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REVIEW: Tekkon Kinkreet

There is no problem with the visuals. The problem is, frankly, the lack of attention the director seems to have paid to everything else.

Even the violence itself -- the story's most important element -- pulls its punches.

And it has a LOT of dialogue -- in fact, nearly every scene is crammed to the brim, to the point where we're well into the second hour before the characters shut up at all.

Tekkon Kinkreet is the spiritual successor to X: The Movie. It's very pretty and pushes the envelope of visuals animators can create, and does so at the expense of anything that makes us care.

It's a vanity project by a computer artist, and consequently, it's entertaining only as a CG demo.

But is it at least better than Spirits Within?

Anyway, apparently Justin's not the only one who feels that way about Tekkon Kinkreet, as it only got a 6.8 at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831888/.

Well that site also has the same movie you made fun of on its top 250, so I don't see your logic. I actually was kind of suspicious that something like this would happen.

But, uh, why is the final grade a "C-"? The animation and art are respectively given "A+" apiece, the story gets a "C," and the music gets a "C-." So, would it at least get a "C+," or at the very least a "C"? Eh, whatever.

But is the dialogue as banal as it is in Death Proof?

Worse, actually. Death Proof had something of a method to its banality, whereas this is just plain lazy writing. I mean, there's one scene where a yakuza thug has to kill his boss (for reasons that are not adequately explained). The boss (Rat) is full of resignation and love, and while the guy is trying to pull the trigger, he just keeps firing off clichéd "daddy advice" lines, one after another. It just DOESN'T STOP and serves absolutely no purpose.

I actually liked [X: The Movie], but the source material wasn't that great in the first place. Kawajiri's version just seemed lifeless, but again, the source material's not that special.

Anyway, apparently Justin's not the only one who feels that way about Tekkon Kinkreet, as it only got a 6.8 at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831888/.

Because a lot of what made it mediocre didn't fit into any of those categories. The STORY is great, of course, but the dialogue is atrocious. The symbolism is forced and doesn't work. The pacing is nonsense. How do you grade that?

If there's one good thing to come from all this, at least it's getting Viz to re-release the manga, which has been OOP for a few years now.

I've encountered some people who didn't like how Viz handled the translation, while others (including me) loved the somewhat unconventional script.

I somehow suspect that this is going to be like seeing Innocence all over again (though Oshii's direction was interesting as pretentious and muddled as it was).

Anime titles in general aren't too hot on there (obviously a few exceptions and some obscure stuff that nobody ever votes against because only the creator, director, and fanboy/fangirl stooges vote for them)... Admittedly 6.8 is kind of scraping toward the bottom of the barrel, or it's heading in that area.

Which reminds me; is Viz going to use their original translation from Pulp or going to give a full overhaul?

6.8 isn't all that bad actually; remember, those charts have a pretty harsh quality scale compared to how most people look at a 1-10 rating.

I've always found most anime to be rated pretty highly myself.

Anyways, like gatsu mentioned you have to watch out for fan boys and the fact that a lot of films are just going to be overrated by the public (The Shawshank Redemption is freaking number two on their top 250 chart).

I also absolutely love the live action Ping Pong movie.

Worse, actually. Death Proof had something of a method to its banality,

The boss (Rat) is full of resignation and love, and while the guy is trying to pull the trigger, he just keeps firing off clichéd "daddy advice" lines, one after another.

The only really good, in-depth review that we've received so far is from Mr. Sevakis (well, from what I've seen), and I'd like to have more of a feel of what exactly to expect when I watch it (which has turned into a rental right now).

Out of curiosity how how did you feel about the dialogue in the translated edition? I've encountered some people who didn't like how Viz handled the translation, while others (including me) loved the somewhat unconventional script.

So you're saying it's as dumb as that game where Mega Man let Wily ramble on instead of shooting him?

I'm not familiar at all with the original manga, so I have nothing to compare it to but this movie was one of the best animated films (story and effects wise) I have ever seen by far. It doesn't seem very fair to compare the art presented in a movie with the original art since you can include much more detail in a still manga drawing than on a frame by frame basis in a film.

jsevakis wrote:

I also absolutely love the live action Ping Pong movie.

But that's a different director.

Hey, you're entitled to your opinion. I wondered if I was being too harsh because I was familiar with the (far better) original work, but I went and saw it with a film critic friend of mine who was completely unfamiliar with it, and he had much the same reaction I did. C'est la vie.