FrightFest Animie's in the Store review of Legend of the Millennium Dragon

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DSCI0103 Legend of the Millennium Dragon - **

Directed by Hirotsugu Kawasaki. Anime. Cert PG.

Released on DVD and Blu-ray by Sony Picture Home Entertainment on 26th December, DVD £17.99, Blu-ray £22.99.

LEGEND OF THE MILLENNIUM DRAGON sees shy schoolboy Jun Tendo travel back in time to ancient Japan where only he can save… wait, haven’t I seen this plot somewhere before? Okay, so the basic storyline’s pretty hackneyed, but the wrinkle in SPRIGGAN director Hirotsugu Kawasaki’s latest feature is that 15-year-old Jun finds himself in a Heian era Japan torn apart by conflict between humans and Oni, supernatural beings akin to demons or ogres. Jun has been brought there because he’s apparently a saviour with untapped magical powers who could tilt the balance either way. At first his choice appears a simple one, what with Oni being grotesque smoke beasts with glowing red eyes and all, but it turns out that they’re actually pretty okay guys who just want to protect their land from man’s incursions. Also they don’t really look like monsters. And one of them is a feisty teen girl that Jun can fall for. Think PRINCESS MONONOKE but without Miyazaki’s luscious visuals, storytelling flair and any hint of blurred moral boundaries. Not that LEGEND OF THE MILLENNIUM DRAGON can’t be pretty at times; the tense, kinetic opening battle sequence really raised my hopes for the rest of the movie and the overall quality of animation is reasonably high – even if Hirotsugu’s human characters do tend to look oddly dumpy and bland. However, LEGEND OF THE MILLENNIUM DRAGON’s looks aren’t enough to save its lacklustre story, shallow characterisation and simplistic messages. You could argue that the film is aimed at a young audience, but I can’t honestly see it grabbing a tween’s interest for long either. LEGEND OF THE MILLENNIUM DRAGON isn’t actually bad, but if you want a PG-rated fantasy anime, watch PRINCESS MONONOKE instead; it is better in every respect.

David Axbey.