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Tokyo is the city where the final battle between the Dragon of Earth and the Dragon of Heaven will take place in the Japanese anime film X, directed by Rintaro (a.k.a. Tarô Rin; Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion) and written by the all-woman writing team Clamp. The Dragon of Earth wants to wipe out humankind because of the damage people have inflicted on the Earth, while the Dragon of Heaven is fighting to protect civilization. At the center of all this is Kamui, the chosen one, who must pick a dragon to fight for.
Full of dreams and flashbacks that pop up out of nowhere, the structure of X could be considered confusing and needlessly complex--if the story weren't so simple. Obviously, we're supposed to root for the Dragon of Heaven to win and save mankind, but the funny thing is, the Dragon of Earth has the better argument. If it were a debate, humanity would lose. But it's not a debate, it's an action film, and many of Tokyo's most famous buildings get destroyed in the battles. As with most anime, the women are either girlishly cute or slutty, but luckily in X, there are no graphic rapes; the love interest is merely crucified three or four times. It may not be the greatest anime film out there, but at least it's never boring. --Andy Spletzer
LacklusterReviewed by Ana Mardoll, 2009-09-11
X / B00000JL4L
*Spoilers*
First off, if you're not familiar with the X manga, I can honestly
say that it is essential for you to brush up on the basics before
attempting to watch this movie or you will be completely lost and
confused. Unfortunately, the problem with this movie is that once
you've brushed up on the manga (say, by reading the Wikipedia entry
on it), you've already reached the level of immersion this movie
offers. The beginning of the movie sets the scene - the main
character's nude and dead (dying?) mother shows up in a dream and
explains that the apocalypse is coming, he's the chosen one to
prevent it, and a list of the seven trustworthy heroes that will
fight along side him is as follows...etc., etc.
And that's fine as far as it goes - bland but standard scene
setting focusing on avoiding character development as much as
possible and cutting straight to the action. Unfortunately, the
seven heroes are almost immediately reduced to ancillary support
characters, where "support" is loosely defined as "die as quickly
and as stupidly as possible", which is a shame because the battles
are really the only thing this movie has to hang its hat on.
Well, that's not entirely true - the one other driving plot point
in this movie is that the main character and his childhood friend
are destined to oppose each other - whichever side the main
character chooses to aid (humanity and technology vs. extinction
and nature, basically), his friend will be compelled to oppose him
from the other side. While this particular aspect is interesting,
intriguing, and potentially tragic, it breaks down in two major
respects. Firstly, the main character is so poorly characterized
that it is difficult to feel any real resonance with him. He
repeatedly protests that he absolutely *will not* fight to save the
world because, he says, he "only want to protect my friends!" The
problem, of course, being that he never puts together that the end
of humanity will eventually entail the end of his pals as
well.
Indeed, as an aside, I have to say that this anime seems unique in
the sense that I actually ended up rooting for the "bad" guys -
even though I strongly got the impression that I wasn't 'supposed'
to - because they generally seemed more good than the "good" guys.
The bad guys at least threw themselves into their work, rather than
passively reacting constantly like the good guys did. They'd put
thought and preparation into their training and strategy, while it
seemed that the good guys had sat around on their thumbs all day.
And the bad guys seemed to genuinely believe in their cause -
intending to wipe out all humanity, including themselves, for the
good of the planet - as opposed to the lackluster enthusiasm of the
good guys who basically said (and I'm paraphrasing) "Things may not
be so great nowadays, but my kids don't seem to know the
difference." There's a rallying cry.
Which brings me neatly to the second problem with the "Destined
Tragedy" plot. The writers seem to realize, about half-way through
the movie, that the hero's foil is intensely more likable than the
cardboard cut-out main character and decide to remedy this by
immediately switching the foil character over to an insane,
homicidal madman who kills friends and allies alike with a single
blow. And it is this character shift - a desperate attempt to steer
the story back on track and explain *why* the two characters can't
just sit down and talk it out over a latte - that completely kills
the movie because it's a gimmicky contrivance that removes drama
(as well as all the remaining ancillary characters)
instantly.
Tragedies aren't tragic because someone we don't care about dies -
if "X" had truly wanted to be tragic and thought provoking, then
the two foil characters should have both chosen a side they truly
believe in and then fought for that side with a heavy heart (a la
Suikoden II). Instead, the writers try to have their cake and eat
it to by making the hero a soggy "I don't want to be involved"
cardboard cut-out and the anti-hero a stereotypical madman on a
murder spree, thus allowing them to dodge any moral questions about
the nature of mankind and our affect on the earth. Unfortunately,
if you want a tragedy, you can't dodge moral questions like
that.
Having said all that, I have to now admit that I still found the
movie oddly interesting - enough to maybe watch it again, hence my
rating. One of my guilty pleasures is the "Dragonball Z" series,
mostly because I think the subtext behind the writing is genuinely
interesting, but I will admit that the spectacle fighting can be
pleasant to watch. And that's kind of what this movie feels like -
like someone took a manga about two opposing groups with super
heroes, paired them all off, and told them to have at it. If that
was all "X" was, I would have likely enjoyed it on those merits
alone, but it still shoots itself in the foot by having the fights
be terminally short and by making the characters die for stupid,
suicidal reasons.
To wrap this review up, there's two more things worth noting.
First, there's definitely nudity and violence in this movie, so be
forewarned if that sort of thing bothers you. Second, there is
something rather 'off' with the English subtitles for the hearing
impaired - not only do they not match the actual English dialogue
(something I've come to expect from most anime), there are huge
stretches of dialogue that isn't subtitled *at all*. I can't say
that the lack of subtitles would hamper your understanding of the
movie, but that's mostly an indictment on the bland dialogue itself
rather than an excuse.
Awesome!Reviewed by B. G. Flint, 2009-02-22
I bought this movie for my fiance. He absolutely loves this film. A must see.
By the series, not the movieReviewed by Ann Smith, 2008-11-24
I watched the series first. Then I tried to watch this... I didn't make it through. I was so disoriented... I'd heard there was a different ending to the movie than the series so I was curious... But again, I didn't make it through and didn't care enough to make it through either.
Beautiful animation, but weak story and character developmentReviewed by Lesley Aeschliman, 2008-11-05
The film X is based off of an apocalyptic manga series. However,
unlike the manga, the film focuses on the roles of Kamui, Kotori,
and Fuma, and the roles they play in the Apocalypse. But this
abbreviated story reduces the Dragons of the Heavens and the Earth
to minor characters that the viewer never really gets to know. And
since so little character development has been done for the Dragons
of the Heavens and the Earth, it's hard to feel any sense of loss
as each of these characters are killed off during the film. There
is also very little done in the film in the way of plot
development, which can make the film hard to follow if you don't
already have some familiarity with the property through the manga
or the X anime series that was produced several years later.
The DVD contains five special features. The first is labeled,
"Tarot Cards." There are three sets of cards: The Seven Dragons of
Heaven, The Seven Dragons of Earth, and The Dream Watchers. Under
each section, you select a name, and you see a picture of a
character in a "tarot card," and information about the character is
provided. For many of the characters in the film, you get much more
of their backstories through this feature than you ever get in the
film.
There is a photo gallery, which is made up completely of stills
from the film. The "Director's Interview" is twenty-three pages of
text that the viewer reads through. There is also an English
theatrical trailer for the film included.
X is an R-rated film, and it earns this designation primarily from
all the blood that's shown during the film. While there is some
nudity, it is overshadowed by the blood. With this rating, I cannot
recommend this film to anyone under the age of 17. If you like
blood and gore and very little in the way of plot or character
development, then you might find some enjoyment in this film.
However, if you prefer more substance for plot and character, or if
the sight of animated blood makes you queasy, then you should avoid
X.
could have been worse...but not by much...Reviewed by E. Climis, 2008-03-25
So the series is fantastic! Lots of character development etc. to
make you just LOVE all the characters (no matter how evil they
are). The movie...yeah...about that. They developed two characters
(the main two, Seishirou and Kamui) and they didn't even do a good
job. Not only that but they kill off two supporting characters in
the first five minutes. The only entertainment value this has is
for drinking games involving counting how many times Kotori
dies.
The series is worth watching. The movie...well...that's your
choice...
