X

Original Title: X
Romanized: X
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

Kamui, haunted by dreams of his mother, has returned to tokyo to protect Kotori just as he promised six years ago. Upon returning, he encounters a group of powerful warriors, two of them his enemies and the rest apparently allies. When Kotori is captured and her brother disappears, Kamui is taken by his new allies to meet a sage who informs him that only he, destined to be the 7th Dragon of Heaven, has the power to change the future she has seen--a future where Tokyo, and indeed all the world, is destroyed in a battle between the Dragons of Earth and Heaven. As foreordained destiny takes its hold, friend will fight against friend and sister against sister in the final, fated battle, with the fate of Kotori, Tokyo, and the Earth at stake.

Review

Rating: 3 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2005-12-05

X (the movie) is based on a long-running comic series (X/1999) by the famed female manga team CLAMP, and retells an abbreviated form of the story (the TV series, produced a few years later, is a more complete retelling). Having seen neither of the other incarnations myself, I really had no idea what to expect past CLAMP's reputation. Despite shoujo overtones and a plot focused on fate and tragedy, X is loaded with supernatural combat and I'd basically categorize it as a very dark, moody action movie of sorts. It's confusing and underdeveloped as a standalone movie, but it sure looks cool.

There is plenty of plot and characterization in X, but I can't say that I was particularly happy with either. From the perspective of someone unfamiliar with the comic, a lot of the tragic revelations have little impact, and I felt left out of the backstory. The movie opens with one of those cool scenes that gets you hooked even though you have no idea what's going on. It then proceeds to roughly explain the situation (straightforward "save the world though dramatic angst" stuff) and eventually thoroughly concludes it, but in the end I was left feeling that it was all a little pointless.

Perhaps lovers of tragic fate and broadly apocalyptic, nihilistic themes will find more to love. Similarly, those already familiar with the characters and background via the comic or TV series will probably find more meaning in everything that goes on. Being neither, I thought the story looked deep on the outside but was too loosely explained to actually have much substance.

The characters share a similar fate. The large cast is just barely introduced and rather confusing to those not already familiar with them. For all the seemingly meaningful stuff happening to them, I didn't know anybody well enough to care all that much. There's also little time for development--even the main characters get short-changed. For example, I was honestly confused about what was up with Kotori's brother past fate (or the plot) declaring that he must have a change of heart. In other cases, the explanations of characters' motives make more sense, but they either come too late or lack enough establishment to matter.

I'm not saying that X isn't worth watching. Quite the contrary, watching it is a blast--it's one fine looking film. X is loaded with cool surreal imagery like it's going out of style and style like it's... well, you get the picture. Of course, coming from CLAMP, I'm not exactly surprised that the movie is good looking or heavy on style--they demonstrated their mastery of that area with Tokyo Babylon, and X takes it a notch (or two) higher. I get the feeling that after finishing the comic series, somebody had an urge to see all the cool magic and fighting put into motion, so they just stuck as much of it as they could into the movie and pasted it together with a plot overview--that would explain a lot.

The basic character designs are an attractive, well differentiated, and reasonably original lot. They're also on the conservative end of the CLAMP spectrum, shoujo-light. The guys look like guys, the girls are essentially normal, and there are even some beefy, anime-standard stud-types. They do, however, feature CLAMP's trademark huge eyes (even by anime standards), angular features, and legs that would make Barbie Dolls jealous. The art is very nicely executed, with lots of detail, and the backgrounds are impressive--very realistic, detailed, dark, and generally eerie. Of particular note is the skill with which mundane places (a train station, a city street) are made to look creepy.

The action is something else entirely. On one end of the spectrum is plenty of subtle stuff--slow magical effects, surreal, disturbing dream sequences and the like. All of it is loaded with creative imagery and (when necessary) detailed art and impressively slick animation. On the opposite end is an abundance of fast-paced, immensely destructive action--cars torn to pieces, train wrecks, violent magic, and collapsing buildings galore--animated as well as anything I've seen. From assault magic (creative and stylish) to buildings leveled and cars tossed about with psychic force, this is a superpowered action fan's dream come true and it is artistically beautiful to boot.

In fact, the apocalyptic destruction is portrayed so realistically that it is surprisingly unnerving--you get a sense of just how powerful these people are. Animation of destruction so well done that it is both effective as visual art and exciting as action is rare at best. Akira obviously comes to mind in this department as the only other film in the same league I'm aware of. While X may not look quite that good, I'm fairly certain that people who couldn't get enough of the massively destructive action in Akira will want to see X, and people who don't usually go for that sort of thing but like attractive animation and cool imagery probably will as well.

On the topic of both surreal imagery and action, I want to mention that X is a very violent movie in more ways than one. You can tell from the first scene that there's going to be plenty of blood, and although that and much of the other graphic violence takes place in dream sequences, no punches are pulled. Definitely not one for the kids or people sensitive to gore. However, unlike many other gore-filled anime shows, the emotion behind the violence is powerful and effective, one of the few strong points of the characterization.

Rounding out the picture is the acting. I've only seen the Japanese version, which fits both distinctive and real voices to the variety of characters. As much drama as the movie contains, most of it is acted out by only a few capable players. Kamui is the standout--he has a lot of screaming and emoting to do, and it comes believably and not too shrill. The remainder of the large cast is up to par.

The music in X is disappointing--nearly non-existent, and it probably would have been better had there been none at all. The subtle atmospherics are fine, but there is a sax theme that pops up a couple of times that just doesn't sound right--neither dark enough for the mood, nor nearly grand enough for the scale of the story.

X is a decent movie for a select audience. Those fond of bluntly fate-driven tragedy or fans of the comics or TV version may find much to love, but for me, someone unfamiliar with the longer incarnations, the plot seemed simple, skimpy on backstory, and almost devoid of any point, and the crowded cast poorly introduced. X is, however, a downright beautiful movie, with enough dark settings, disturbing surreal imagery, and massively destructive action to satisfy just about anybody who enjoys that sort of thing, and even some who usually don't.

Related Recommendations

Stylistically, X has a lot in common with the related Tokyo Babylon (for dark, surreal imagery), Demon City Shinjuku (some of the same, plus Tokyo getting smashed up), and Poltergeist Report (much less dark and serious, but a similar story, similar scale and style of action, and Tokyo getting smashed up). It also has a lot in common with Akira (pretty, violent, apocalyptic, and, of course, Tokyo getting smashed up), although the feel is less gritty and the story quite a bit different.

US DVD Review

Manga's DVD features widescreen video, stereo audio tracks for in Japanese and English plus a Dolby 5.1 English track, an interview with the director, character bios, a photo gallery, and the theatrical trailer.

Content Guide

The graphic violence would be enough to keep most kids away, and younger viewers would probably find the overtones of the plot disturbing. Manga's 17-up suggestion is reasonable, if not a little strict.

Violence: 4 - It's very stylish, but the violence is graphic and there's plenty of it.

Nudity: 2 - A relatively short scene at the very beginning and some provocative outfits.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - A few suggestive moments.

Language: ? - I haven't seen any English translations yet, but should be mild unless somebody went overboard with the profanity.

Notes and Trivia

CLAMP is a very well known group of four shoujo (girls' comics) writers/authors. They have produced a number of very popular manga series (the 14 books of X/1999 among them, available in English from VIZ) as well a variety of anime (from Magic Knight Rayearth to Tokyo Babylon).

X was show theatrically in the US in limited release before hitting home video.

Availability

Available in the US on hybrid DVD from Manga Video. Was also available on subtitled and dubbed VHS.

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