Review of Redline
Sometimes, you just want to watch some turn-off your brain fun. When plot isn't the main focus and it's just there to be the driving force for all of the cool action set pieces. And there isn't wrong with that provided that there is some actual talent behind the project. Redline is a good example of people with talent actually knowing how to put together a project. Released in 2009 at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival before being theatrically released in 2010, Redline has quite the history, taking several years to develop. A short 4 episode OVA was released way back in 2003 and wassupposed to be released alongside Redline to promote is, but things clearly didn't go as planned. But in the end, Redline eventually got released, and the end product ends up reflecting the effort and time put into it. Redline is Takeshi Koike's directorial debut and was produced by Madhouse.
The story centers around a race that is held every five years called Redline, and it's one of the universes most highly anticipated competitions. Despite all of the advanced technology, Redline us a land race, showing that even in the future, there is still a fanbase for old styles of racing. The only rule of this race is that you have to cross the finish line. Where the race is held is announced right before the race starts, and the latest race is being held on the planet Roboworld, home to trigger happy military who is insulted that the race is being held on their planet.
The focus of the film follows "Sweet" JP, and young and reckless driver, who looks like he could get on your nerves if it wasn't for the fact that the writers knew not to make him obnoxious and overly-in-your-face. JP drives in the universes most dangerous races for the fun of it. His partner, Joshua "Frisbiee" Flathead, joins him as his mechanic and business partner. There is also his potential love interest and fellow racer Sonoshe "Cherry Boy" McLaren. There are several other racers and they're all fantastically designed, with each having a unique design that stands out, including a giant robot that looks like he could tear you in half without effort and two racers from a planet that is 100% women with magical powers.
Redline's plot and all of it's characters are set up fairly quickly, but are done well enough that you know which characters and which just by looking at them. It does does have it's slower moments meant to have some breather moments between the action scenes, giving the characters some time to properly introduce themselves, the movie never really puts its focus on them, going for keeping up going for a good pace instead of character development.
On a technical level, Redline's animation and art is top notch and those several years of development are really shown off in this department, with every frame being hand-drawn instead of lazily re-using animation to cut corners, meaning that the animation is smooth and wonderful to look at, whether it be one of the slower paced scenes or if it's going 300 miles an hour. Like i mention earlier, the art style also stands out. Each character looks unique and you will never get them confused. Even staring into the scenes of the audience watching the high speed races, you will find unique and memorable character designs.
The movie also comes with a fantastic 42-track OST done by James Shimoji, and I'm pretty sure that most of the music never made it into the film. Which is a shame, because all of it's really good and worth listening to. I even have it on my phone to listen to when i go out to exercise. The English dub for it is also solid, so for fans of English dubs it's worth checking out.
Redline is definitely a fun time and a solid movie. With it's animation and sound, it's definitely worth finding a Blu-Ray copy just to experience it in the highest quality possible. Recommended.