Nova Seed Review
Nova Seed is an animated science-fiction movie set in an apocalyptic future wherein the megalomaniac Mad Doctor Mindskull has taken over the world with his mutated monsters.
First things first, I should admit that I’m not a massive watcher of animated movies aimed squarely at adults. I’ve seen the usual suspects of manga, anime and Ghibli, but outside of that I’m not that educated. That’s not to say that I wasn’t open to the idea of Nova Seed, going in with an open mind and a keen interest after reading the synopsis. Sadly, I think that this is a film only for the true connoisseurs as it completely lost this writer.
There seemed to be little in the way of understandable plot, an issue exacerbated by the hero being mute. In fact, there were only a handful of characters that spoke at all. The result for a novice was a confusing and chaotic jumble that was hard to follow. Our protagonist isn’t really given any development and relationships don’t appear to be well laid out. Of course I could just have missed something.
Nova Seed Review
The animation itself is also a bizarre mixture. Whilst the backgrounds are as high quality and rich as you’d expect, the characters seem crude in comparison. They’re all a little bit too rough around the edges and whilst they definitely stand out from the background, it’s jarring and pulls away the viewers’ attention. As odd as the visuals may look to an outsider, you have to respect the hours of work that have gone into production, the film being completely hand-drawn.
Nova Seed feels very eighties. There’s a peculiar vibe to proceedings, the film somehow capturing the cyberpunk-esque future through a 1980’s filter. Almost like what live-action movie Turbo Kid achieved. In fact, both hero and villain seem to borrow from two of that decade’s iconic cartoons. Mindskull could easily be the cousin of He-Man’s main foe Skeletor, and our hero wouldn’t look that out of place in Thundercats.
Although some limited nostalgic fun for outsiders, Nova Seed is an animated science-fiction adventure best suited to those with a depth of knowledge and appreciation for this type of animation.
Nova Seed screens as part of 2016’s Fantasia International Film Festival programme.
Find all our of Fantasia 2016 coverage here.
