Synopsis: The animals at a farm rise up against their oppressive master, only to see their ideal of a collectively-run farm slowly crumble.

Well, this is the second time that I’ve seen Animal Farm, and I definitely liked it a bit better this time around. I still don’t think it’s a classic on the same level of some of the movies I’ve already watched for this blog, but certainly, it is a good film. The first time I watched it, I had just read George Orwell’s classic book, and some of the liberties that Halas and Bachelor took with their adaptation kind of irked me (most notably, the choice to make most of the animals mute, and the tacked-on happy ending). It’s been a few years since I’ve read the book, and now that it’s not particularly fresh in my mind, I was able to appreciate the film on its own merits.

It was actually kind of interesting to watch this so soon after 1900, which had a pretty strong pro-communist message. Obviously, Animal Farm is pretty much the opposite, as it’s well known to be an anti-communist allegory (and in fact, rumour has it that the film was partially funded by the CIA to act as a piece of anti-communist propaganda).

Just speaking as a fan of classic animation, you have to appreciate this movie just based on the visuals alone. The fluid, stylish animation is right up there with the best stuff of the era, and an iffy DVD transfer notwithstanding, this is a must-see for anyone who has any kind of interest in animated film. As for the story, it’s fairly compelling, if not quite on par with the book. The movie does a good job of making us care about the animals, and it’s hard not to get wrapped up in their plight, especially towards the end of the film when things start to really go sour for the embattled denizens of the farm.

The movie certainly has its flaws, but I can’t deny that it’s worth watching.

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Synopsis: Neo-Tokyo, 2019 — a government agency experiments with giving children psionic powers, with potentially deadly results.

I’ve actually been meaning to revisit this movie for a while. I originally watched Akira a few years back — it was one of the first animated films from Japan (more concisely known as anime) that I ever saw, and it really solidified my admiration for anime, and also (if I’m remembering this right) helped to reignite my interest in animation in general. So obviously, my memory of this film is that it was really, really good. But did it hold up?

Yes. Yes it did. I’m a sucker for films that present a dark, dystopian take on a future society (stuff like Blade Runner and Brazil) and this is one of the best. The film’s vision of Neo-Tokyo in 2019 is always visually stunning. And in fact, this whole movie is a definite visual treat — from the haunting opening moments of Tokyo being decimated in a nuclear blast, to the bizarre, somewhat baffling but still-awesome conclusion, this is a movie that always looks really good. The animation is top notch (plus, it’s kind of refreshing to watch old-school traditional animation with very little computer assistance) as is the visual design of the film.

Of course, there’s the narrative, which is condensed from the 2000+ page comic (which I have not read). It starts out simply enough, with the shenanigans between two rival motorcycle gangs, though as it goes on it becomes somewhat more complex, leading up to a conclusion that probably raises as many questions as it answers. I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing, though. Did I understand everything about that ending? No. Did I enjoy it? Definitely. As I said in my post for 2001, I think there’s something to be said for an ending that leaves some things ambiguous and invites debate.

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