Keiichi Sugiyama's ORIGIN: SPIRITS OF THE PAST
The visuals and artwork are impressive but the characters and story are a letdown.
Sentient forests and nature in conflict with humans were better done in Miyazaki’s NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WINDS and before that in Brian W. Aldiss’ novel Hothouse (released in the U.S. in the 1960’s as The Long Afternoon of Earth).
After a while I just got bored with the story which seemed a recycling of previous SF/fantasy themes. Maybe it’s my age; perhaps a younger person with less experience reading and watching science fiction would find this more engaging. My recommendation: pick up a good novel instead; you’ll be more challenged.
Copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald
