So much average

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Knowing nothing of the movie, I looked at the box art and thought that this might be an interesting, thoughtful sci-fi/fantasy with dark fairy tale elements. It's not.It's schlock.A space-born virus is petrifying (literally) the human race so a zillionaire sets up a cryo "ark" deep underneath a Scottish castle to send a handful of lucky randoms to live in a better future. Of them are Japanese twin sisters Kasumi and Shizuku, who has not been chosen and is only there to see her off. The sleepers are rudely awakened by horrific creatures (who are apparently CGI and rendered in a lower frame-rate) who tear them apart as they attempt to escape the castle, which has now been infested with thorny vines.It's an intriguing premise up until this point, but then it all begins to fall apart, quickly. With each attempt at explaining the mystery it becomes more and more moronic. Horrible dialogue and a muddled, confusing plot turn it into a borderline comedy. The allusions to Sleeping Beauty are ill-conceived and just don't work. If anything, this movie is much more like Resident Evil than the thoughtful fantasy I wanted it to be. An attempt at a plot twist just about saves this from a lower score.It's a Sunday afternoon mild distraction while you do the ironing or the dishes. Don't go into this nonsense expecting a Miyazaki epic.

If one were to be introduced to anime via this film they would either love it or never watch another. If the viewer is into gore, violence, and a storyline that while ultimately resolved and explained is confusing throughout and way outside the box of "weird", this movie fits the bill.However, if the viewer dislikes decapitations, an English dub that is full of profanity (whereas almost none exists in the original Japanese), or anti-God sentiment, this will be most objectionable.The storyline is somewhat interesting but is so over the top and jump the shark it becomes ludicrous. The body count in this is "Jurassic Park" on overdrive. While it does have a final plot twist (somewhat predictable) that almost redeems the movie, the resolution of that plot twist and the ultimate resolution of two main characters is more than most audiences can swallow. Only the most hard-core anime fan will be able to stomach this, and even then we note this doesn't get a high rating.I'll admit I'm a little more demanding in my anime than some, as I am in all movies I choose to watch. This is basic horror schlock done poorly and repetitiously. The inexcusable English dub which turns the Japanese drama into foul-mouthed slop makes one wish they'd have used Google Translate on this one.The final scenes are just unbelievable (I won't include any spoilers, but it's way outside the realm of "I'll buy that could happen"). Had I come here and read the reviews and Advisory before watching this I'd have given it a pass.

The first 30 minutes of the movie was awesome (have to agree with the others). The way the audience was being brought into understanding of the emotional conflict going on in Kasumi. I like how the twins have totally different characteristics but still show strongly how much they love and are willing to sacrifice themselves for each other. (Heart wrenching moment with the harm that was self-inflicted) it just tugs on my heart strings so much.The middle part of the movie took the audiences' attention away with all the monsters and the survivors' need for survival. I like the action and suspense and all, but the monsters are a little too robot-like to be conjured up by imagination; I would have preferred it if it's moments were more fluid. On a personal note, I thought that there could be maybe one to two more species of monsters. "Demonasaurus" gets boring after a little while. (No offense, my personal thoughts) When small hints are dropped in the movie, like the staff personnel and Mr Vega, it got me thinking and trying to figure things out. Love the mystery and suspense. If there were a little more links while the characters were trying to escape, it would have been wonderful because then the audience might not have gotten lost in the action and forgotten the mystery. (Which to me is the main part)The last parts of the movie triggered the audience to start thinking and piecing the pieces together. The sub-plots come in at this part, and it's quite what I would call a "bombardment". Too many sub-plots makes it hard for me to sieve through the information and solve the mystery. Though I think that the sub-plots were great as stories(: and they were heart-wrenching too. Love the addition of these sub-plots but the timing of revelations could've been timed better.A previous review mentioned that there were too many ideas going on and were not fully developed. I must agree on that note. When I read that, I started comparing "Inception" to it, trying to understand why Inception had a much better review than this though they were similar in the themes of dreams, reality and human subconscious. The technical details aside, I understood why the review had mentioned that. The idea of the scar was presented and turned out to be an object of recognition (love the moment when it was revealed) but the idea of the thorns and much so the "King of Thorns" was not explained. Why thorns? Why these type of monsters? What is the symbolism behind these? And though I love the way little Tim compared the monsters to the monster games, I couldn't help but wonder if they were actually in a game. (Hmm, don't know if this is good or bad) and there was this weird moment where Alice took over Tim's mind. I kinda see no link in that. But it was a potential idea to develop because Alice had to protect "the patients" (which could have been more specific and said Kasumi, totally add to the suspense)So in a nutshell, the movie was great(: just a little too saturated with fantastic ideas. Would definitely recommend people to watch it! I think "King of Thorns" is one of the best animation movies that I have watch combining fantasy, action and love (sisterly love)

I knew nothing about King of Thorn going in, except that it is a horror anime. Its story begins to unfold with a sense of dread that is very palpable and unique. Nothing violent or apocalyptic occurs within the first 30 minutes or so but, without spoiling the story, those 30 minutes are very dreadful in terms of what looms on the horizon for a set of characters that have a mysterious disease. I remember feeling as emotionally frightened when I read the first third of The Stand, at a younger age, but King of Thorn managed a similar emotional tone without a story of massive, apocalyptic outbreak. The world of King of Thorn manages keep a tentative handle on the disease that plagues it and the dread comes from the sacrifice that the main characters decide on to find a cure, placing their well being in the care of a questionable corporation and tossing away their lives as they've know them.That is the feeling I had in the first act of this movie. By the second act things become a bit more conventional. The second and some of the third act become survival horror in the vein of similar Japanese stories like Resident Evil. This does not take from the compelling nature of the story and its mystery, but did not feel as rare a story experience as the first act.The third act however, is filled with exposition that is difficult to follow and otherwise loses interest for me. At one point things become more "anime sci-fi" (a concept I simply cannot explain well), which is not a problem; expect that I didn't feel the story up to that point was building toward it. It felt less creditable for me.The last 20 minutes, things become very muddled and subplots for the remaining survivors and their true motivations get tangled up in a more and more nonsensical plot. Things become more fanciful for the sake of animation visuals and sci-fi explanations for such events, if not ignored, seem to be quickly served out. More interesting, if you can trudge through these problems, is the ultimate twist ending involving the young female protagonist.And my major complaint with King of Thorn, however, is that many action scenes switch from the otherwise traditional 2D anime style, to a cell shaded CGI animation process. It's 3D computer animation that is processed to look flat and try to mesh with the majority of the rest of the movie's hand drawn style. No doubt this was a cheaper way for the animation team to create complex action scenes and have more control, but the two styles do not mesh well. The cell-shaded CGI is not as glossy in color as the 2D animation and also misses many drawing details, like grime and dirt on the characters faces. Inexperienced anime viewers might not pick up on the switch all the time, but may still feel the action scenes have an odd movement and don't quite sit right.