By Marc S. Sanders
Dragon Heart: Adventures Beyond This World is an ambitious animated film catered towards a young audience, but carrying a lot of imagery and themes designed for an adult crowd. The film, directed by Isamu Imakake (Cowboy Bebop: The Movie) performs as a Sunday School lesson where the students were never picked up by their parents at the end of the day. The artwork is incredible and some of the best I’ve ever seen, but there’s a lot of heavy material to weigh here with allegorical visuals that justify a very stern PG-13 rating.
Ryusuke is a middle schooler from Tokyo who spends the summer with his cousin Tomomi. One day the boy and girl go on a nature walk and get swept away with the strong current of the Anabuki River. They encounter a wise old man named Ameno Hiwashino Mikoto and a beautiful wide eyed green dragon in flight. The old man explains to the teens that they are dead and now must sojourn through the spiritual worlds of hell where devious serpents interfere and butchering surgical doctors are thirsty for hacking patients into bloody pieces. One embodiment dons sunglasses and a tropical shirt. He cages a frightened Tomomi, while her cousin dodges the god’s attacks with tennis balls in an attempt to rescue her. I’m not sure of the design options in this particular sequence. The action is quite engaging, though.
The children’s race to avoid these harsh encounters occupy the center of the picture. The last act reunites them with Ameno Hiwashino Mikoto who arranges for the kind dragon to escort them to Shambhala, a heavenly locale consisting of a variety of thousands upon thousands of gods. Vishnu, the god of India, is singled out for a select ritual.
In spite of my Jewish upbringing, I do not consider myself very spiritual or religious any longer. I applaud anyone who safely adheres to what guides them in a positive light of assurance, safety and peace. The adventure of Dragon Heart serves as a vehicle towards spiritual awakenings from a source of Eastern and Asian culture. The film seems to expect any disciple to witness the worst in humanity if their soul is ever to discover the best within a realm of the afterlife. Reader, that is likely you and me and everyone else in the theater.
I may be speaking vague, but so is the gospel of Dragon Heart. Naturally, children, who are green at being tested, are selected for going on this adventure. This mysterious and wise old man entraps them to choose for themselves how to lead their lives and use their souls. It is their souls that are important because the script tells us that we do not merely live within flesh and bone. Our soul and spirit live on after our physical body expires.
By the end of the film, I fear that Ryusuke and Tomomi will be knocking on my front door with scripture pamphlets with their bicycles parked on my driveway. Personally, that does not leave me feeling very comfortable. It’s the preachiness of Dragon Heart: Adventures Beyond This World that leaves me feeling queasy.
This is a gorgeous picture of radiant color. Outdoor natures look so absorbing. Green grass flows naturally in a breeze. Rivers cheerfully flow and you want to drink from them. Ryusuke is especially enthusiastic to explore the various mountain landscapes including Everest and thus you want to accompany him. The skies are bright enough to glide through the air.
The various dimensions of hell are equally convincing. In many circumstances, you’re looking at some of your worst nightmares come alive. In fact, for a pre-teen watching this film might incur a fear of doctors whose bloodthirsty grins emote through their surgical masks as they race at you with chainsaws and curved knives. Freddy Krueger is like a Disney character compared to these guys. My wife would never get past the snakes either.
Dragon Heart: Adventures Beyond This World does its job, but perhaps it works too well. The animated imagery is so powerfully strong in what it shows that it is potentially traumatizing to certain viewers – definitely children and those who embrace the spiritual potential of religion.
While the film intends to conclude on a soaring positive note, it’s the journey to this destination that is quite unsettling.
Once again, who is this film catered for? I know that god fearing worship is often sermoned by ministers, prophets and scriptures, but should any kind of religion or spiritual guidance put us in therapy too?
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 