Louis does Toronto After Dark - Review of Redline

Takeshi Koike already has an impressive resume of work which includes directing  the "World Record" segment of  "The Animatrix" and being the lead animator on "Ninja Scroll".  His full length directorial debut is nothing short of a high paced, adrenaline fueled foray into a universe where a deadly race is held every five years. Working at Madhouse ( Ninja Scroll, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), he has taken the lessons learned there and applied them well with this feature.

"Redline" starts fast and furious with a race - The Yellowline. The winners of this race determines who will be the new contestants in the infamous Redline race.  It only serves to be a taste of what is to come.  We meet "Sweet" JP, a racer known for his sense of fashion and spectacular and frequent crashes at the end of each of his races - Yellowline being no exception. We discover that it may be due to race fixing as his partner is actively working with a mob boss altering the odds as the race plays out.  Disqualified from Redline for his loss, he later discovers the planet where the race is to be held is going to actively try to kill anyone willing to race there.  After two racers drop out, "Sweet" JP is given his chance to race R edline and eagerly takes it.  While the plot is minimalist and anime fans will see clichéd characters, it only really serves as a backdrop to the real point of the film - racing.

Redline took seven years to develop and production included 100,000 hand-made drawings.  It shows, as the movie is a visual representation of high octane racing at its best.  With bright, bold colors in every shot, you are never left guessing what you saw or confused about what is happening.  The subtitles can be a little distracting during the action, as you have to either watch or read, but this is only for some brief periods during the race itself.  It paces itself with a visual style inherent to Japanese animation, but this very different from anything else.  It's Speed Racer on Meth. Visually stunning and unique.

The techno soundtrack meshes perfectly with what unfolds onscreen - thumping, fast paced, driving as hard and as quick as the cars themselves while also being light and unobtrusive when it needs to be.  There is nothing subtle about the movie though. While minor plot elements hint at politics, crime, war and corrupt governments, at no point do these become either explained or distracting.  There is something in every scene, every frame that moves brightly with a kinetic energy that only serves to build in intensity to the final checkered flag.

And when you get there...yeah, it is a fantastic payoff.

I recommend this to anyone who likes anime, or racing, or spaceships, or explosions. Well, you get the idea.  If at all possible, see it in a theater on a big screen as loud as you can, as that is what the movie itself is, big, loud, and demanding to be seen.

 

 

 

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