KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

siderite When people think of the destruction of Tokyo or other major Japanese cities, most of them think Godzilla, but there is a more thorough, more devastating way in which formerly rural Japanese towns turn into metropolises, annihilating old ways of life.I felt that this film, as Godzilla was at its time, was a metaphor for that destruction. This is not a cute little battle with mystical fluffy creatures like Pom Poko, but a fully R-rated brutal film, yet it somehow manages to send the same message as we see alien-like corporate interests destroying the way of life of a city, in such a way that makes toy factories appear as the most evil thing in the world and Yakuza gangsters as the heroes of the story.The animation is weird, but also really well done. The film doesn't waste time trying to convince you of the reality of what happens and the animation style itself tells you from the start that you need to look at the symbolism of the film, not at the gravity defying acrobatics of street children or for the explanation why some hired killers can fly and are apparently unbeatable.I liked it and felt saddened by it. It is not a happy movie, but far from other vein cut inducing Japanese productions. It is always sad when you know the outcome of a war, but you can't stop rooting for the side you know is going to lose.

jephiachantharath This movie was introduced to me when I saw Paprika a while back,it was one of the previews before the movie. I thought it looked imaginative and interesting, but when I watched it I was somewhat disappointed. I still find it enjoyable, but it's completely different from what I thought it was about. So apparently it's about these two orphans named Black and White, who make up a gang called the cats who run the city of treasure island. With that I thought it was unconvincing that just two kids could be so dangerous, but when we get into the jumping scenes it's not all completely unbelievable, and it happens right away so that's good. Another thing to note is the animation style, it's definitely different from most anime's I've seen, luckily it's not the detriment to the film in anyway, and if anything it adds to it. The themes that this movie tries to convey is what irritates me, for them being so bluntly obvious. The characters names: Black and white, seriously? Your going to the basics of thematic righting? Black being the absence of emotions the chaos if you will, and white the purity the innocence. Even later when Black has a yin-yang on his shirt, they couldn't have made it so blatantly obvious what they're trying to say: that one can't exist without the other. I guess this wouldn't be as bad if I felt for these kids, but they're aren't that interesting. I mean white acts like a special child; which suppose to mean he sees good within the rubble, and Black is so depressing and pathetic. There are moments where I do like them, for instances when they play around and fight those other kids in the beginning of the film, they looked happy and I felt that. The supporting cast is not all that great either, there's a yakuza member who has no real point to having a story arc; although the scene with his boss is really good, which by the way the mob boss is one of the few characters I liked. The cops: pointless, the old man: why? That purple guy named snake: well he was essentially to the plot and his minions were cool in action. Finally the scene with the demon black is really pretentious, I mean it an evil inside him; hasn't that become a cliché long before this movie? Talking to Black about how he'd be so much better without white, and I already know how's this is going to end so it's watch watching at this point, and then it finally ends somehow with the two at the beach like White always wanted. So overall, this is an average anime film, but a not so great film in general. Please note I wanted to like this film; and I do to an extent, but the overall obvious thematic elements and lack of interesting characters makes this not anything special.

Andy Steel A very interesting style to the animation; quite simplistic in a way, some of the cityscapes reminded me a little of the work of the artist L. S. Lowry. Still, great to look at and also quite a complex plot; maybe complex is the wrong word here, let's say I found it quite complex but that may be because I was following it via the subtitles (never all that easy with a very wordy script). Performance-wise, I know it's quite hard to tell in a foreign language, but I'll give honourable mentions to the voice talents of; Kazunari Ninomiya as Kuro / Itachi, Yû Aoi as Shiro, Yûsuke Iseya as Kimura, Kankurô Kudô as Sawada and Min Tanaka as Suzuki.Having read a few reviews I've noticed that several reviewers struggled to get into this one. I had no problem, although I did find some of the plot a little too far-fetched. Yes, it's obviously set in a different world to our own but its roots seem very grounded here; the 'flying men' were (maybe) a step too far (for me). Having said that, I still found it quite satisfying and highly enjoyable! Certainly one I would watch again at some point; if just for the fantastic 'minator' sequence.SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDED.My Score 7.3/10IMDb Score: 7.5/10 (based on 4,507 votes at the time of going to press).MetaScore: 65/100: (Based on 9 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 72/100 (based on 18 reviews counted at the time of going to press).Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 32/100 'Want To See' (based on 7,335 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

Joseph Sylvers Hyperknetic animation helps along a sometimes too sprawling narrative of homeless street kids White and Black who leap from building to building in the neon streets of Treasure Town.Treasure Town looks like an abandoned psychedelic amusement park that's been over run with urban sprawl (which is pretty much the center theme of the film, the lose of balance, lose of innocence, illustrated through the symbolically named White and Black). Actually almost all of the characters have names reflecting some kind of duality, "Choco" and "Vanilla", "Dusk" and "Dawn" etc.Black is the muscle, somber and always ready to fight to defend "his town" While White is the more innocent, slightly brain damaged younger of the two who can't dress himself but can leap from the backs of moving cars, like la parkour runners bitten by radioactive spiders. "Chinese Monkeys can ride clouds" White states at the beginning of the film, referencing certain aspects of China's mythic "Journey To The West", before they begin their matrix leaps/gliding across the city. The first ten minutes of which, are the best moments in the movie(and no it is never explained how they can fly, leap, fight as they do, so much so it's easy to forget how vulnerable as children they are, which is used to get effect).The trouble comes when there's too many Yakuza characters given too much back story, too much over inflated psychodrama with Black attempting to rid himself of his solitary monster like Minetaur persona (this time a Greek myth of the bull monster locked in the labyrinth), and not enough explanation of who the mysterious villain was, who were his henchmen refereed to as both "killing machines" and "aliens" more than once, and what if any connection did he have to re-developing the town, killing the kids, his mission from God, and the mysterious organization who lent him the monsters? That being said, I was emotionally absorbed into the film enough by that point, and satisfied with the unique fluidity and vividness of the color palettes, to ignore the weaker points of plot, til the movie was over. Enjoyable and unique anime, but like so many it reaches for seriousness, when whimsy would be a better fit.