Amon Saga
(1986)
Director: Shunji Oga
I can remember my first taste of Japanese animation, or anime,
as it's usually referred as. It happened years ago when I was very
small, when I was having the same kind of lazy weekend as when I first
saw Duel At Diablo. I was
happy to find that the movie being played that day was an animated one,
though not long into the movie I discovered it was unlike any other
animated movies I had seen. - and in a good way. After all these years,
images of that movie still are strong in my mind: a child swinging on a
rope to grab a falling treasure map just before it fell into the arms
of a greedy crowd below; a small sailing vessel in a desperate cannon
fight with a gigantic pirate galleon; a large body of water completely
draining to reveal a sunken ship, which the heroes patch up and sail
triumphantly into the sunset at the end as the movie's evil pirate
captain tries to swim after them. It's amazing how memories of a movie
seen as a child can be permanently burned into your brain, though also
frustrating as hell if decades later you still are unable to determine
what the title of that damn movie was. My second experience with anime
was a few years later, when one Saturday morning I stumbled across Robotech.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing: an animated show that wasn't a
comedy, and had a storyline both serious and engaging. I loved it, and
I planned to watch it every week from then on... though the next week I
discovered that the TV station had decided to stop airing it.
Fortunately, stumbling across the episodes at a video store years later
soon made it able for me to ease that particular childhood
obsession.
I enjoy and appreciate anime. No, that doesn't mean I am
patiently going through the 200 or so Ranma 1/2 tapes at my
local video store, or that I know the
difference between one Tenchi series from another. I've never
even seen any episodes of Cowboy Bebop or Bubblegum Crisis.
One reason is because I personally think it's kind of a rip-off to pay
full rental price for a tape or DVD running less than an hour, which
you'll find with many anime releases. But it's also because of the
simple reason that there are a whole bunch of enjoyable things to watch
besides anime. I don't like to limit myself to one genre, because I
like to be entertained in many different way. I'm open to anything, as
long as the particular example is a real movie (or TV show, for
that matter.) That includes anime. I've seen and enjoyed every Hayao
Miyazaki film currently available in North America, serious-minded
anime like Barefoot Gen and Grave
Of The Fireflies, and a few series such as Video Girl Ai
have also impressed me greatly. (And you can bet I've been quick to
pick up any anime with my hero Golgo 13.) I'm a fan, but not a fanatic,
Despite this, I realize I have barely touched anime on my web site,
maybe from fear I may then be accused of having Sailor Moon posters all
over my room. Since it's been almost 300 reviews since I last covered
anime, I think it's safe to review another example of it.
All kidding aside, I must confess that several times in
the past I have attempted to review more anime, but for some reason I
find it very difficult to do so; for some reason, I find myself unable
to jot down more than a few notes. Of course, this has happened to some
live-action movies I've tried to review, so it could be a particular
bad streak of luck with the genre. My bad streak of luck was finally
broken when I picked up Amon Saga. Those who are well
versed in anime and manga will probably recognize at least one
person involved in the production. Taking on the dual task of designing
the characters and assisting in the writing of the story is the famed
illustrator and character designer Yoshitaka Amano, famed for his
design contributions to the Final Fantasy video game series and
Vampire Hunter D. In fact, those two
productions have a few minor similarities with this movie. Like Vampire
Hunter D, the hero of Amon Saga is an expert
swordsman (named Amon) wandering the ravaged and dangerous countryside,
though the setting this time around is a medieval sword and sorcery
world. Amon is no mercenary, but someone determined to kill the evil
emperor of Valhiss, for reasons hinted at several times in such an
unsubtle manner that it's no surprise when the reason is "revealed".
Amon figures the best way to get the opportunity is to join the Valhiss
army, but finds it still won't be easy once he's enlisted. Adding an
extra complication is the presence in the Valhiss fortress of Princess
Licha, who the Emperor has kidnapped from her father King Dari in an
attempt to get the map that will lead him to the legendary Valley Of
Gold.
No doubt that this plot will come across as exceedingly
familiar to you, even if you are one of those people in Outer Mongolia
who has yet to see the movies Conan The Barbarian
or Star Wars, both of which gave the movie inspiration
not just limited to what was described above. But the unoriginal plot
to be found in Amon Saga is just part of the long list
of ways the movie fails to entertain. For starters, take the character
of Amon. Unsurprisingly, he is a quiet and seemingly brooding
character, but that in itself is okay - that's what you usually get in
lone hero movies like this. I don't mind seeing another character like
that, but only as long as there is something else to this
character. In many cases, this is done by pumping up the "masculinity"
of the character - such as giving him a tough appearance, showing him
in action as a force not to be trifled with, or having him reveal
emotions that are more callous and less concerned with his fellow man.
But there is nothing about Amon that makes him an engaging action hero.
Instead of looking like what you imagine a swordsman in a barbarian age
would look like, he instead looks like the member of an '80 rock band,
complete with dyed platinum blond hair. Nothing about his looks comes
across as tough, and neither does anything he says, the little he does
say; I think he says less than 50 words in the entire movie. He speaks
as if he's speaking for someone else, and bored by having to do it. We
learn a few details of his past, but we never get to learn any other
side of Amon other that what seems to be a virtual indifference to
what's around him. You get the feeling that even if you were to break
through that stone-faced expression he keeps on his face throughout,
you'd find nothing inside.
It should come as no surprise that the scenes with him
and Licha are seriously lacking in chemistry, and why the movie
consequently seems determined to keep them separated as much as
possible. So Licha's eventual falling for Amon comes across as
ludicrous for more than one reason. But while it's easy to understand
Amon not being a lover, it seems that there should be no problem in
showing him as a fighter. While it's possible that Amon may be a good
fighter, the movie doesn't make it easy for us to tell one way or the
other. The effectiveness of the fight scenes can probably be summed up
best by revealing that a search on my part for other efforts of
significance by director Shunji Oga turned up nothing. The fight
sequences are incredibly poor, both in their direction and editing.
Take the first fight sequence early in the movie, shortly after (you
guessed it) Amon walks into a tavern, and his unemotional behavior
raises the ire of the character Gaius. Seconds after the fight starts,
Gaius, for some unexplained reason, chooses to run headfirst into a
stone table. Perhaps the intent was to show Amon using lighting-fast
reflexes to dodge Gaius' charge, but it comes across here as if Gaius
decided all of a sudden to forget the fight for the pleasure of
splitting his skull. There are a lot of other "what the hell just
happened?" moments like that in the other fight sequences as well,
which are also shown in odd and unnatural angles, and often too closely
viewed to properly see both participants in action at once. Amon seems
to be a good swordsman, but you can't see it for yourself.
There is also an additional problem with the particular
fight sequences that are key to Amon finishing his quest. This problem
also happens to affect much of the rest of the movie as well; that is,
that the movie is sorely lacking in a villain who comes across as a
serious threat. There is really nothing about the Emperor that makes
him really threatening, or even an interesting personality. The number
of words he speaks in the movie is about the same number as what Amon
ultimately utters. He's decked out in a robe and mask that hide his
true form, no doubt in an attempt to give him a chilly appearance a la
Darth Vader. But the robe and mask the Emperor wears are almost
completely featureless, so he comes across as scary as a crude statue
made by a primitive tribe. In fact, "statue" is the best way to
describe the Emperor, because for the most part he elects to have his
underlings do the decision-making and executing the decided tasks, and
instead spends the time sitting or standing in the background (or not
even bothering to appear at all.) Most of the work falls on the
shoulders of his two loyal followers, Captain Denon and the wizard
Mabo. At least they have some personality; Mabo seemingly near-insanity
makes him somewhat of a creepy figure, and Denon comes across as brave
and somewhat ruthless, though his design makes him look like a
character transplanted from Filmation product at the time.
There is, in fact, a reoccurring inconsistency with the
art design of Amon Saga. While Amon seems to have been
designed with the utmost seriousness, many of the characters
surrounding him seem to have been designed for other productions,
productions of a less serious tone. Gaius, for one, looks better suited
to fit in the slapstick mayhem and cartoonish atmosphere of Lupin
III, more so since this gigantic muscular figure has been given a
goofy voice more suited for a comedy. Considering the movie's mixed
styles, as well as those previously discussed action moments that seem
to make no sense at all, it seems to indicate that the production
team may not have had all the necessary resources it needed. Whether it
was a lack of time, or a lack of money (or even) both, I can't say for
sure, but the movie constantly resorts to a number of shortcuts. Some
are understandable and acceptable, like someone going past the same
trees again and again while racing through a forest. But when it gets
to large sailing vessels cutting through the seas without bobbing up or
down, or darkening a room so that the monster in it can't be seen
except for his glowing claws, it comes across as cheap and passionless.
This lack of effort can even be sensed in some of the dialogue. "So
that's Licha, Dari Sem's daughter. She's being held hostage by the
Emperor," is one example. Here's another: "In order to save the
princess, we must meet the Emperor's demand and give him the map
showing the way to the valley of gold."
Clunky lines like those uttered above are just part of
what ultimately sinks Amon Saga, a truly bad script.
It's not limited simply to dialogue that doesn't ring true, and a story that
isn't terribly original. The awfulness in this case doesn't necessarily
suggest that the screenwriters couldn't write better, but that maybe
they didn't take the time to properly think over - by choice, or work
circumstances, I can't say - the various ideas they conjured up. For
example, the Emperor's fortress is on the back of a gigantic turtle.
It's an eye-catching visual, but the idea becomes stupid when you think
of it; wouldn't the fortress shake as the turtle walks? What would you
do if (pee-yew!) the turtle died? And in a world with fierce lake
monsters, wouldn't someone have properly checked out that lake the
princess decides to go skinny-dipping in? Plus, who had the idea to
have her go skinny-dipping without, you know, showing
something? (Hey, if you're going to be too violent for the kids...)
Maybe it's because the princess is a pretty forgettable character, so
much so that her king father forgets about her while he schemes on his
plans against the Emperor, and has to be reminded that the Emperor
kidnapped her. Speaking of forgetting, you can forget about me
bothering to say more about this movie. Anime fans, I guess I'll see
you again after 300 reviews or so.
Check
for availability on Amazon (DVD)
See also: The Brothers
Lionheart, The Flight Of Dragons, The Last Unicorn
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