The story's pretty basic. A race car driver is kidnapped by "Black Ghost", an evil, chaos-obsessed organization, with the intention of turning him into the ninth in a series of cybernetically enhanced super-henchmen. However, after a successful operation, things take an unexpected turn, as the cyborgs, together with the titular Cyborg 009 and lead by their creator Prof. Gilmore, decide to rebel. They all flee to an island to form their own, significantly less evil organization in an attempt to put an end to the horrible war that's being secretly prolonged by "Black Ghost".
First, the bad:
The animation didn't wow me. While the character designs are pretty stylish, giving everyone their own distinct, identifiable look, some shots can only be described as cheap, with merely a few actual frames of animation and bland backgrounds. There's one scene in particular, where the protagonist is being prepared for the operation, that looks more like part of the storyboard than a finished and polished movie scene. Other times, individual shots were heavily recycled to stretch out certain scenes, which again, made the visuals more sembling a television cartoon than an animated feature for the big screen.
There's also some overly silly slapstick humor involving the shape-shifting cyborg, which would already be pretty unremarkable and generic all by itself, but in context, it radically clashes with the much more serious tone of the rest of the movie. Although I have to admit, that scene where he transforms into a statue of a naked boy and then shoots laser beams out of his penis did make me smile.
Now, the good:
Truth is, none of my previous points of critique weigh much in the face of what the movie actually does do exceptionally well, namely the action. Whether it's a jet flying sideways to cut enemy planes in half with its wings, an underwater fight against a killer octopus, or a glorious battle between flying cyborgs and giant, missile-vomiting dinosaur robots, the director really knew how to create action scenes that were fast-paced and exciting without making them seem "overedited" or chaotic. It's all pretty creative, and watching the individual cyborgs make use of their respective special abilities was just plain fun all along the way.
In closing, if all you're looking for is an hour worth of engaging, mostly creative, animated action, and you don't mind a not-too-subtle anti-war theme, then by all means, check this one out. I certainly had fun with it.
First, the bad:
The animation didn't wow me. While the character designs are pretty stylish, giving everyone their own distinct, identifiable look, some shots can only be described as cheap, with merely a few actual frames of animation and bland backgrounds. There's one scene in particular, where the protagonist is being prepared for the operation, that looks more like part of the storyboard than a finished and polished movie scene. Other times, individual shots were heavily recycled to stretch out certain scenes, which again, made the visuals more sembling a television cartoon than an animated feature for the big screen.
There's also some overly silly slapstick humor involving the shape-shifting cyborg, which would already be pretty unremarkable and generic all by itself, but in context, it radically clashes with the much more serious tone of the rest of the movie. Although I have to admit, that scene where he transforms into a statue of a naked boy and then shoots laser beams out of his penis did make me smile.
Now, the good:
Truth is, none of my previous points of critique weigh much in the face of what the movie actually does do exceptionally well, namely the action. Whether it's a jet flying sideways to cut enemy planes in half with its wings, an underwater fight against a killer octopus, or a glorious battle between flying cyborgs and giant, missile-vomiting dinosaur robots, the director really knew how to create action scenes that were fast-paced and exciting without making them seem "overedited" or chaotic. It's all pretty creative, and watching the individual cyborgs make use of their respective special abilities was just plain fun all along the way.
In closing, if all you're looking for is an hour worth of engaging, mostly creative, animated action, and you don't mind a not-too-subtle anti-war theme, then by all means, check this one out. I certainly had fun with it.