Apr 4, 2018
“Life’s overrated” – JP
“Redline’s overrated” – Me
Me : 1
Redline : 0
Oh, and yeah, this is a spoiler free review, not that it means anything because that would imply Redline has something to spoil.
Redline……. is an enigma.
Hailed as a masterpiece by some, it definitely is a deviant piece of work, I’ll give it that. Now, coming to the actual movie itself, it is a movie about …. about some cars in a race crashing into each other while vying for the top finish for …. eh, it really doesn’t matter. Because Redline is not the kind of movie you watch for the plot, and Redline is
...
aware of that. It doesn’t really expect anybody to watch it for the plot, instead relying on its visuals to seal the deal for it, and I’m pretty cool with that. Redline wasn’t meant to be a plot heavy show after all, it was supposed to be a beacon of inspiration for Studio Trigger.
Seriously, if somebody was to describe ‘over the top’ in the most ‘over the top’ fashion, they would have to but come up with a single word : Redline.
And is that a good thing, well, its debatable. You see, Redline is too flashy for its own good, there is only so much things flying into each other I can take without getting a headache. And not only with the visuals, but the actual storyline is a mess as well. And no, the storyline is not ‘just’ complicated, it is balls out stupid, unnecessary, and just there for the sake of it, I kid you not when I say it beats Your Name for the flimsiest storyline ever. But as I’ve already mentioned, Redline is not meant to be taken seriously, but that does not excuse it for its sorry ass excuse of a story.
Mafia subplot? Check
Fanservice? Check
Exxxxplosioons!!!! Check
Jiggle physics? Check
Mechas disguised as cars? Check
Authoritative regime? Check
Neeeed for speeeed? Check
“Friendship” and Betrayal? Check
Trippy Visuals? Check
Cohesive story line? Nah, who cares.
Its almost as if a bunch of animators were locked in a room with a bottle of liquor and some drugs and told to draw cars flying around and Voila! Redline.
Coming to the characters, none of them matter or stick out, except the main characters JP, his gal (she has little personality otherwise) and maybe his (sorta?) friend, Frisbee, who is only memorable because of his FANTASTIC English VA (yeah, I watched it dubbed).
Now coming to the part which Redline IS about, Visuals… Now, I am aware Redline is universally acclaimed for its animation, and the animation is good, but its nothing spectacular. I guess the art style doesn’t really appeal to me much.
Sound: This is one area where Redline knocks the ball out of the fucking park. This has to be one of the most impressive OSTs I have heard. The sounds got me hyped everytime, and although there wasn’t any tension in the anime, the sound created them when needed. All the English VAs were fantastic and top notch. It has an amazing dub and it fit well with the characters themselves.
Overall: It would be incorrect to say Redline is a ‘bad’ movie, because it is not. Most of the strengths of the movie, like the psychedelic visuals, just didn’t appeal to me, I guess. An incoherent storyline doesn’t help, I guess. I would also like to say that if you are interested in this movie then go ahead and give it a watch, because this is unlike anything you have (probably) seen, and this is an experience difficult to explain. Just don’t go in with high expectations, and I’m sure you will be delighted.
Enjoyment Level: Mildly Disappointed, but its okay as a whole I guess.
Oh, and I forgot to mention this is only my 8113rd review and English is my 427th language so please ignore all mistakes, grammatical or factual.
[spoiler]In case you didn’t get it, I’m kidding. Yes I know, my humour sucks, thank you.[/spoiler]
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
