Brain Pulp

During a trip to HMV as a huge fan of anime who has been let down by the majority of contemporary anime (most of the stuff in the 00's) I thought I would mosey over to the anime section and have a quick scan through expecting to be let down as usual by the current crop of uninspiring anime's. A blury mixture of films that lack any visual character and do not attempt to present something that hasn't been done a millon times before. To a vast extent my low expectations were on the money, until I caught a glimpse of of a case the read Redline. The styling was cool, and I had a hunch this was gonna be a great flick. I am so glad I picked it up!

In terms of story, then the film does fall short somewhat, it's a race/road movie, in the style of films like Death Race, Mad Max and Death Proof. But what it lacked in story it more than made up for in style and writing. This film has a great and unique visual identity with only Dead Leaves coming close. I loved the bold colours and shading and the dynamism to the shots, when lead character JP puts peddle to the metal there are fantastic contra zooms that really emphasize the G's he must be feeling. Then there is the weird and wonderful cast of characters who look like an acid trip. They all combine to give the film a real atmosphere and vitality.

The film does fall short in a few areas, the main being that the lead female Sanoshee could have been a really strong female character but she ends up falling into stereotypical heroin in distress territory. My biggest annoyance was her topless scene, yes as a man I love looking at boobies but just felt her character could have been beyond a cheap topless scene. There are also many cheesy parts but the great writing does suggest the film is aware of it's own cheesey nature, which actually makes it more funny for it. Over all the film was a breath of fresh air in what I feel has become a stagnated market.

This was never supposed to be a review, but meh. :)