I need a map to find out where the hell to start with contemplating this masterpiece. And by needing a map, I mean it pretty contextually, because by god this is a very convoluted movie.
I didn't exactly grew up with this show. I had watched an OVA of Devilman a looong while ago. I fell in love with it growing up. Then Cyborg 009 vs Devilman popped up on Netflix. Now, I wanted to give it a go, but I wanted to know about Cyborg 009's origins before I watched those OVAS. I'm saying all of this because while I didn't grow up with it, I still visited ALL of it. Their debut OVA in the 60's. Both colored tv shows from the '79 and '01. Then I watched this movie. So I do understand exactly how drastically they escalated the whole plot.
Story
I do understand, that the series never had a grimey atmosphere. I mean, it was an actual kids show at first. But this is a reenvision of these characters' universe and a close-up of the insane spike in the proportions of the calamities taking place.
With that being said, there's many moments where while there were many VERY interesting concepts being presented about our instinctive preservation of mental sanity through religious constructs, and a very heightened climax, many philosophies kept dragging on. Again, I am fascinated by the development, especially the cyborgs not being able to trust each other, but their "hypothesizing/getting nowhere" scenes are.
-----> 9/10
Characters
The characters were absolutely fantastic. It is extremely hard to make a movie where you have to make 9 main characters likeable. Sure, much of it was prioritized to Joe, Jet, and Francois. But every character has AT LEAST one or more scenes where they just absolutely kick ass...
Except for Pyunma. Man... That's just... Not cool.
------> 8/10 Only because Pyunma
Sound
The score is ear-throbbingly gorgeous. They reaally know how to make a scene look as downright badass as possible. Sounds effects were also a thing of notice, with the Accelerator slo mo, as well as Ivan talking
----->10/10
Art
To save you the trouble, if you're an absolute anti-fan of 3D anime... TRY starting with this one. Even if you hate the plot. Even if you don't understand any of it. Look. At. This. Art. This is without a doubt, the absolute epitome of 3D anime. It feels so damn stylized, you could swear you're watching a 24 fps anime. Because it actually is a 24 fps anime. And then you try to analyze how they made 3d art look this amazing in 24 fps. Same CANNOT be said about Cyborg 009's latest show on Netflix, but that's another review for another day. Regardless, this is leagues above any other 3D anime to this day, period. Especially if you're into actual 3D animation like I am. I'm TELLING you. This flashy flick flows flawlessly.
$10,000/10
Overall
Give it a shot. Learn more about the characters. Star Wars started in Episode IV and no one needed a goddamned tutorial for it, smh.
------>9/10
...Because Pyunma...
