The premise of Highlander feels like one tailor made for an Anime: Immortal warriors battling across time, with decapitation by sword or other means as the only way to be killed. Think of all the time periods you could animate; how creative you could get with the fight choreography and watching all these different bad asses adapt to new times, new cultures and new ways of kicking each others asses. The Search for Vengeance holds the distinction of being the first, and right now only, Highlander Anime film. So how does it adapt the legendary franchise and, more importantly, how it as a sequel in a long line of very, very bad follow ups?
The Search for Vengeance has two big pros in its corner right at the start: it’s got Madhouse doing the animation and Ninja Scroll director Yoshiyaki Kawajiri at the helm. Madhouse rarely ever turns out a bad looking Anime and its brought some awesome work to this movie. All of the character designs look great and all of the action is fluidic and well paced, not surprising given how action is almost Madhouse’s bread and butter genre. Then there’s Kawajiri. You put the man behind Ninja Scroll, which could be a Highlander film in and of itself with all of its epic swordplay and rivalries, on this project and at the very least you’re gonna get some damn fine sword work. True to form, Kawajiri gives Colin some great battle scenes with his trusty katanna, making short work of spider like mecha and an immortal mutant using a souped up chainsaw as his weapon of choice. Both Madhouse and Kawajiri also bring their A Game when detailing the various time periods in which Colin and Marcus cross swords. Our all to brief glimpses into their scuffles across Rome, Scotland, China, Japan, Tragalgar, Germany and France kind of make me wish this had been a TV Series instead of a movie.
In a way, I kind of liken The Search for Vengeance as the “Force Awakens” for the Highlander saga. There are many who say that Star Wars: The Force Awakens retreads a lot of familiar ground from the very first Star Wars film but also accept that it was the filmmakers way of showing the world a competent and decent Star Wars film could be made after a slew of underwhelming prequels. The Search for Vengeance does similar, basically digging into the Highlander story trope box and pulling out every reusable cliché and plot beat already treaded upon in 5 Movies and 2 TV Series. You’ve got the Immortal who doesn’t know he’s Immortal til he’s killed. He finds out his love was wrong (or in this case killed) by his age old nemesis. They fight at various points across time and that hate drive brings the hero right to the present day future…which itself is nothing to brag about. There’s even a dash of reincarnated loves across time for good measure. We’re not only playing with Highlander cliches but Post Apoclayptic ones too. Viruses, Global Warming, War, Famine, Ruined Cities with Underground Resistances, every Post Apocalyptic future cliché is here. Mashing these two together robs The Search for Vengeance from having a truly memorable story when its all been there, done that, both in Highlander and in other Anime (most notable Fist of the North Star).
Even the characters themselves seem to suffer from blandness. Colin is actually the oldest of the MacLeod leading men, predating popular series figures like Conner and Duncan MacLeod by at least a millenia. But he’s way to by the numbers from his origins to his broodingness to his lack of proper character development. He may kick ass with a Katanna but Colin spends most of his time getting his ass kicked by his way too overconfident nemesis Marcus. And if you though Colin was boring, Marcus is worse. The only interesting part of Marcus’ character is his embrassing of electric guitars cause that’s always been the music most associated with Highlander (many thanks to Queen…actually im surprised “Princes of the Universe” or “Who Wants to Live Forever” don’t make musical cameos themselves). Marcus is so op and full of himself. So yeah, you cant wait to see him get whats coming to him, cause his smugness should make anyone want to punch him. When it comes to the action, these two are great. But when it comes to story and character, you’ve seen them done dozens of times before, theyre nothing special. The Search for Vengeance does include a first, at least to my knowledge, for the franchise in that Colin is followed by a Druid spirit named Amergan. This was such an unnecessary addition as Amergan is kind of the Anime mentor/comic guide insert who’s just here to cross off an Anime trope of that list. Also, be sure to listen out for guest voice actor Jim Byrnes, aka Joe Dawson from the Highlander TV Series, as a couple of underground resistance fighters.
As far as sequel projects go for Highlander, The Search for Vengeance is nothing you haven’t seen before. Only now, it’s an Anime film and has some amazing animation and directing talent giving it some new life. The historical flashbacks and well choreographed action place this film well above Highlander 2-Highlander: The Source. But they all create such a low bar it’s almost impossible not to rise above it…and yet Highlander has 5 damn horrible sequels. If anything else, I think Highlander: The Search for Vengeance could have been truly amazing if it had some more original juice pumped into it. Hell, I wouldn’t mind this being proof of concept or a backdoor pilot for an actual Highlander Anime. Immortal Scotsman or Romans or Ninjas battling in the past through present day? Anime could be the medium through which Highlander finds new life and for once the eternal notion could be put to rest…that there doesn’t just need to be only one.
5/10
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