The film took a bullet for this ambition, but it’s regarded by many as one of the best works of animation ever made. Redline is relentless, constantly moving, and refuses to be constrained by the limits that even the best-animated films before and since have often been compelled to yield to. It simply took audiences time to realize it, as unfortunately is common with underappreciated art. Failure or not, it would feel inappropriate to call Redline over-ambitious, as it most surely achieved something over that long production cycle that fulfilled its core promise. Yet, it gained a following through the home-video release. Redline’s problem was its ambition, which demanded great feats from its artists, contended with less-than-stellar returns, though it’s difficult to get an exact estimate of its budget.Ī moot point perhaps it underperformed. When people despair at it being over too soon, it’s funny to remember that the film actually went 30 minutes over the originally planned 70-minute runtime. A guy, a girl, their dreams, and their combined goal, past a finish line. But that haste feels awfully fitting, in that it goes out at the peak of its adrenaline rush, and barely any loose end left unresolved or at the very least, unaddressed. In fact, it says a lot that this film’s most recurring complaint is that it ends, and in fairness, it does end quite quickly - maybe too quickly. It was inevitable that Koike would eventually get to helm his own major work, though it would take some time before fans would get it. Afro Samurai is remembered fondly, but it’s hard for the TV series to top Koike’s pilot for the project (just like with the Iron Man anime pilot). Koike’s presence is a blessing and can even elevate some projects to the point that his contributions are remembered more than the whole of the art itself. They can be cartoonishly bendy or posed dramatically, but no matter what, they are dripping with character in their expressions, marking them as considerably more lively. Shading aside, Koike’s character proportions are often long and tall. The way Koike animates is excellent, but when he’s given the reigns to design the characters in his own style, the look of the project can be transformed eternally. And Koike’s signature style would be a big draw for projects like Afro Samurai and Samurai Champloo. His talents didn’t go unnoticed by the Wachowskis, who scouted him to direct one of the Animatrix’s most gorgeous shorts, “ World Record.” It’s hard to look at such breathtaking slow-motion animated on 1’s without seeing the insane amount of time that went into it. The detailed slow-motion and thick black shading evoked the aesthetic of western comic books but moved as effortlessly as the best of Japan’s animated features. In 2000, he animated the opening to the otherwise live-action film Party 7, an absolutely wild short packed with chases, fights, dancing, and more.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |