We finally got to see the Mars Express. In short, I really liked it!
Mars Express
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(1) Mars Express is a fantastic animated film with a very noir drawing. Unusual, but at the same time pleasant to the eye. There is a dynamic here, but all these moments are smoothed out well by the smoothness of the drawing lines.
2) The plot is just incredibly good. In the spirit of Blade Runner, here technology is intertwined with dystopia, and the co-existence of humans and robots is at the forefront of problems. I won’t spoil anything so as not to spoil anything important, but there are references to literally everything classic, including the Turing test.
(3) I enjoyed both visually and mentally watching. Heroes: Alin and Carlos are well-registered, believe them. They are shown not as superheroes, but as vulnerable or devoid of dependencies, emotions and experiences.
(4) Stunningly painted futuristic, cyberpunk Mars with all its underground. And of course, there's a deep and emotional philosophy about the future, about cars, about our place in that future. Technology is not forgotten here: suborbital spaceflight, fully colonized Mars, robots and androids, living robots, mimicry and cyborgization.
(5) The end is just gorgeous. Emotionally complex, thought-provoking, but chic. All fans of science fiction and cyberpunk are highly recommended to watch. And I forgot about the atmospheric soundtrack, it's here too.
Whether I should have seen this movie is ambiguous, rather than not. On the one hand, there is nothing wrong with him, but on the other hand, he did not really catch much. It seems that everything is competently done, but on the other hand, it seems as if the thing is that they were made too standard. It looked easy, but with too little interest.
Mars Express is a niche noir where the future of humanity is so hopeless that even androids do not want to mess with us.
2200. Humanity does not stand still. After Adam and Eve’s heirs colonized nearby and distant galaxies and Earth began to die, the center of civilization moved to Mars. There live mixed people, their digital copies and the entire market line of robots, which are successfully used in prostitution, police or, say, cleaning.
All the laws of neoclassical noir work in this world. Tired people after work sit alone at the bar counter and drink another 40-degree. Resettlement did not solve all the problems of civilization. People are still spoiled by the housing issue, the police miss out on bandits, and somewhere up there is space, dreams of which still do not let you sleep. There is also femme fatale, blonde Alin fights with alcohol addiction in the evenings, chasing criminals at night with her partner Carlos.
This French animation is some rearrangement of the terms in the equation with two classic examples of android sai-fi. The entire secondaryity of Mars Express depends on how closely you watched Blade Runner and played with Cyberpunk 2077. If you delve deeper, you can see the legacy of Asimov (where without him in this genre), and the kitschyness of Robocop, and even endless science fiction anime.
Having overcome the annoying obsession that we have already seen it somewhere, you can immerse yourself in the detailed and amazing world of the future. That's the forecast. Mars Express is a rare cartoon where you grumble for too short a time. Click on the pause and study the background, reflect on the next reference and just enjoy the aesthetics of the frame - the basic aggregate state of the viewer during viewing.
The main story of the film does not for a moment pretend to be something fabulous. In fact, we see an endless routine and the illusion of everyday happiness. Criminals are caught for other criminals. The world is ruled by greed and excitement. And the conveyor of good will still someday break, bringing civilization to the next doomsday. Only the space above us never stops. The same starry sky, about which Kant drew for school textbooks.
“Mars Express” relies on a huge legacy, so all accusations of secondaryness become a blow to youth hobbies. Sometimes something impresses us so much that it is almost impossible to separate it from our personality. It seems that Jeremi Peren, the author of the cartoon, the idea arose at the intersection of children's discoveries and the acquisition of professional skills.
In the world of "Mars Express" want to be longer than an hour and a half. Perhaps it would look more holistic in the format of the series. All these nuances with renting out brains, oxygen domes over a desert planet, secret slums for the production of aircraft, the love of a digital copy of its human relics need urgent reflection. This is the type of melancholy but optimistic reflection that everyone experienced in childhood, looking at the stars.
As a result, Mars Express is another chilling debate about progress and its fruits. A technocratic voice crying in the desert. We may never know if androids dream of electric sheep. As a biological demiurge, it is much more important for us to understand whether androids dream of space.
Are they disappointed in their creator? Heh-heh, robots turned atheists. Or is it because they are idealists? But then we're deadlocked.
Mars Express is a philosophical popular science animation that will not leave you indifferent if you do not mind diving into the world of the near future, where robots and people build their reality hand in hand. I really like sci-fi and I did not miss the opportunity to get acquainted with the work of French screenwriter Jérémie Peréne “Mars Express”.
The world of the 21st century is saturated with technology, artificial intelligence is rapidly being introduced into our lives, technological progress is indomitably moving forward and bringing us, people, to new boundaries of reality. You start thinking about the future of our civilization.
It seems that quite a few sci-fi stories are being created now, maybe people are just afraid to look into the future. As for me, “Mars Express” is a genius thing, I am sure that the picture will become a cult on par with “Ghost in the Shell” and “Blade Runner”.
The cartoon keeps in suspense due to the dynamics and the painted colorful world, the futuristic picture is remembered just in detail, everything is very thoughtful. With all the trickiness and saturation of the plot, it is not difficult to catch the meaning, there is no oversaturation of information, everything is concise and measured. I will certainly come back to this picture, because any good film needs to be revisited, there will always be something that you missed when you first watched, moreover, when it comes to a philosophical parable.
It is clearly shown that there are robots-androids capable of experiencing human feelings, and people who in the plots are ready to kill their own kind when it comes to survival. For humans, human life is less important than for robots.
I also want to note that the real evil is not artificial intelligence, not technological progress as such, together with transhumanism, but the true evil and destroyer of that very “humanity” is capitalism and the modern charter of civilization. The true evil is the human essence.
There is plenty of food for thought after watching. Such questions have arisen for me: what makes a man a man, where a man ends and something non-human begins; whether people will be able to accept those who are too well created in their image and likeness. What if any good work is fundamentally incomplete in its structure to give the viewer an opportunity to delve into the self?
The classic fiction that we love since childhood, with human robots and inhuman phlegmatic people, with the ghost of consciousness enclosed in "mechanical armor", which constantly raises the question "Am I alive?" "Am I conscious?" or is it all simply determined by the program code? . Brilliant animation, action, fighting scenes, directing, environment design.. The work easily becomes on the same shelf with “Solaris”, “The Kingdom of scavengers”, “Psychopassport”, “Ghost in the Shell” and “Cyberpunks” (running on the blade and running on the edge). Very impressive, but God forbid to begin to analyze - immediately come up with "where what is taken from". Because the project is independent and wonderful, the only thing that can spoil it is your own discretion. Advice from a culturologist: this is not plagiarism, but references and honorable mentions.
Uncomplicated but insanely colorful cyberpunk detective
Mars Express is the breath of air I need in modern cinema. Cyberpunk always feels bright and unfolded, it charges visually and in terms of storytelling. The film follows private detectives Alin and Carlos. They investigate the case of a missing student who wrote the code that gave the robot freedom of decision. Of course, not everything is so simple and as the action progresses, frightening facts of a different nature emerge. As a plot story is directly characteristic cyberpunk detective. Literally a classic of the genre, in which there are selfish desires of corporations and authorities, filled the world of black people, poverty, because of which people have to earn in dubious ways, technological diversity and questions like “are robots and other artificial forms of the same attitude as people?”
Jeremiah Peren, the director and writer of the film, just blew me away. And not just unexpected camera movements and plans. Peren and the team managed to reveal another important and mandatory genre feature of cyberpunk – fullness. In general, the dystopian technological future is a space in which you can roam so widely and create something unimaginably impressive. In many such projects, the contribution of the creators is always visible. Cyberpunk is either interesting or not. And if the authors scored on the development of the world, if the project does not have local life and voluminous surrounding reality, then there is no soul.
The world of the Mars Express is unique. And, well, how not to catch ecstasy, when the guys so thought out the world and its little things. Sobriety mode, in which absolutely all bottles of alcohol for you put a blocker and you will not be able to drink a drop until you cancel the regime. Zoom conferences or calls in the brain, where you can throw files, communicate with other people and still not be distracted from the action. The topic of implants, thanks to which this works, is generally incredibly relevant both now and in the world of dystopian technologies. Well, you remember Cyberpunk 2077. What a diverse mess can be arranged there with the help of cyber implants.
Games, movies, anime in this genre with each project bring a lot of new things. Just imagine how extensive this topic is, since you can walk around in it so much and, no matter how many projects you come up with, come up with something of your own. Peren has a lot of interesting things: from sex robots, organic intelligence (to replace artificial intelligence) to an amazing car safety system in case of accidents - an analogue of an airbag. Nothing seems superfluous, pretentious or inappropriate. On the contrary, the film is successfully colorful and entourageous. Achae and Awash from every little thing and joke that might be very convenient, if it exists in the real world.
8 out of 10
Very stylish film. Similar to "I'm a Robot" - but less pop, as well as "Ghost in the Shell" (Japanese original) and "Hermitage" but less dynamic, which is not bad. It's a little short of a masterpiece.
The first acquaintance with French animation passed ... unexpectedly.
You know, there is everything and even more - detectives and hackers, powerful corporations and conspiracies, interplanetary travel and robots of the ancient profession (and indeed any professions and appearance), bionics of strange forms, whatever it is, a family scandal like "ex-spouses, a common child and a new spouse"... but, I answer, nothing will prepare you for how this animation will end.
However, in the process, I had the feeling that I did not catch something. It was as if at times they were showing something that (perhaps) would be important, but in the end, even if so, I was left to sort it out myself without saying in any way what it was. It’s like there’s a lot of storylines, and not everyone has not just a denouement, but more than scraps of hints. Perhaps this is done to make the viewer think, look a second time, paying attention to the details. Only now I will not watch a second time, because in my picture of the world it does not matter so much what happened in Novograd 5 years ago or whether the blonde with the photo of Aline Ruby or some other blonde. The only thing I am interested in is why someone after death can be turned into a holographic head, and someone not.
The drawing is strange, but you get used to it pretty quickly. But getting used to doesn't mean like. And, judging by a few more trailers from another French animation, it might just be such a school of drawing. Well, at least it stands out from the others, and everything else is taste.
I will not seem to fill this anime, that is, the plot and graphic features, but describe my general subjective impressions of the Mars Express.
Overall, not bad, but it could have been better. Yes, there is a dynamism of the development of the story and a detective mystery, who is the main villain and why he needed, say, so cruelly pursue the main characters. But it is worth noting the slightly blurred ending of the story.
He is incomprehensible after revealing a couple of layers of detective mysteries, and I want to exclaim: What, that's it?? It's kind of simple. Is it happy-end? Not really, and quite logical.
But he leaves a taste of understatement, they say, dear viewer, solve the main solution himself, think out the possible consequences, and make a certain conclusion from what he saw.
Does watching this anime make you think? I didn’t make it, because all the problems of the possible cyber future mentioned in this anime have already been shown in a bunch of good anime and movies.
The creators of “Mars Express” somehow chewed everything too much for the viewer, and came to a slightly predictable ending.
Of course, it has a lot of borrowings from classic cyber works, such as Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, perhaps also from Armitage and Predatory Dolls, as well as Asimov’s laws of robotics. But they are well reworked and built into the detective still life of this anime film.
The manner of drawing scenes, heroes of locations and techniques is definitely from French artists, it is difficult not to notice.
It would seem that everything is in place and all is well for an interesting story in the cyberpunk world of Mars of the future, but something is missed by the writers of Mars Express. And this little missing detail distinguishes a masterpiece from a good craft.
But to watch "Mars Express" is worth it, especially for beginners inexperienced viewers, if only for the sake of references to good works.
Very beautifully made, but empty both conceptually and ideologically history
The picture is a collection of both graphic and ideological borrowings from various well-known and not very fiction. Those who worked on the graphics component undoubtedly understood what they are doing and they managed to create a really bright, original and living world, which is conceptually very similar to the world of the tape “The First Player will prepare”, only with the difference that here all the references are harmoniously integrated into the common canvas and finding Easter eggs is a pleasant addition, not the basis.
At the script level, unfortunately, everything is very bad here.
Fiction can be based on any concept, but these concepts must have, perhaps infinitely far from reality, but their cause and effect relationships and logic.
Here in terms of the basic concept of robotics and digital intelligence laid unclear what. Options of the concept globally not so much and basic need to choose one thing, for example:
1) Computer intelligence is itself, and human consciousness is tied to an organic brain that can be physically carried but cannot be copied.
2) Human consciousness can be transferred, but transference implies something more than information, for example, a “soul”, or a cast works on the principle of a black box that is carried in one piece and cannot be copied.
(3) Copying consciousness is possible, but then the copies are equivalent, because of which the value of the individual disappears.
The creators immediately decided everything. There are large stationary artificial intelligences (AI), and human-like platforms with their own AI, and it is allowed to create clones of human consciousness transferred to digital media in cybernetic bodies, which are kind of full-fledged personalities with free will, but at the same time have software limitations similar to AI (can not harm people) and download the same updates as AI. Such a hodgepodge creates internal paradoxes that do not allow to bring together at least any causal relationships.
But problems with internal logic are half the trouble, the structure of the story is also extremely incomprehensible.
Globally, all stories can be divided into 2 types - either the action of the plot directly affects the inner world of the work, or affects somehow cunningly, leading to very not obvious, but still results.
It immediately turns out that all the fuss at all globally does not affect anything. It is as if in a conditional twisted detective, the protagonist came out on the trail of a mysterious gang, the whole plot collected bit by bit information that more and more hinted at something epic, but when it becomes clear that now there will be a robbery, this very robbery successfully occurs and the robbers are removed in the sunset!
Emotions after this - What? How? Why?! Why?! What was that?! What is the meaning of history?!
As a result of the discrepancy, really qualitative visual, extremely strange content, the tape leaves an extremely strange aftertaste. On the one hand, it is really interesting to watch because the world turned out to be very beautiful, original and rich in details, but on the other hand, the story has no internal logic and ends so that when you try to formulate “what it was” – the answer is silence.
7 out of 10
Robocalyptic Pantheon? I, you, he, she, we are all space bots.
In 2200, Aline Ruby, a private investigator, and Carlos Rivera, an android copy of her partner who died five years earlier, travel to Earth to catch Roberta Williams, a criminal who hacked into robots. /Translation from the online encyclopedia/
And then the Martian Cyberpunk with robots, copies of people, urine of everyone and everything, some secrets. Things are moving fast and fast. No one regrets heroes. Usually I am free to watch movies and do something else, but it will not work out so easily here, because there is always something significant for the plot.
Otherwise, a slightly confused plot, a beautiful picture, a good voiceover. It's funny how French looks. We are galloping through Europe to introduce the whole world, with some people, the murders of these people, with detectives investigating all this. And everything seems interesting, but it's a little bit unclear. Yeah, just like the old Blade Runner plus I Robot, but this time the main character is a woman. And, it turns out, you need to review, dig somewhere to see something more.
In general, the film is like a seed. It feels like this is the first episode of the ten-part season. Where did the other 9 episodes get lost?
I am a fan of French drawing and animation and the genre of cyberpunk. It would seem like bingo, but no. Very murky story and ending. But, of course, the eye rejoices and time is spent with benefit. Very original designs of robots, buildings and machines.
The full-length directorial debut of the Frenchman Jérémie Perén is that at the present time millennials proudly call an example of high-quality post-cyberpunk and hang unnecessary labels that do not particularly affect the ideological content. Even if you are not familiar with the author, and the setting and animation are alien to you in principle, then the only reason to get acquainted with this work will be a majestic plaque ' Participant of the Venice Film Festival 2023' with a proud white twig in the oval on the opening credits. Yes, in the field of author's European cinema, a new copy, and it cannot but please all those who are tired of mainstream Hollywood, where the ball is run by 'Disney' and 'Pixar', then 'Dreamworks'.
Trying to avoid all the clichés of retrofuturistic noir and in every possible way replete with the form prevailing over the content, ' Mars Express' not that it repeats the plot and semantic tropes 'Detroit: Become Human' and not that it gives out the destruction of the genre 'cyberpunk' as such, but goes parallel somewhere in the row. Peren created his own, and sometimes even intimate world, where he independently tries to reflect on the verge of a foul: a dystopian world that has long become real and ordinary, and where people coexist with androids on the domestic and social levels, augment themselves, and after death make their own "iron copy" & #39; to continue to exist in this mortal world. What happens when you move in the rhythm of technological progress, colonize Mars, develop androids and AI, and then realize that the robots that we've created are a potential threat to humanity, as long as there's an option to hack them conditionally every second MIT student. Judgment Day will come sooner or later, but not as James Cameron bequeathed it to us. It will be less prosaic: an extra line of code in the update, and then the struggle for equality, coups, rallies and everything you could see in similar works before. Jeremiah does not attempt to argue about the self-awareness of AI and does not seek to raise religious and Nietzschean questions for the hundredth time in the spirit of ' Ghost in the Shell' a la, what it means to be human and what it means to live and feel. He gives out a completely sane and firmly downed acute-social, which is only covered by a sci-fi militant: the separation of society into their own and others, while with a positive view of the future.
Yes, as I wrote above, the form here is much richer and with a blanket pulled over itself than the semantic load. 'Mars Express' is a collection of different primary sources and ideas, an ode and curtsey towards mastodons - Dick, Gibson, Siro and Otomo. Here and there a scratch, but not making this post-modern portrait secondary. 2D animation, although minimalistic, but very cool ' in itself ' The lack of exposure immediately involves you in what is happening and does not spend time on explaining the functioning of the local action, so the main thing is to catch the right vaib and not get lost in all the detective vicissitudes that can easily confuse or completely confuse. Viewing in the original is not required, but ' cherche la fam' much more pleasant than duplicated domestic speech. What exactly needs to be done is to watch the cartoon on as large a screen as possible, since there are at least enough small details and elements here. We can safely pause every minute and consider all the diversity that animators and creators have prepared for us.
Acting work on the screen is normal. Operator work and editing match stories: a lot of smooth and functional spans of the camera, the absence of ragged and illogical transitions between scenes, a good tempo rhythm of the picture as a whole. ' Mars Express' overwhelmingly feels quite meditative movie, which sometimes tries to dilute short action scenes so that the layman does not get bored. Sound design and post-production ok.
'Mars Express' not so much about the future, so much about the events around us and outside our window, but within France and Europe in particular. Allegories and metaphors can be read without problems if you stop looking at what is happening through your fingers: social and class inequality, overgrown bourgeois and powerful, ready to throw all unwanted and uncontrollable away from their possessions, as well as a cornerstone, which is not a fact, but should work for you at least in part: each of us is still a cog in & #39; the system' or are we able at least sometimes ' comb against the wool ' and change this rotten world?
7 out of 10
French animation is very, very useful. What does the series The Last Man cost? A masterpiece of drama, action and black comedy. The plot is at a very high level. But the drawing is many times better, although it was shot eight years earlier.
More specifically, a lot of soap even in good quality, apparently this is part of the style, but it looks bad in some moments.
The animation is quite pleasant, emotions are easy to read, although sometimes it seems that they are often repeated.
What about the Mars Express in terms of plot? It’s old-fashioned — there are so many works about robots or AI that have become aware of themselves that you can’t count. You can remember the same movie I, works. The subjects are very similar. Here the idea is more subtle, and somehow more dramatic.
But that's where the problems begin. It's as if the authors wanted to bring more philosophy, more emotion, into this incomprehensible process where code becomes a person. Unfortunately, you had to draw at least two cartoons or make a series, because in this case everything looks too crumpled. It seems as if some ideas just did not have time to explain. The same goes for the characters, especially the main characters. Very little is said about them, I want to learn more about their past in order to empathize with them.
The world is revealed in general terms, again, because of an unoriginal idea, it is immediately clear what the problems of the world are, but there is not enough specifics, so many phrases of the characters sound ridiculous and out of place.
In general, we can say that the world is interesting in terms of visuals, but again, there were not enough locations. It's kind of set on Mars, a colony under the dome. It could just as well have been a desert on earth. There is nothing special about the look.
The sudden appearance of this cartoon in my info field gave rise to a spontaneous desire to watch it. The trailer left a very double impression: something dystopian, with robots and elements of a detective, but with a very strange graphics. It wasn't enough to create any expectations from watching, so in some ways I was immune to failure. The last such spontaneous viewing was associated with the Green Book, and he left very pleasant memories of himself. Did this movie do something like that?
Private detectives Aline Ruby and her partner android Carlos Riviera track down a hacker who created a code to remove all ethical restrictions from robots. The plot leads them through a local intricate story that grows into a large-scale conflict between robots and humans. The story is simple, but to tell it in a short sentence is difficult, because it is saturated with various events. By and large, the initial detective subtext holds the viewer’s attention well. Plus, there are relatively well-written dialogues. The story itself is built from some of the creators’ thoughts, which they clearly wanted to broadcast through the characters. However, despite this, history itself is a primitive. In addition, the narrative is ragged. But if Tarantino’s leaps between chapters are an element of style, then it gives the impression of losing the integrity of the story.
Gener. If you look at genre affiliation, then on different resources you can see the whole spectrum: cartoon, action movie, thriller, detective, science fiction film, noir. It’s like a restaurant that cooks everything at once. But I don’t know anyone who can handle everything well. This is exactly the same in the movie. Science fiction is based on a fictional world, which turned out to be real under certain conditions. In this cartoon, the viewer is thrown into a clichéd world with robots, which you already know from other projects, but he does not particularly seek to represent it. Why was Mars suitable for life? Why did you decide to colonize other planets when there was no problem of overpopulation? This is the exhibition that makes science fiction. Similarly, the film treats the detective, whom he forgets in the middle of the timekeeping, and the thriller, the alarming expectation of which I personally did not arise. Noir expresses itself in a complete despondency of dialogue, which looks like excessive dramatization. The only justified genre is an action movie, the action scene is made on a level. Such genre porridge, as for me, works quite poorly on the screen, but ...
It has to be a game. If in the format of the cartoon it looks ragged and mixed, then for the game it is a great plot canvas, which can be diluted with the gameplay itself. And in this format, both elements of the detective and elements of noir are genre additions to the diverse game world. I could easily imagine this story as part of the story of Cyberpunk 2077.
A large-scale conflict and outcome. To be honest, I still don’t understand where and why the resulting conflict between humans and robots. It was said about isolated cases of attacks, the plot revolved around the removal of ethical norms from robots. But in the end, they were either kicked off the planet, or they flew away, although the elimination program implied suggestion. The ending for me turned out to be very crumpled and crumpled, from where I was unable to isolate the main message.
Graphics. Well, it's a very strange thing. Butts are top, and people are terrible. In sum, like a spoonful of tar, horror. Not my story, but there are those who will be acceptable.
6 out of 10
(ranking 64%)
The series is ambiguous. Inside it there are many interesting jokes in the kind of mining farms that use the human brain as a resource; there are many interesting philosophical reflections around human life, as well as good action. But at the same time, with a ragged narrative, there are unnecessary plot branches, dead-end ideological conclusions, strange graphics and rather sluggish dynamics. I am not ready to say that I liked it (I will not review it for sure), but I will not say the opposite either. Everyone will be able to determine the quality of this project for themselves, for which it is worth looking.
Stylish futuristic noir with the basis and dominance of cyberpunk (in the spirit of Philip Dick). For my taste, this cartoon is for me. Because I'm an optimist. And this creation is just for positive thinking people. So I think, because the overall "cut" and mix here is put optimistically. Very good and sustained rhythm, dynamics, thought-out action scenes, and cars are nowhere more beautiful. References to the famous works are a whole bow, here and “Blade Runner” (1982), and the cult anime – “Ghost in the Shell (1995), “To Remember Everything” (1990), “Videodrome” by David Cronenberg (1982) and “Existence” (1999). Plus, their red design and scientific trends are taken into account. As Anthony Burgess of Clockwork Orange said, “What does God need?” Does he need the good or the good? Is it possible that a person who chooses evil is better than a person who is good, but not by choice? Stylish, no stamps. The meaning of the economic crisis associated with AI is very clearly explained. Melancholia exists, but it is atmospheric as it should be in noir. Thanks. I really liked it. Visual is cool. I recommend it be damn interesting. 👍
A tale about two private investigators who got involved in the capture of a student hacker who created a code to remove all ethical restrictions from robots, but stumbled upon corporate conspiracies and corruption intrigues.
An exciting animated film with a mixture of detective thriller and cyberpunk. The film is based on fears and fears of the development of artificial intelligence, and the idea of whether androids and cyborgs can completely replace people, and what our place in this world is. A similar topic was raised in Blade Runner, but if in the 80s AI was at the level of a fantastic concept, then in 2024 it becomes a reality.
It turned out to be a visually appealing film with a rich world, many details and a magnificent sci-fi design. The film draws a clear line between today’s technology and the cyberpunk future, where it is not about imagining a completely different futuristic world, which in a few years will seem very outdated and fake, but about something closer to the world in which we live.
As a result, this is “adult animation”, a multi-layered science fiction story, which has a lot of subtext and human drama.
8 out of 10
The cartoon, starting as a thriller, for its 1.5 hours perfectly entertains and will not let you get bored, immersing in an interesting, atmospheric and cool new world. The mixture of cyberpunk with noir is in principle a successful mixing, and here for an unusually small timekeeping, the pace is well maintained and interest in the story is not falling.
Yes, perhaps for the sake of timekeeping, a more detailed disclosure of the world and why it is in this state is lacking, but even with the introductions presented, the world seems quite possible in reality, although it remains in some aspects fascinating and frightening.
And the attentive viewer will easily find here references to the classics of science fiction, like “Remember everything” or “Blade Runner”. And yes, the cartoon does not become a new word in the genre, breaking all past foundations in trying to create something completely new. But it incredibly successfully combines all the advantages of its predecessors, combining an unusual detective story with the atmosphere and world of cyberpunk on Mars.
Characters like quite simple and understandable, but at the same time they have their own drama and their own story, which lies in small and not very details and from this it is interesting to watch them and easy to connect to them & #39; The tandem of Alin and Carlos is very cool and lively, the creators really took a new approach to the show of robots. There are a lot of cool and beautiful locations, the cartoon as a whole is very pleasant, albeit simple drawing, but something in it is unique, than it can stand out against the background of the conditional anime on Cyberpunk.
At the end it turned out a very pleasant, interesting and beautiful story. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but in many ways instructive and representing another look at the world of the future.
About the film: Film-participant of the Cannes Film Festival 2023.
In the year 2200, the Earth became a slum, suffering from war, overpopulation, lack of resources and poverty. Rich and powerful people have left Earth and live on Mars, in the green, spacious capital of Noctis. On the assignment of a wealthy client, private detective Alin Ruby and her android partner Carlos must catch a student hacker, but as the case is solved, they realize that they are involved in a global conspiracy that can affect all of humanity.
Opinion: The debut feature-length animated film by French director Jérémy Peréne walks the fine line between genius and mediocrity.
2D animation in 2024 looks “strongly retro”, on the other hand, strikingly realistic, to the smallest detail spelled out the world of the future, believe in it.
Detective stories with evil / good robots we have seen many times, and all this cyberpunk is a hackneyed topic that has largely exhausted itself. But here the intrigue lasts until the end and such a final really puts a beautiful point, and cyberpunk in this picture as if absorbed the best of the genre, at least tried.
This film can be seen as a standard representative of the genre, on the other hand, it stands out with a bright thoughtful visual, a story that holds attention, its style and presentation.
Like most festival films, the film wanted to absorb many meanings, images and parting, but not everything could fully present, so lost between a good cyberpunk fighter and a movie “for aesthetes”.
In the end, This is not a children's cartoon and not a cartoon for the evening to relax, but it will clearly appeal to those who missed good cyberpunk.
Get off the screens of the kids, the cartoon begins! In the case of Mars Express, that’s probably the case. In fact, in the French animated action-thriller there are no wildly shocking scenes, but the story, in the context of its problems and presentation form, is really for the adult viewer. Violence against people and robots, alcoholism, venal love are topics lying on the surface. And in general, the picture of Jérémie Peréne is a high-tech neonoir, a blessing that does not seek documentary authenticity of the appearance of real and artificial people, and thus avoids the effect of the “sinister valley”.
In the relatively distant future, mankind colonized Mars, and it became a paradise for living, unlike the polluted and cluttered Earth. Robots have not only become commonplace, but have even become an oppressed minority. In addition, among people, not only walking hardware with artificial intelligence, but also android copies with the consciousness of the dead. Laws, as a result of this cyber-assimilation, have become more complex and toughened. Moreover, robots are increasingly committing crimes against their will; they are hacked by hackers and intercepted control. Well, with clandestinely produced "doubles" it is not at all clear - is the person in front of you now?
I must pay tribute to the creators of the picture, he tried to embrace the immense in terms of homages. Mars Express is densely saturated with literary and cinematographic references. In the brain, the kaleidoscope flashes memories, a la “this is “I, the robot”, and that is “Blade Runner”, or their own images emerge from the literary primary sources of Isaac Asimov and Philip Dick. In parallel, déjà vu is actively working on dystopian references such as “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley and noir detectives Raymond Chandler and similar authors. Here, the more erudite the viewer, the more allusions he will notice. Let it not be as epic a sweep as Spielberg in “Player One to Get Ready”, but a specific hello to many book and movie hits.
This style can cause disappointment among individual viewers: they say, again, all this has already happened. But in fact, this is what Mars Express is all about; without coming up with something radically new, immerse your target audience in familiar and beloved artistic locations. With a clear detective plot for most of the story, visual beauty is still primary. In fact, animators have a specific advantage over the creators of feature films: with the right talent, they can draw anything, without regard to the production budget. And if someone accustomed to 3D-image, the local graphics seem archaic, then many fans of old-school art will appreciate just such a “picture” – a lamp, nostalgic, literally conveying dreams about the future, as they were in the twentieth century.
At the same time, the story itself is banal and relevant without the artistic convention that robots walk in droves on Earth and on Mars. The world is ruled by sinful passions, in which androids are not so much helpers as convenient tools for committing a variety of crimes. The utopia of the total introduction of robotics, if it did not fail, certainly turned out not to be the universal good that the sublime romantics dreamed of. And in the end, it brought humanity dangerously closer to the notorious “rebellion of the machines” described by James Cameron. That’s only in this interpretation is not omnipotent Artificial Intelligence is the cause of a possible apocalyptic catastrophe.
Mars Express is definitely worth watching on the big screen, as it is important to maximize the immersion in extravagant futuristic beauty. We don’t know what is really going to happen in 2200, and it doesn’t really matter to us today, because neither we nor our children will be there. But from the perspective of today, perhaps the viewer is watching a film about the future, which will not come for anyone. And so, unwittingly, the creators of Mars put a much more serious warning into their creation. Though, let such thoughts remain only a fiery imagination.
What the cartoon is about: Two private investigators, a human and an android, are on a different business, either tracking down a hacker trying to free all the robots, or searching for a missing student and her neighbor at the request of her father. And gradually they find out that these cases are connected and lead to a large-scale conspiracy.
What the project can attract: Noir cyberpunk with a rating of 18+, ' breath of fresh air' in modern science fiction, philosophical messages on the topic - what is life and qualitative dynamics of events. In such works, a frequent phenomenon, sagging of this very dynamics. You can remember the same 'Blade Runners' where a bunch of close-up shots are a minute or more long. But there's also something to think about: if your identity was transferred to a car, are you still human, or is the program correcting you? Also pleasing is the drawing - backs, detailing, robots. Questions arise about the design of people. . .
For example, they may not accept the picture: Not for everyone. It seems to me that this animated film will attract the attention of critics, but will alienate ordinary people. This is not a Disney/Pixarov cartoon, it is tough, thoughtful, confusing (even here I met reviews in which they mentioned that they reviewed to catch everything). Very controversial character drawing. There are unnecessary branches, for example, I do not understand why so much time was devoted to the teacher, he does not move the plot, is not ' Chekhov's rifle' so why does he have more scenes than more iconic characters?
My opinion: I liked it. Yes, the story is not quite smooth, but it is definitely exciting. I like the style of the movies of the 30s with Bogart and the like, about the bloodhound experiencing PTSD and flooding it in all possible ways. I love good fiction and 'ZA' its promotion.
23rd century... Investigators Elin and Carlos (a robot copy of her dead partner) are sent from Mars to Earth to arrest a dangerous hacker who knows how to interrogate robots (bye, Asimov’s laws). Upon returning to Mars, they are waiting for an unpleasant surprise and a new task - two girls have disappeared from the dormitory of the cybernetic faculty. . .
French adult animation is almost always cool. And if it's fantastic, watch it now. In the 80s, The Lords of Time left an indelible mark on my cinematic worldview, and the level of drawing may seem that the Mars Express from the same era is deliberately painted, hiding distant details, and, conversely, plowing endless worlds in cosmic scenes. But, of course, this is not the case - and from the elaboration of perspective, backgrounds, turns of the "camera" begins to dizzy enthusiastically. In addition, since the 80s, a bunch of references have appeared in the cinema, which the neo-cyber-noir Mars Express sometimes quotes at the level of a vibe ("Remember All", "Blade Runner of a Razor"), and sometimes inserts mini-Easter eggs, like the electronic souls of dead people: the pursuit of a robot with a sharp sword ("Terminator 2"), the fight of an "outdated robot" with a clumsy but huge new model ("Robocop").
Prepare for the sheer amount of information needed to understand the plot details - I had to watch the film twice to grasp why it was important that the cat in the story's prologue got stained blue, why it was important that the missing student's father snapped his heels, and why it was important that the robot surgeon paused when he sewed up Elin's arm. The number of heroes exceeds a dozen (some with their own copies). The script is built in such a way that the complexity does not cause rejection - on the contrary, it is so great to spin a detective story and at the same time learn the details of a futuristic, beautiful and at the same time terrible world. Why do humans kill robots on Earth and not on Mars? What happened in New York 5 years ago? What is the key difference between the new biotechnology (robots-somethings, as in the Cronenberg films) and the old one, and why did the big boss have a robot secretary? Why do robots scanned from dead people go to support groups? Finally, what is the information about the probe finally reached a distant planet that turned out to be uninhabitable?
Many of the plot twists in this French film seem impossible to me, for example, in "standard" American fiction. And it is not only in the scenes of alcohol addiction, family abuse and robot prostitutes (the bestiary in the red light district on Mars could well be inhabited by a three-breasted mute from Verhoeven's film), but also in the outrageous change of focus in the finale for classical drama - it turns out that we made the wrong choice with who the main protagonist of the story is.
In general, urgent to the cinema, and although the absence of the original French soundtrack deprives the tape of unique charm ("Sherche la famme cher ami", in the end), Russian voice acting allows you to concentrate on the screen and not miss anything, reading the subtitles.
And try not to cry in the final. Or are you a robot?
The French gave a beautiful sai-fi drama about the coexistence of people and androids. The beginning of the beautiful fits in the action, where you need to catch a desperate hacker who hacks into the operating systems of robots. We are introduced to the main character Alin and her partner - android Carlos. We do not yet know who is who, who is on which side, but the seed in catching a cybercriminal is entertaining.
Animations vary with the minimum number of frames per second, so many dialogue scenes are static. You can only emphasize one or another emotion of the character, which makes the entire timekeeping seem slow, despite the stormy action. The plot immediately emphasizes not small details, shown, as if by accident, but in the third act these details will become very important for the fate of the characters. Chasing, protecting security protocols and demonstrating what has long occupied all stories about robots - 3 Laws of Robotics, introduced by Isaac Asimov in the story "The Rookie":
1. A robot cannot harm a person or allow a person to be harmed by its inaction.
2. The robot must obey all orders given by man, unless these orders contradict the First Law.
3. The robot must take care of its safety to the extent that it does not contradict the First or Second Laws.
Here the cartoon begins to refer us to such tapes, having a beautiful picture of the planet Mars 2200. Agronomist Matt Damon is not there, but for that we are immersed in this futuristic world. Many episodes take place indoors, but the expanse comes after going to the streets. There are references to Scott’s Blade Runner, Villeneuve, and Proyas’ I Am a Robot. Dramatic robot events bring to mind the robot factory of Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence. Such details are a lot, so the viewer can safely enjoy the tribute to the cinema from the French.
The latest robot update program is the key to solving the glitch, but what if the developer is gone? Together with Alin and Carlos, we embark on a murky investigation. Emphasis on the android clone of a person very loyally fits the replacement in the plot. It comes down to a candid thriller to show both the attack on innocent people and the failure of robots. This is not a rebellion of machines, but rather the creation of security for people. The questions of humanity and the attitude of people to robots are immediately raised.
Everyone understands that the machine can fail, so they came up with new software. But how do you explain the victims? It seems like a simple solution, but the detective needs to understand who is behind this. After the chase in the exposition, the main plot focuses on the development of a college student who mysteriously disappeared. The viewer plunges into a string of secrets to find traces of struggle. Why would anyone want a girl? On the one hand, there are crimes – Alin just in such parts, on the other hand, there is a personal interest of the owner of a huge corporation.
It becomes clear who is behind what, don’t you think? This is the simplicity and the interest of the plot. He does not stick all the cards on the table, but smoothly brings the viewer to the antagonist. But the antagonist has his own views on the whole robot mess, so we understand him. Let’s just say that the main message of the movie “I’m a Robot” was changed to the features of Mars in this world. For more drama, we were shown the life of android Carlos, who was human before the cyberbody. There is already a clear emphasis on the fact that people and machines can not be together, and if a person is not alive, then on its basis, the android is not the same. Questions with consciousness transfer, memory, experiences solve the fact that machines are capable of emotions, despite the mechanical heart.
Do androids dream of electric sheep?
The cartoon shows the general perception of robots by humans. Alin does not see the consequences of the crime to assess the actions of the androids. Issues of morality and rules are erased, laws are broken when there is a clear threat. The antagonist decides to prevent the consequences. In general, the director conveys a beautiful, cybernetic world where people live with androids, where people mock androids and where androids exist themselves. Questions of humanity apply to all organisms and machines on the planet, but if there is hacking, then the threat will hang constantly. What will a person do?
On this note, the tape beautifully introduces the climax, which seems to be correct, but at the same time it still creates the feeling that this is not how everything is allowed. A double feeling from the end of the story: righteous and sad. Such an interesting approach to the story about androids.
Stylized French animated film in the style of cyberpunk. Drawing inspiration from iconic Japanese manga. With references to the utopian world of the future, populated by robots and existing according to the laws of robotics Asimov. It is about the place of man in this world. Director and screenwriter Jeremi Peren, the author of the animated series “The Last Man” at last year’s Cannes Film Festival presented his new full-length work, which is already on May 8 released in the official Russian film rental.
In the center of the story is private detective Alin Ruby. She has an alcohol addiction that she periodically struggles with and may be left alone. Her partner is Carlos Rivera, who after his death became an android, who placed his consciousness in a metal construction. His wife has long been divorced, and because of his intemperance, he cannot see his beloved daughter. Together, they try to track down a missing student who is somehow involved in changing the code that affected the behavior of robots.
The filmmakers decided to go further, leaving Earth alone, and moved to Mars. They tried to realize the fantasies of the main enthusiasts who dream of flying to the Red Planet. Events take place in the distant future, which explains the huge leap in the development of computer technology. The filmmakers even consulted scientific consultant and Mars specialist Sylvain Booley to create a more authentic utopian metropolis of the future on a desert planet. Alas, but despite their efforts, the authors lacked the enthusiasm to look bright against the background of their colleagues in the genre, with whom they will inevitably be compared. The cartoon looks stingy on bright performances in design and landscape. After watching it, it is very difficult to distinguish memorable shots and the underlying idea that the author wanted to convey to the viewer.
Unnecessarily overloaded storylines overlap the final thought of the film. On the one hand, the authors acquaint us with the inner tragedy and external motivation of the main characters, but this does not lead anywhere. Demonstrate the negative aspects of the metropolis with its slums and marginal inhabitants, but quickly cut off in the middle. The population has long been accustomed to robots, which replaced them even pets, but still fear that they will lose their earnings. A thought, obvious again, but glimpsed. Overloaded with details, timekeeping was not enough for large philosophical statements. It is worth commending for a successful attempt. As a result, viewers will see an impressive attraction that absorbed all the genius of popular culture. The authors do not hesitate to show quotes and references to famous films about the future and robots. "Ghost in the Shell", "Robocop", "Terminator" are just a few of the most obvious examples. For big fans of the genre, such a gesture will seem a pleasant bonus during viewing.
A special visual style that fits perfectly into the canon of the fictional world of the action movie, effectively demonstrates the capabilities of a small independent French studio. I am sure that for fans of animation, tired of monotonous projects of large studios, the cartoon will definitely appeal and attract attention no less than the plot Easter eggs. The bold decision to demonstrate the world without embellishment with all its cruelty is usually characteristic of European cinema. Thank you very much for this rare project.
There are reasons why Mars Express may not seem perfect. But still, after viewing the result, there are more pluses than minuses. The cartoon is a worthy example of cyberpunk inspiration. Let him miss bright and memorable futuristic images, as it was in the same “Blade Runner”, but this should not be an excuse to miss the premiere on the big screen.
On May 8, 2024, the French animated film Mars Express will be released in Russia. And if you are a fan of classical science fiction, then this film will definitely please you.
Mars Express begins as a thriller. In the room of a young woman knocks a man who introduced himself as a policeman. He goes in and kills her instantly.
Then we move on to our main characters - private detectives. One of them is an ex-military. And the second is a robot that lives in the consciousness of a murdered police officer. They are asked to find a missing girl who studied robotics at one of the most expensive universities on Mars.
Soon our detectives will unearth many secrets and eventually find out the existence of a large-scale conspiracy, which is almost impossible to resist.
So Mars Express is more than a fascinating intricate thriller set in the world of humanity, which can no longer imagine itself without robots. Robots became pets, friends, lovers, workers. It is possible to live even after the death of the physical body.
But for all its advantages, such a unity of people and robots has caused many problems and did not contribute to people living a happier and easier life.
The creators of Mars Express have dug deep into the psychological and economic implications of robotics. A picture of a world in which robots have simultaneously become a threat to humans and their victims. Unlike the Terminator-style concept, the machine revolt is not so straightforward. The main question of coexistence between robots and humans is not ethics or security. It's expediency. Mars Express doesn’t try to scare viewers with dire prospects, nor does it offer a sweet image of the future. Instead, it pushes us to the simple question, “Why?”
Why develop and integrate robots into people’s lives if that doesn’t solve the problems and inevitably leads to new problems? Why strive to extend your life as an artificial intelligence and a robotic body if it does not replace your real life and past relationships?
Mars Express is a rather curious project that gives food for thought and gives vivid visual images of a fantastic future. Although it has an unconventional ending, which rather evokes the desire to see the continuation than rings the narrative. But this is not such a drawback - the world of this film is much larger and richer than the creators could fit in an hour and a half narrative. And familiarity with such fantastic worlds, in which I would like to return again, is a rarity.