FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

Science has taken an interesting turn. An experimental invention called the DC Mini allows people to go into other people’s dreams. Currently it’s only being used by trained professionals in the psychological field, and the public has not been made aware of the device, due to the potential harm it could cause. All of that’s about to change very rapidly. One of the DC Mini’s inventors has stolen the device and has turned it against the users. He knows of a loophole that allows the dreams to invade the awake causing severe dementia that could possibly lead to all kinds of problems or even death. Can he be stopped before the entire world gets trapped in a nightmare?

First off, before I get into the merits of the movie, I have to say that I’ve been waiting for an invention like this for years. I don’t really care about the letting other people enter my dreams part, just that it also records the dream and allows for playback. Who wouldn’t want that, really? So, showing that kind of technology in a movie instantly makes it better to me (even if it is only in the animated world).

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I can say that the opening scene is incredible. If you aren’t hooked after watching the surreal dream sequence, then you might as well just turn the movie off and keep praying for “Joe Dirt 2.” As if starting out in the circus isn’t potentially trippy enough, it then plunges into madness as the detective having the dream travels in and out of various genres and styles of movies before finally landing in front of the most recent unsolved crime he’s been investigating. The scene is a great example of awe-inspiring creativity. It’s extremely surreal and inventive and sets the absolute perfect tone for what you can expect for the rest of the picture (meaning anything).

So, how’s the animation, you ask. Well, I’ll tell you. It’s not much above average. I was really expecting a little more to go along with the fun and crazy story. You have some computer-made elements in there like the heat waves, some of the set pieces and backgrounds, and the magical website the detective can physically enter, all of which slightly detract from the overall experience. And despite how original the picture is, they tend to repeat a lot of sequences too often for my taste. You can only see the same inanimate objects parading down the street so many times before it looses its flavor. On the other hand, to combat the computer stuff and the repetition, there are subtle touches to some of the background elements like the tissue blown by the fan that will go unnoticed by most but show off the attention to detail director Satoshi Kon (“Tokyo Godfathers,” “Perfect Blue”) demands.

The faults this film has are few and hardly really detract from the quirky adventure. Fans of anime should quickly fall in love with this one, and anime series fans will love the poppy Japanese dance/techno theme song during the TV show-like opening credits. The character designs are varied, yet intermingle well. But the real star of the show is all the dream stuff. Sure it may get to be repetitious, but when it’s on, it’s on and eventually steamrolls into a nice climax.

respond to jon@filmbrats.com