Metoroporisu 2001

Jonathan Perry, Boston Globe: A fast-moving and remarkable film that appears destined to become a landmark in Japanese animation. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Unlike most anime, whose most ardent fans outside Japan seem to be introverted young men with fantasy fetishes, Metropolis never seems hopelessly juvenile. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: It's an interesting genre. It's not for me, and I think it's far from great. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Read more

Chicago Tribune: A film of staggering technical and visual virtuosity, filled with utterly amazing images, that's also entertaining and engaging for children and adults on several levels. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: A hallucinatory tour de force of color, perspective and scale, virtually encapsulates the history of Japanese animation. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: There's a vastness implied in Metropolis that is just breathtaking. Read more

Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader: It smoothly blends outrageously diverse visual styles and emotional tones. Read more

Melanie McFarland, Seattle Times: A delightful stimulus for the optic nerves, so much that it's forgivable that the plot feels like every other tale of a totalitarian tomorrow. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: A fairly standard genre exercise, packed with light, detail, color, noise, and motion that add up to relatively little. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Has an almost stupefyingly intense visual impact. Read more

Tom Maurstad, Dallas Morning News: The imagery with which director Rintaro brings this world to animated life is unique and captivating. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: One of the best animated films I have ever seen. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The urban landscapes are detailed down to the signs on the kiosks, and the color palette, with lots of somber blues and pinks, is dreamy and evocative. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Apart from its own considerable achievement, Metropolis confirms Tezuka's status as both the primary visual influence on the anime tradition and its defining philosophical conscience. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Otomo's typically sophisticated script ensures slick pacing, combining humour, terror and pathos, particularly in the final scenes. Read more

Derek Elley, Variety: Tale of the struggle for personal freedom in a futuristic, tyrannical society is light on action by contempo standards, and pic's look is uninteresting, apart from occasionally bizarre backgrounds. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: A near perfect fusion of computer and cel animation. Read more