Rating of
2.5/4
"Tekkon Kinkreet" by Amanda
symp4thedevil - wrote on 09/13/12
Tekkon Kinkreet is not on par with anything Hayao Miyazaki or Satoski Kon would envision. It is as dark, twisted and surreal as Satoski Kon's "Paprika" ...but only on its surface. The art style isnt as breathtaking as anything Hayao Miyazaki has created and doesnt celebrate Japanese culture. Rather, like its director, it is an American take on the style that is anime. Backgrounds in the film show realistic urban decay. Character design reminds me of Nickelodeon's "The Wild Thornberries." While nothing is new, it is enjoyable. It is essentially a mosh of several different greater films and art styles into something that just settles on being mediocre.
The story is heavily focused on elemental and spiritual opposites... a positive/negative element which is obvious when you are first introduced to the main characters: orphans named Black and White. It focuses on human decomposition and, in the manga, the detail paid attention to the enviornment was a mirror image to the characters represented. The manga combined these well. The story was very human and emotional. Here, in Arias's flick, the animation is his primary focus.
The film is filled with ridiculous dialogue that is full of cliches and goes on and on and on. I rolled my eyes at a few scenes and checked how far into the flick I was every once in awhile because I felt like I was watching the best Dreamworks has to offer and not the best Pixar does.
