Review of Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999) by Viet Phuong N — 09 Aug 2014

I understand that this film should not be considered standalone but alongside with the other two live-action films by Mamoru Oshii in his Kerberos saga. However, since I have not seen the other two, I have to rate this film as it is - a disappointing one.

The Orwellian setting of the film, which reflects the actual situation in Japan during the 1960s and contains many of Oshii's philosophical traits, deserves a much better story instead of the simple, confusing and eventually disappointing plot in this film.

If only the "human side" of the "Wolf" had been better explored and the internal struggle of the Brigade had been replaced by a larger and more symbolic struggle of the fictional Japanese society.

Actually everything in this film was under-developed to the point that I even questioned myself whether I missed any detail watching the film, and no, I did not, they were simply not there. Could have been a much much better film with such setting and premise.