King of Thorn [Movie (animation) review]

[Post published by Liviu, on Liviu's [Personal] Blog]

As part of my desire to watch some animations at... Anim'est [official site] (doh, of course!), I've chosen this time King of Thorn [official site - English version; IMDB quoting the start of a review and the rest at TwitchFilm.net; details on the comic on en.wikipedia] - it seemed interesting, I don't know. Besides, I don't know anything about Japanese comics & movies, so I decided to give it a shot. Don't worry if my reasoning doesn't make sense - it's my fault :)


All in all, how's this movie/animation compared to Pixar/Dreamworks etc.?

Indeed, it's different, because it's the Japanese culture there. I liked the story, but not so much some parts of the characters' behavior. An interesting experience overall. If it only had the fine details in the Hollywood style... that would have been awesome!


The story? Medusa virus?

Story: complicated, yet coherent. The story develops in a catchy & intriguing manner. Everything makes sense in the end. I enjoyed it.

Medusa virus - great idea: the virus (which turns people into rocks eventually) gives one the ability to turn whatever they imagine into material/live things which interact with everything (people, the environment etc.). Well, there are some catches here:

1. Nobody knows that the virus actually enables the materialization (i.e. into live things) of one's imagination.
2. Everyone affected by it seems to be having psychological problems, i.e. some traumas collected at some point in their lives.
3. One does not realize they're affected by the virus.
4. Not even the one imagining stuff realizes it's them imagining it.
5. The imagined stuff is usually harmful or very disturbing & disruptive for everyone else.

I've got the spoiler at the end of the post, in case you're interested...


Is it smart as TwitchFilm.net claims it is? Are the ideas in it worth thinking about?

Yes, it's smart. It caught me until the end, when all made sense.

The idea that the Medusa virus had been here all throughout the history and enabled evolution...


Male characters? European-American-like...

Funny, but we have the:

• English originally-undercover-commando-military-trained cool & helpful guy
• Black American & family-type ex-policeman
• Old & having-committed-bribery-to-reach-into-the-cryogenic-project Italian male politician
• The strong & powerful & in-charge-of-the-cryogenic-project Russian ex-Ministry-of-Internal-Affairs-something now working in the private sector
• Northern looking like (could be European or American/Canadian) & blond scientist/researcher guy
• The kid could be anything. Forget him.

So, all the main male characters (except the kid) are European-American-like... Funny thing.


Female characters?

They're all Japanese I believe. The blond nice-looking female might not be. I don't know.


What are the differences that the Japanese style brings into this animation?

Well, that's the really bad part of this animation and I feel sorry that the Japanese have this wierd way of expressing themselves:

• It's all talked in Japanese which I find uncomfortable, i.e. stressing for my ears
• Voices sound like children voices
• When characters shout they sound & look so childish - maybe it's the language or the Japanese behavior... either way, it's so annoying & stressing! And they shout every 5-10 minutes! :)) What? They have bad nerves or communication problems in that country?
• Drawing young females in the Japanese style is kind of weird: they have long legs, short skirts (which sometimes the wind moves a bit), long socks (i.e. up to the knee), which leaves no space for the ass - Do Japanese young females have an ass? Really, it's a serious question! It seems like a fetish of theirs to me of not having one. Hey, I like the ass, it's very nice, it's a sign of fertility, ok? It should be drawn proportionally with the rest of the body! There should be a rule for that in Japan!
• They have this passion for showing blood from now and then, i.e. every time one of the characters dies.

King of Thorn (if it were a real movie, not an animation) vs. Inception [IMDB]?

Given that it had:

• been done as a real movie (therefore not an animation)
• been provided the same cast & post production & special effects etc.

, King of Thorn (as a real movie, not an animation) could have kicked the ass of Inception if it only had:

1. been spoken in English
2. had the fine details processed as in the Hollywood style (you know all that glamour & Di Caprio's way of chewing words [1] etc.), targeted for an American-European audience (the Japanese style looks/sounds/feels weird - even the please-do-not-illegally-tape-record-this-movie ad before the movie is weird)

Are you kidding me? No, that's the truth. The story & storytelling would feel better than Inception's given the same Hollywood-style packing [2].



Conclusions

King of Thorn - I enjoyed it, although the Japanese culture repeatedly kicked in destroying the mood and annoyed me at times. Wait until the end. If you didn't get it, read my spoiler. I do not find it suitable for children.

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[1] Credits for Di Caprio talks in Inception as if he's chewing words go to Andrei [site]

[2] Indeed, Hollywood has mastered to perfection the ability to nicely pack all elements in a movie.

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Spoiler - do not read this

One of the twin girls kills by accident the other one when standing on the cliff before entering the castle, which leads to her trauma. Her remorse [m-w] determine the bad things that happen all around them; everything stops when she acknowledges what her subconscious has tried to hide. How long are they all asleep? 48 hours only; then hell breaks loose. She and the kid live, everyone else dies.