Movie Monday: Bicentennial Man

This week for Movie Monday I’m covering a movie I was taken to by my dad when I was much younger. It’s Bicentennial Man!

Plot Synopsis: The NDR series robot “Andrew” is introduced in 2005 into the Martin family home to perform housekeeping and maintenance duties…..

Plot: The plot was way over my head as a kid. I think I mostly enjoyed Robin Williams portraying Andrew. That being said it was an interesting movie and it’s story has always stuck with me throughout the years, and definitely impacted more than a few choices when I was playing games like Mass Effect or reading books like Otherlife Dreams. That said the script was pretty bad, and handled incredibly poorly.

Casting: Robin Williams plays Andrew and he does a good job, but unfortunately the script of the movie itself makes his performance one of the only bright points in the film. The rest of the cast is okay, but again the script overshadows their performances.

Special Effects: Okay, especially when you consider that Robin Williams actually wore a robot suit to portray Andrew. It was nominated for multiple awards for the special effects, but none of were winning nominations.

Music: I don’t remember the musical background of the movie at all, I was pretty young when I watched the movie.

Overall: Not a must watch by any stretch, this is probably one of Robin Williams poorer performances.

For those who like: Sci-Fi, Romance, Drama, Comedy, Robin Williams.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Sensate Saturday: Hitogatana by Onigunsou

This week for Sensate Saturday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Hitogatana by Onigunsou!

Plot Synopsis: Crimes commited using manned combat-androids dubbed “Katana” run rampant. In an effort to maintain order, the government has organized the AKCD – “Anti Katana Crime Division.” Togusa of the 8th squad of the AKCD, continually casts himself into battle while holding existential doubts….

Plot: The plot of this first chapter was pretty interesting, and while I will be adding it to my huge backlog it’s not going to be high on the list. One thing I do want to note is that this first chapter had no massive amounts blood, but this is just the first chapter. There may very well be more later on in the series and given that it’s a Seinen series, that probability isn’t small.

Characters: Togusa is a pretty interesting male lead, but there is a bit too much mystery to his character for my tastes in this first chapter. While there are some curtains drawn back, there aren’t nearly enough to really grab my attention. Just a one or two more would’ve been great, but it just didn’t hit that sweet spot for plot hooks. Yachiyo his sister, I think it’s his sister at least, is a laid back and pretty carefree person for the most part. She is a drunk though.

Art: The art is pretty good, but it’s very much focused on characters and not at all on backgrounds, if there is any in any of the panels at all. So while the movement is great, the lack of backgrounds in most of the panels is a bit disappointing. That being said it was sort of refreshing to have little to no background in panels. Take that as you will.

Overall: Hitogatana is looking to be one of the dark brooding series that seems to be popular with older teens, but personally I found it to be more than a bit lacking in plot hooks. While I’ll be getting around to reading it, it won’t be any time soon.

For those who like: Sci-Fi, Action, Drama, Androids, Good Artwork.

Not for those don’t like: Any of the above.