, and the past time, and all the flashes and clips from each are tightly tangled. All that, combined with a visual switch between realistic CG, anime, and some cartoon-like animation, and then switching back to live action it becomes a lot handle. Then add in reading subtitles and the movie feels sporadic and at point rather awkward. The plot suffered some from all the jumping around. Additionally, there are a few discrepancies, like the future Tetsuya standing in the picture during a flashback. Again, I am certain it was not by accident, but all these elements become distracting. There are subtitles to read but I would have liked to see a subtitle option on the DVD that would have made the subtitle easier to read. The movie is very hard to follow if you miss anything and I did not find these particularly easy to read, they look more like the TV's CC than real subtitles. All that said, I still think this is a must see. There was undoubtedly more potential here than the movie lived up too, but it is still very worth the time to view it. Hope this is helpful!