Garm Wars: The Last Druid

I watched the Garm Wars, a movie nobody knows of, even when it's written and directed by Mamoru Oshii. Despite having English actors, it feels as if it's an anime movie that follows all the trademarks of Oshii. That dog he loves so much is there, and the characters simply exist to talk about existentialism.

It's pretty heavy on CGI and it feels like it's cut scenes from a PS3 video game. If you expect to see only super duper polished CGI, then you are not going to like it. If you manage to see past that, as far as setting and atmosphere goes, it is superb.

It's also a patchwork of a dozen cool sci-fi anime of the past. At times it's like Ghost in the Shell, at others it's like Sky Crawlers, or Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The nostalgic side of me was jumping from joy. The problem is the usual way Oshii writes plots and characters. Everything is dull and mechanical. You don't feel the characters are alive and thus whatever they say about the meaning of life feels dead.

The movie is also so concept based that the actual plot becomes an afterthought. Characters do stuff for the sake of progressing the story and not because it makes sense or feels natural. In fact half of it is exposition and couch philosophy, while the ending is open for a sequel. So, it's Cool concepts, thought provoking material, great atmosphere, but not entertaining or that appealing. Recommended only if you like something like Texnolyze.