In ancient Japan,
the shape shifting wizard known as Aku resurfaces and attacks the
nation. When the emperor is captured, his son is sent to train
throughout the world in many forms of discipline and combat. As an
adult, he reunites with his mother, who gives him the sacred sword
capable of defeating Aku. When the samurai returns home to face
the wizard, he is sent through time into the distant future, where
Aku still rules over a world filled with high technology, aliens,
and other oddities that the samurai doesn't understand. Taking on
the name Jack, the samurai makes a name for himself as he
struggles to free the future from Aku's grasp, and one day return
to his own time to stop Aku before this future comes to pass.
Thanks to
IMDB.
CRITIQUE
I’ve never
seen an episode of Samurai Jack, though I’ve heard of it.
It’s an animated show, naturally, that follows the adventures of a
Samurai. The show premiered on the Cartoon Network on August 10,
2001, and is now in its third season.
Creator Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s
Laboratory) crafts an interesting little world in Samurai Jack,
the place an unknown future on Earth. First there are the quirky
characters in each episode, and I especially like the talking dogs,
which speak with Oxford English accents no less, in episode 2 and the
tiny astronaut people in episode 5. Animation allows the characters to
exhibit a little more freedom in terms of movement and looks, but the
best aspect about the show’s animation is the execution and innovation
of the action.
Every action sequence is highly stylized and
symbolizes the art and feel of a comic book. That is, techniques such
as the split-screen effect, extreme close-ups, and slow motion have a
cool effect on the show’s visual presentation. Also, the locations
vary from exotic to apocalyptic-like places, such as a forest or
mountain valley. The backgrounds in the action scenes are also
important, but the show’s animation team knows this.
Effectively, Samurai Jack offers great
animation that looks really cool. A tiny downside to the show’s action
is that some sequences tend to overstate and repeat the fact that Jack
is a skilled and strong samurai. This means some sequences become a
little too stretched out.
Samurai Jack battles one of Aku's minions in
almost every episode, but sometimes he's only a helping hand. Aku
means evil or demon in Japanese, a name that fits the shows villain
perfectly. Jack gets his name in the second episode by way of
three alien hip-hoppers. The voice talents do a good job giving the
characters a personality, except for Aku who exists only to dominate
and exercise evil. Jack's morals and mission to defeat Aku is an
important element to the show.
THE VIDEO
Samurai Jack is
presented in 1.33:1
fullscreen format.
Video quality is
pretty good for this type of show. The animation looks very nice
and there aren’t any major flaws with the image. Detail and
sharpness are fine. Definition is not as strong, but that’s
okay. The action sequences employ widescreen and split-screen,
which gives the presentation a cool effect.
THE AUDIO
Samurai Jack is
presented in English 2.0 Dolby Surround Sound.
All of the audio
is located in the front, which is perfectly fine. The dialogue
is easy to understand and the sound effects are accurately
emitted through the two front channels.
French and Spanish 2.0 dubs
are also available.
THE EXTRAS
This Collector
Series DVD isn’t filled with material, but what’s here is
generous. First, the audio commentary by Genndy Tartakovsky
on episode VII is a decent listen with some good input. Next is
a 7-minute "making of" featurette on the show, creator
Tartakovsky, and others. The interviews are somewhat
interesting, and overall this a good program. What else? There's
an animation test that runs two minutes plus original
artwork that's eight minutes of storyboards and music. A few
nice things here, overall. The DVD could've easily been
bare-bones, but the studio rewards the fans.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Both Anime fans and
kids, but really all of us, can find something to like in Samurai
Jack. It’s a fun, action-filled, and clever cartoon. Warner’s DVD
is an overall good package – a recommended purchase.
