Sky Captain abandons the world of tomorrow and heads East in Casshern, a daft adaptation of an obscure 70s Japanese anime series that bears an uncanny resemblance to Jude Law's retro-future CGI adventure. Sadly, virtual visuals, monster robots and a daffy pacifist message can't disguise the lack of grey matter employed in the ideas department, as genetically engineered warriors fight a Power Rangers-style superhero (Yusuke Iseya). It feels like an unruly videogame - if only they supplied a joystick.
Sometime in the late 21st century, the planet has been ravaged by a nuclear war that's left humanity on the verge of extinction. Into the breach steps geneticist Azuama (Akira Terao) who's pioneering a new treatment to rejuvenate the world's population. But when his laboratory is struck by lightning (what are the chances?), a breed of power-hungry "neo-sapiens" are spawned. Conveniently, Azuama's dead son Tetsuya (Iseya) is brought back to life in the accident, fitted with a suit of bio-armour and sent after them...
"GIVES GEORGE ORWELL'S 1984 THE HEEBIE-JEEBIES"
Trainspotting genre fans will definitely get a kick out of this grandiose epic's magpie mix of influences, including mechwarrior robots, a villain (Toshiaki Karasawa) who looks like a reject from the Devil May Cry videogame series, and a dystopian fascist future that would even give George Orwell's 1984 the heebie-jeebies. The script itself is equally all over the place - though with rather less impressive results. Changing gears between operatic and melodramatic, Casshern quickly collapses under the weight of its everything-and-the-kitchen-sink mentality. Disappointingly, it's just not the sum of its multiple parts.
In Japanese with English subtitles.
Casshern (2005)
