Good story, Not enough for a whole film

As Good As It Gets

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This movie has terrible animation. Hypermasculine monsters (I can't call it men), moreover with somehow curiously effeminate features (!), disproportionate bodies, unrealistic movements, ridiculous costumes, ... OK, I could stand that as it is kind of peculiarity of certain style of anime.It is pointlessly and absurdly violent. Be it so, some (not only Japanese) films are gory, but at least with meaning or certain style.But everything in this movie is meaningless. It is a copy of every cliché and caricature you have seen in the action movies of whatever decade, but... you know, Rambo, Terminator, or anything with JCVD had at least a bit of a plot and motivation in it - but this movie is based on "what kids see in those action movies, if they have no mental capacity to understand it yet". Flashing, flexing, rough voices, arrogant heroism, violence for violence (absolute power, ruling the world, conquering all) with terribly bad dialogue lines.To be clear - action movies, fighting movies or dystopia - are relevant genres with its rules and can be interesting and even excellent. This one is worse than if someone has shot a "bad movie" on purpose. You can't even laugh at it.

It begins with a philosophical wiev on Ying and Yang. Two powers that are the basis of conflicts, metaphysics and all basis that are in existence of the favor of the other. Told by the wise man who have trained hes powerful sons who will step up to guidance in this new world. After a Nuclear War (the images is by the most disturbing in a animated feature ever produced) hes thoughts are questioned and chaos will prevail. Ken wants to settle down with hes wife. Unknowing that he will be forced to be on hes quest as a savior in this new world order. Where it is back to Nature-standards, where us, the now weak species are brutalized by the Nuclear waste formed big Mutants. Its extremest to extremely violent but in the same time assured as nothing you ever seen before. The dark humor is groundbreaking and shamefully entertainment. The story is told through all the point-characters with a important background for each. The opening is a beautiful contrast to all the horrible cruelty, tough-notch punishment and harrowing images done in the purest perfection. The masters voice of wisdom in the beginning can be heard later on as a voice blowing in the sky to a feeling of religious proportions. The movie in all its bloodshed reminds us in a pure way that there is always hope.

Mankind has finally destroyed itself and those that have survived find themselves on a barren, dead planet. All men are afraid and this leads to tribalism where strength and power over others is all, leading in turn to cruelty and violence. With this as a backdrop, powerful Fist of the North Star Kenshirô, is left for dead when his equally powerful friend Shin defeats him and takes his lover Julia for himself. Kenshirô somehow survives this and returns to seek justice, aided by fighter Rei, whose sister has been kidnapped by Kenshirô's brother Jagi (who was the one who poisoned Shin against Kenshirô in the first place). Meanwhile Raoh's rebuffed claim to be the rightful Fist has left him bitter and hungry for power with his army and individual powers seeing him grow in strength and power, creating a world of repression that is at odds with the hope manifested in two young children who find themselves under the care of Kenshirô and Rei.Somehow or other I managed to watch and comment on the live action remark of his famous film/series. That version was pretty poor so I decided to go back to the source material and see how that comes across. Everything opens well, with a visual depiction of a nuclear holocaust that has a real sense of scale and suffering about it and I hoped that it would use this backdrop well. Sadly it doesn't really manage it and, while there are plenty of things to appreciate about the film, it never manages to get away from a key problem – one that you may already have a feel for from my plot summary.The genre and the approach of the film suggests that a tight plot with a simple narrative would suit it best. However what we get are lots of characters moving around, causing the film to feel a little slow and complicated. It is not that it is hard to follow per se, just that there seems to be a lot of plot and characters for a film that does so little with all of them other than use them to create a convoluted narrative. It is messy and it doesn't bring much to the film than an impression of clutter and mess that it could easily have done without. Those kids and their entire "subplot" could have been cut from the get-go; although calling their material a "sub-plot" suggests that it is a plot worth following which, other than their roles early on as trigger for one character's return, they do not work in any way of interest.What it does do well though is create some stylishly cool violence and gore. It won't be to everyone's taste but certainly fans of the genre will love it. Technologically the animation has been superseded so will look a little dated but this is not to say that it is "bad" or even "of its time" because certainly does not feel like something that is over 20 years old. The violence is cool even if it is a little silly as well – but this comes with the territory. I loved the scenes of the aftermath of destruction though, these were mostly creative and impressive in their scale. The voice work was also surprisingly solid – often English dubs are awful but, with the exceptions of Julia and the kids, everyone was pretty good.Overall though this is a solid piece of anime but not the classic that many claim it to be (a look at the 10* reviews here will show you what I mean). The imagination behind it and the delivery of gore is impressive but it is undermined by the passage of time making it less impressive to modern eyes but also the problem of such an unnecessarily cluttered plot that leads to some overly-sentimental nonsense as the conclusion. Worth a look for genre fans but casual viewers will not see the film that the fans are seeing.

A) I am not big on the blurry Effect. When I was in the 3rd grade in 94, I remember it being Crystal clear, ULTRA violent. Had a Warning on the back of the VHS Tape. LOL, Luved it. Flawless movie. B) Julia and the Kids Bat, and Girl, Lin, go flying off in a Tornando Whirl Pool Effect. AFTER the Cross is Dropped with Julia ( onto the Troops ) When they are Taken off again. Julia disappears? In my opinion, The Kids are Alright, clearly they find some plants. And get over excited. Geesh, that flower was the size of a pea. Lol. Any ways. lets get the point. When the kids say " I'm sure he will find her " He goes off on a adventure of his own to find her. No Forest Illusions, He sees a Real Forest I think, or believe. Because he says " Julia " the Forest reminds him of his girl. The Forest is probably real, why would they make it a illusion? That would just ruin the ending totally. Any ways. No, he doesn't find her, yet. He goes into the Forest, and has illusions of her picking Fruit. etc. And at the end. Hes back where he started. At the Tower with the destroyed boat through it. and the Canyon. Awesome movie.