Interstella 5555
Art house anime movie set to Daft Punk music? This is right up my alley! I've never really been interested in Daft Punk's music because it does sound like the same song over and over again. But it is a very good same song. It has a catchy beat and while it may be a bit to upbeat for some of the scenes in the film I think it was pretty fitting.
The story follows a techno band from a different galaxy as they are taken to Earth by an evil music producer. They are followed by a military guy in a spaceship that looks like a giant guitar and he and the band go on a desperate mission to get their memories back and return home.
Overall, it kept my attention. It was a 60 or so minutes that I thoroughly enjoyed even if that was just because of the animation. This movie had some of the best visuals I have seen in a piece of animated media. The camera motion was very dynamic and I really liked the way that everything looked. Japan, you do not disappoint!
The overall story was very well done, you could get a sense of the emotions these characters were going through without any dialogue. Again, props to the animation studio. And I actually felt invested in the plight of this band! It seems like a really stupid thing to give a crap about but the story is written well enough that you actually give these characters sympathy through only music and visuals. Also, the movie had a very good sense of what made a moment emotional, and I'm very happy that the Japanese animation studio actually took this thing seriously instead of filling it with stupid anime BS that makes western audiences cringe. This was a very well written story, however it does have some problems with pacing.
The movie is overall paced well, it introduces subplots when it needs to and complicates the story enough that it can suspend your disbelief. However, in the last 15 or so minutes of the film, the pacing goes down the crapper. Everything happens so spontaneously and there is a weird climax inside of a climax that actually makes the ending seem less climactic. The rest of the movie is paced either a little too fast or a little too slow, but there were many scenes that hit the nail right on the head.
The music of Daft Punk is always fun to listen to and was very well integrated into the film's story line. The 2 best integrated songs were probably Better, Faster, Stronger and Digital Love. I really liked the music in this movie, but there were a couple of scenes that sounded out of place. Again, I'm avoiding spoilers, but someone dies in the middle of the film and they hold a small funeral for him. Daft Punk is a good band, but their music is too upbeat for a death scene. There were a lot of times when there was a disconnect between the music and the scene it was accompanying, but for the majority of the film the music was well integrated.
Overall, I liked this movie. If you're an anime fan, or like techno music, I would give this one a watch. It isn't a great movie but it's obvious that there was effort put into it and I really liked what I saw. You should watch it purely for the entertainment value and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
8/10
The story follows a techno band from a different galaxy as they are taken to Earth by an evil music producer. They are followed by a military guy in a spaceship that looks like a giant guitar and he and the band go on a desperate mission to get their memories back and return home.
Overall, it kept my attention. It was a 60 or so minutes that I thoroughly enjoyed even if that was just because of the animation. This movie had some of the best visuals I have seen in a piece of animated media. The camera motion was very dynamic and I really liked the way that everything looked. Japan, you do not disappoint!
The overall story was very well done, you could get a sense of the emotions these characters were going through without any dialogue. Again, props to the animation studio. And I actually felt invested in the plight of this band! It seems like a really stupid thing to give a crap about but the story is written well enough that you actually give these characters sympathy through only music and visuals. Also, the movie had a very good sense of what made a moment emotional, and I'm very happy that the Japanese animation studio actually took this thing seriously instead of filling it with stupid anime BS that makes western audiences cringe. This was a very well written story, however it does have some problems with pacing.
The movie is overall paced well, it introduces subplots when it needs to and complicates the story enough that it can suspend your disbelief. However, in the last 15 or so minutes of the film, the pacing goes down the crapper. Everything happens so spontaneously and there is a weird climax inside of a climax that actually makes the ending seem less climactic. The rest of the movie is paced either a little too fast or a little too slow, but there were many scenes that hit the nail right on the head.
The music of Daft Punk is always fun to listen to and was very well integrated into the film's story line. The 2 best integrated songs were probably Better, Faster, Stronger and Digital Love. I really liked the music in this movie, but there were a couple of scenes that sounded out of place. Again, I'm avoiding spoilers, but someone dies in the middle of the film and they hold a small funeral for him. Daft Punk is a good band, but their music is too upbeat for a death scene. There were a lot of times when there was a disconnect between the music and the scene it was accompanying, but for the majority of the film the music was well integrated.
Overall, I liked this movie. If you're an anime fan, or like techno music, I would give this one a watch. It isn't a great movie but it's obvious that there was effort put into it and I really liked what I saw. You should watch it purely for the entertainment value and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
8/10