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Top Critics (24)
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Fresh (62)
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DVD (14)
Mamoru Oshii's 2004 follow-up to his 1995 anime noir is that rare sequel that surpasses the original.
Occasional passages of shell-cracking egghead overload aside, there's no getting past Innocence's astounding visual power.
The effect of so much pretension and so many lovely images eventually becomes soporific.
Praiseworthy for its concepts and aesthetics, yet it is too theory-heavy and action-shy, clumped with philosophical tangents and scholarly reference points.
Solemnly questioning issues of science and metaphysics, it creates a spell that's a unique blend of the ominous and the sensual.
Doesn't match the weight of its predecessor, or really add anything necessary to the saga, but it doesn't hurt the body of work, either.
With its themes of human arrogance, wastefulness, creativity, and the definitions and limits of life and the mind, Innocence is pretty heavy. It's also visually stunning.
Much like Akira in the 1980s, this is the film that sets the standard by which all others of its kind are judged - and usually found wanting.
the mind-blowing story and its reality-bending aesthetic form a sublime continuum, where the medium becomes part of the message...this is animation at its most acute and enthralling.
Too talky and philosophical for kids, and dabbling in lavish imagery that lacks enough narrative coherence to hook adults, this is an animated feature that, well, needed to get a little more animated.
The elegance, attention to detail, the invention and expertise all ensure that the movie's never less than visually breathtaking.
For Japanimation fans it's a big-screen must-see.
If you can get past the weighty aphorisms that pass for dialogue, the film has an obscure beauty and rich, melancholy tone.
Muddled up with philosophising about the relationship between mind and the material world.
It looks absolutely sensational.
The staggering beauty of Oshii's animation more than makes up for the fact that his plot is completely impenetrable.
One long, tedious rumination on the blurring distinction between man and machines.
If you're already an anime fan, this is required viewing. If not, this isn't going to convert you anytime soon.
Japanese animated film which explores the nature of post-modern existence and consciousness is a mixed bag in terms of both narrative and images.
While one can't accuse Innocence of being dim, it is certainly long winded and cliché.
Oshii allows the plot to be overwhelmed by a slew of cockamamie musings on the nature of existence that wouldn't float in a late-night dorm room smokeout.
With this beautiful, thought-provoking, adrenaline-fuelled film, Oshii heralds a truly post-human era in which all forms of 'life' deserve our respect.
Pure, wordless cinema, existing in a realm too deliciously mysterious to pull down.
In this anime it's a basset hound that brings the only bits of warmth.
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