The movie's over stylized and exaggerated characters brought Yoshiaki Kawajiri (incidentally a mentor of sorts for the movie's director, Takeshi Koike) immediately to mind, and I have never appreciated Kawajirisan's work. In spite of the praise that has been heaped upon Redline, I was not actually expecting it to be that good. If you like cars, spaceships, guns and explosions, watch it as soon as you can.
The remarkable thing is that, at the same time, it isn't offensively and painfully stupid like, say, Armageddon.
If you need any further motivation, it somehow involves a "bio-weapon" called Funky Boy that could give Akira himself a couple of pointers in indiscriminate destruction. Words can't describe it, so you'll have to see it for yourself. Soon, the tobacco troubles are forgotten, as it's time for the big race. He runs into inconceivably bad service at the money-changing window, and gets ripped off in an ungodly way while buying cigarettes. The place is just as anarchic and badly-managed as one would expect upon arrival, JP is accosted by a gang of knee-tall aliens who look like Tweety's sketchy, mutated fugee cousins. The base camp for the final race lies on a refugee world. The movie would be hilarious without even trying for humor, simply because it's so preposterous however, it does try in its odd way, and pulls it off. Roboworld appears completely barren except for some of the most destructive weaponry in the known universe, and by golly, is the government ever determined to use it all. This year, the Redline race committee feels that equipping the cars with rockets and grenades doesn't make for nearly enough mayhem, and decides to hold the race on Roboworld – a planet run by Nazi cyborg generals who are willing to do absolutely anything to avoid the honor. They are just two of the weird characters who qualify for the ultimate landscape-altering contest. The crown goes to Sonoshee, his childhood crush and next best racer.
The movie opens with a race that is merely impossible, and introduces J.P., who almost wins it until a Mafia bomb takes out his front wheel. A pack of nerdy Asians with paintbrushes do Hollywood like punks, and all the render farms in the world wilt and run barren. It's been attempted, and has usually led to legendary failures like Speed Racer. Michael Bay and his lesser followers can use all the CG and shaky-cams they want, but no live-action movie will ever be able to whap the viewer in the face with unhinged chaos that buckles the frame and yet stays somehow comprehensible. If you want to see what animation can do better than live film, Redline is a good start. In this world, men are men women are women squishy purple aliens are purple and squishy and everything is blown completely out of proportion. Things go fast, crash into each other and go up like the Hindenburg. The main hero, J.P., is a racer who tends to explode and wipe out before the finish, but feels destined to win the big one. This may be for reasons of secrecy, or just because the old planet is rendered unusable. An illegal and absurdly violent drag race occurs once every five years, each time on a different planet. Quick capsule summary of Redline: It's an animated, intergalactic "Death Race 2000," on buffalo steroids and with a jalapeño up its a$$. How cool is that? (My favourite is Machine Head's.) And, in the end, that's what Redline ultimately wants to leave you thinking: "How cool is that?" Hell, every character gets their own theme song. This review would be incomplete without mentioning the amazing music, an eclectic group of tunes that completes the adrenaline rush. Redline really only does one thing - epic action - and those looking for anything else will probably be disappointed. It does, however, manage to use common tropes in a way that feels mythic and not derivative. Plot-wise, there isn't much going on, with the story a serviceable vehicle to get from one action sequence to another.
REDLINE THE MOVIE DUBBED SERIES
The only other media that comes to mind as capturing this sensation is the anime series Giant Robo, which seems like a clear precedent here. You get the feeling that any of the other racers, some of whom only get a sliver of screen time, could easily support their own movie, and that kind of overflowing exuberance is hard not to buy into. It's a bold debut for director Takeshi Koike, and what really amazes is that it manages to be an epic story that at the same time seems to be only a sliver of a crazy and exciting universe. Redline is one of those movies that is absolutely popping with adolescent joy, from the sleekly-animated racing sequences to the ridiculous bravado of the characters.
0 kommentar(er)
