duncan903 Reviews

12 Kilometers (2016)

A solid short, that would need some meat on its bones to make it to feature length

[7/10 · 26 July 2023]

(I know that's the point of a short, so maybe I'm being unduly critical.) 12 Kilometers is a solid short from Mike Peccis, with an intriguing marketing campaign surrounding the title. Beautifully shot, the half an hour story rattles along at a decent pace, only becoming overtly abstract in the latter third. This initial two thirds of the short is it strongest, with interesting characters and an intriguing mystery surrounding the mining operation and its staff. The latter third loses its way a little, providing an artistically styled finale, that, to me, lacked either a solid enough metaphor, or at least a clue as to the purpose of the "villain" of the piece. However, I do admit that some people prefer ambiguity surrounding pieces like this - to each their own. Sound design is at the fore, with an unsettling array of background noise, and shrill special effects. Visuals stray into the abstract in the last third as mentioned above, but up until that point are well shot, lit and constructed. The latter third relies too heavily on super close up shots of ferro magnetic liquid and microscope slides interspersed in its real world footage for my liking - let the actors show more of the story! I would love to see the short extended into a longer piece, but hope that the plot is suitably augmented to support the longer run time.

Kaidômaru (2001 Video)

Beautiful, but leaves you wanting a little more......

[8/10 · 28 July 2005]

The film, or more reasonably, a short (at under an hour), harks back to the times of feudal Japan and the mysticism that surrounded political and warring factions of the time. The story itself revolves around a child known as the Kai Doh Maru, a figure of importance to a few warring parties.A good mix of action and romance ensues. Those who like Ninja Scroll and other such "sword heavy" anime may feel disappointed but that might be missing the point of the film. The short is incredibly well drawn and animated and ranks, for me, with "Blood: The Last Vampire" and "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" in terms of digital animations and sharpness. It would come as no surprise that the production team behind all three of these creations is IG Production, who created the original Ghost in the Shell. Whilst being a creation of startling visuals, the plot may leave some wanting more, as some loose ends and "legend" aspects are left unexplained, and not in a way that would be easy to figure out either! Overall though, the film presents a beautiful, if slightly too mystical slice of anime, which showcases the talents of it animators incredibly well. 8/10