What if the reconstruction of Japan after World War II had resulted in heavy guerilla warfare against the Japanese government by factions of its own people, upset with the political state of things?

Mamoru Oshii's (Ghost in the Shell: The Movie, character designs) Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade explores this alternate reality, a Japan rife with turmoil with streets stained with the blood of extremely violent riots between domestic terrorists, the police forces and a special organization within the government designed specifically for dealing with the terrorist threat. They wear heavy black armor, sport red, glowing night vision goggles and carry very heavy weaponry with power close to a Vulcan cannon.

They're referred to as the Capitol Police Organization (CAPO) and they're an unstoppable force in combat. But combat is not what's attempting to destroy the CAPO. It's something much more sinister than rioters or even the terrorist organizations. Despite the fact that they work for the same government, the CAPO and the local police forces don't get along. And soon, there's a twisted power play between the two in efforts to undermine each other. And between them sits the legend of the Wolf Brigade, an elite force within the CAPO dedicated to counterintelligence. And in this whirlwind of political warfare is a lone, conflicted man named Kazuki Fuse, a member of CAPO under investigation for failing to shoot a young terrorist girl before she set off a bomb.

It's a twisted story and hard to understand. But it's a satisfying one. For a movie with the amount of violence in it, it moves at an unnervingly slow pace, focusing more on its deep, twisting turning plot and the characters than on showing off violent animation. The dialogue and plot are very well written, with long-reaching metaphorical and allegorical references to the Brother's Grimm's Little Red Riding Hood (an allegorical story in itself). It's an interesting study and a look into humanity and its beast within. "A wolf who wears sheep's clothing... is still a wolf."

The script and dialogue as well as the voice actors were put together by Viz Communications, publishers of many Japanese comics here in the States and several other translated anime series and movies. I haven't been a big fan of Viz' work till now, but the voice acting and translated script (dubbed over the original Japanese) was actually pretty impressive. They minimized the usual odd cadence of voice actors trying to match the lip movements of characters speaking a different language, an attribute that has often led to sadly inadequate English dubbings. Jin-Roh hardly suffered from that problem at all, with experienced voice actors that displayed appropriate emotion and substance.

The characters are all very deep with realistic three dimensional personalities that show through both the animation, the voice actors and the dialogue. It's a somber world and the characters reflect that, each one having their own agendas. It's a deep, complex plot with appropriately deep and complex characters, and dispite Fuse's odd apathy, you feel for him and understand that beneath the surface of apathy is something that has yet to be unlocked.

All these elements are tied together with a haunting soundtrack, remeniscent of Oshii's Ghost in the Shell movie, released a few years ago. The sound track definitely lends a creepy air to the whole thing as this odd political sci-fi thriller takes you through a very steadily paced journey into a downward spiral of cold, harsh reality.

It's definitely not a happy story, but it's one worth watching to see what animation can do. It's not just a silly medium for kids to watch on Saturday morning. It can be something truly moving and meaningful and it's actually one of the best movies I've seen this summer.

That's not saying much, of course.

Not much at all.
I'd rather spend $7.50 on this movie over American Sweethearts any day.




Recommended:
Yes

Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older