Creator and Director: Genny Tartakovsky
Voice Actors: Phil LaMarr (Jack), Mako Iwamatsu (Aku)
Samurai Jack was an action/adventure cartoon which aired on Cartoon Network between 2001 and 2004. It was primarily about a samurai warrior that was sent to the future by a demon wizard, Aku, just moments before he was to be defeated. It's about the time-displaced samurai who adopts the name 'Jack' and his journey to find way back to his own time, to rid the world of Aku once and for all.
I remember the show fondly as a kid and tried to catch it whenever it was on TV in the early 00's, unfortunately I missed a few episodes here and there so I was never sure exactly where I was in the series. But I always liked how action was at it's forefront and it's sci-fi setting naturally stuck out to me, it's lengthy fight scenes were exciting and the blocky shaped style with it's brightly lit colours was visually splendid.
'The Beginning' is as you'd expect the very first episode, and as such it mostly serves as a origin tale. Aku is brought back to the living by a lightning bolt and eclipse, coincidentally as a young boy's dad, an Emperor, explains the history of Aku and his almost eternal past threat. Although his dad believes he vanquished him long ago with the help of a special sword crafted by three monks with mystical powers. His father tells him to 'always be alert, for the presence of evil is sometimes right behind you', just as the evil demonic wizard crashes through the roof of the palace. Almost at once his father's army attacks and shoots a thousand arrows, all of which are collected effortlessly and shot back by Aku. The little boy's father tries to grab the magical sword but is quickly stopped and held captive by Aku. All is lost but not before the father instructs his mum to protect the Prince.
The two thankfully escape by boat and travel out to a large ship, where the Prince must tearfully depart alone and leave his mum. Aboard the large ship the Prince begins his quest to fulfil his father's wishes. What follows is a fun montage that summarizes the young Prince's turn from student to warrior, he trains with gladiators, Vikings, Russian axe throwers, Mongolians, Tibetan monks and even Robin Hood. How this exactly occurs over the span of 30 years is interesting, but nevertheless our samurai emerges strong and ready. He travels to a temple in the clouds where he reunites with his mother and is given his father's sword.
At this point the Prince seeks out his home land, to deliver payback and death upon his life-long enemy. We see what was once the Prince's home has long since become Aku's desolate land, which resembles Hell in many ways, even consisting of slaves building structures and digging for jewels by the strict command of Aku minions. The minions are dressed with devil-horned hoods and red and black ninja clothes, with black whips at their side, they are eager to inflict pain for any who disobey. Elsewhere in Aku's massive cave-like fortress, the Prince's father is stuck at the bottom of a statue of Aku, where he works under the watchful eye of a tormenting minion.
The Prince arrives and quickly defeats Aku's minions with swift strikes and chops. After freeing his father, he promises him to finally vanquish Aku. The Prince charges on horseback towards Aku's tower where he calls the formidable demon out. With swift and continuos strikes and calculated blows, Aku's shape-shifting attack method proves fruitless. Each strike takes more of Aku's power until he is a just weak shadow. In a last desperate attempt to stay alive, the demonic wizard opens a portal where the Prince is flung inside and sent into the future.
In comparison to other episodes there's seems to be a general lack of humour, it's unmistakable, I suppose given it's dark subject matter and the fact we are only are just getting to know the Prince, it's to be expected. The action on the otherhand, especially the final battle between The Prince and Aku is really exciting, it makes the whole episode worth watching. It's most of all satisfying seeing our warrior finally rise to the occasion.
'The Beginning' serves as a first taste of the main characters and their world, and as such we unfortunately don't get to see the fun and comedic side of Samurai Jack. Even it's unintentional comedic pauses and sight gags aren't for show. I think the comedy is important because it breaks up the daunting violence with much-needed light-hearted humour. It's a balance that I believe wasn't crafted as well in this episode, yet I don't think it would have suited it's tone if more prominent.
Tartakovsky manages to show off his cinematic story-telling like few others. Despite simplistic drawings his inventiveness shines with creative screen layouts, such as splicing from comic book panels to traditional widescreen film, as well as epic music and sound effects of movie caliber. Samurai Jack has moments of brilliance and compared to other shows from Cartoon Network the action is jaw-dropping. Almost all cartoon shows of this era tried to shoe-horn in kid-friendly humour, whereas Jack was also serious enough that you could enjoy it as an action movie.
The two thankfully escape by boat and travel out to a large ship, where the Prince must tearfully depart alone and leave his mum. Aboard the large ship the Prince begins his quest to fulfil his father's wishes. What follows is a fun montage that summarizes the young Prince's turn from student to warrior, he trains with gladiators, Vikings, Russian axe throwers, Mongolians, Tibetan monks and even Robin Hood. How this exactly occurs over the span of 30 years is interesting, but nevertheless our samurai emerges strong and ready. He travels to a temple in the clouds where he reunites with his mother and is given his father's sword.
At this point the Prince seeks out his home land, to deliver payback and death upon his life-long enemy. We see what was once the Prince's home has long since become Aku's desolate land, which resembles Hell in many ways, even consisting of slaves building structures and digging for jewels by the strict command of Aku minions. The minions are dressed with devil-horned hoods and red and black ninja clothes, with black whips at their side, they are eager to inflict pain for any who disobey. Elsewhere in Aku's massive cave-like fortress, the Prince's father is stuck at the bottom of a statue of Aku, where he works under the watchful eye of a tormenting minion.
The Prince arrives and quickly defeats Aku's minions with swift strikes and chops. After freeing his father, he promises him to finally vanquish Aku. The Prince charges on horseback towards Aku's tower where he calls the formidable demon out. With swift and continuos strikes and calculated blows, Aku's shape-shifting attack method proves fruitless. Each strike takes more of Aku's power until he is a just weak shadow. In a last desperate attempt to stay alive, the demonic wizard opens a portal where the Prince is flung inside and sent into the future.
In comparison to other episodes there's seems to be a general lack of humour, it's unmistakable, I suppose given it's dark subject matter and the fact we are only are just getting to know the Prince, it's to be expected. The action on the otherhand, especially the final battle between The Prince and Aku is really exciting, it makes the whole episode worth watching. It's most of all satisfying seeing our warrior finally rise to the occasion.
'The Beginning' serves as a first taste of the main characters and their world, and as such we unfortunately don't get to see the fun and comedic side of Samurai Jack. Even it's unintentional comedic pauses and sight gags aren't for show. I think the comedy is important because it breaks up the daunting violence with much-needed light-hearted humour. It's a balance that I believe wasn't crafted as well in this episode, yet I don't think it would have suited it's tone if more prominent.
Tartakovsky manages to show off his cinematic story-telling like few others. Despite simplistic drawings his inventiveness shines with creative screen layouts, such as splicing from comic book panels to traditional widescreen film, as well as epic music and sound effects of movie caliber. Samurai Jack has moments of brilliance and compared to other shows from Cartoon Network the action is jaw-dropping. Almost all cartoon shows of this era tried to shoe-horn in kid-friendly humour, whereas Jack was also serious enough that you could enjoy it as an action movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment