Take the best parts of Dune, Superman 2, The Matrix, The Wizard of Oz, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Metropolis, Brazil, and a KMFDM music video, and you’ll begin to imagine the overwhelming visual goodies packed into Casshern. It’s like watching seven movies at once, with each chapter given a unique style befitting its mood, and some scenes even repeating events in wildly different ways. Sounds like too much to take, but the pacing is surprisingly dreamy and serene. The writing and characters are as complex as the visual design, but nearly bewildering in a single sitting. (Though I may have missed an important plot point in the time it took me to blink.) A scientist obsessed with finding a cure for his dying wife discovers regenerative human cells which promise to revitalize a damaged population. Of course playing God always has its dangers and a freak event gives life to a new breed of people, feared and abused by military forces. The neo-sapien survivors vow to eradicate humanity, and unleash an army of giant robots to tear things up. The scientist’s own son becomes an unwilling pawn in the game, using his superhuman abilities to dizzying effect. From there things get really crazy, and at several points I had to simply give in and enjoy the ride.

There are no comments yet. You could be the first!