Movie Review: Sin The Movie 3 1/2 Stars

Sin: The Movie
8 Stars

It is always debatable when viewing dubbed anime imports whether or not the story you are watching even remotely resembles the original Asian tale. Sin: The Movie responds to this challenge by presenting both a dubbed version and a subtitled version containing two entirely different storylines, both of which are equally standard cyberpunk fare and both of which are thoroughly entertaining. The cool thing about Sin: The Movie is not its structure or its theme or even its characterization. Instead, Sin: The Movie has some of the most exquisitely rendered animation I’ve seen.

In the near future, crime is abated by private security forces, the best of which is HARDCORPS, led by Colonel John Blade. Investigating a serial kidnapping, Blade must make a split-second decision to shoot and possibly kill HARDCORPS team member JC to save the life of a little girl. Indeed, JC is killed, mercilessly ripped apart by the parasite that has invaded his body. JC’s sister, also called “JC”, a chief lieutenant in the International Security Bureau, is assigned to investigate the actions of John Blade and the still unsolved string of kidnappings. Secretly, she is seeking to avenge her brother’s murder. In the meantime, the beautiful Elexis Sinclaire, CEO of SinTEK Industries, is expanding upon her brilliant and insane father’s research in genetic engineering, creating a race of supermutants, who, as it turns out, are responsible for the kidnappings and JC’s death.

There is more than the requisite graphic violence in Sin: The Movie and a healthy dose of needless sex to appease fans of naked cartoon characters, but even neophytes to anime will be dazzled by the artwork, designed by key animator Dan Kongouji and visual concepts supervisor Makoto Kobayashi. I would also be remiss if I did not mention the phenomenal score from Masamichi Amano, conducting the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra.