When the Wachowski brothers made The Animatrix, it was one of those great East meets West creative events that produced a brilliant series of classic anime shorts. Each had the unique flavor of the individual anime director blended beautifully with the Matrix universe that the brothers had created. One of those anime gurus, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who worked on two of the eight shorts, is best known for his works Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D. On June 5th, Kawajiri will be introducing to U.S. audiences another brilliant East/West collaboration, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance.
I haven’t seen the Highlander movies or TV series here in the States, but I have seen Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D, and was scared to watch this anime Highlander. From other experiences with Kawajiri’s work, I mentally braced myself for the amount of violence in the film. The 18 and over rating on it doesn’t help to ease the trepid soul. Ninja Scroll in particular was one of the most violent films I have seen. It could even surpass Sin City in violent and gut-turning content. They’re great movies that are artistic splendors to behold, and are among my favorites, but I’m not keen on re-watching them due to their horrific content.
Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, of course, was no Pokemon movie for little kids, but it wasn’t as crazy as Ninja Scroll. Since the premise of the original Highlander cult hit in 1986 was that there are immortals in the world that seek to kill each other through beheading, a lot of heads roll and a lot of blood spills. The story, however, was very well done. In this corner of the Highlander universe, Colin MacLeod is an immortal that is, as the title makes clear, in search of revenge. In the true spirit of the American series, his revenge is a 2,000 year journey through the rise and fall of many human civilizations all throughout the world.
The current story is set a century in the future from our time, and human civilization has broken abjectly into small city states all around the globe. This animated feature made me laugh with its wit, gasp during its action, and reflect in its main character’s internal development.
It’s definitely worth a watch and even a re-watch — just make sure no kids are in the room when you do.
Highlander — Anime Style!
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