Review: 'Scarlet' is a boldly realized trip through an animated underworld, from the wild imagination of 'Mirai' director Mamoru Hosoda

The Japanese animated wonder “Scarlet” is an eye-popping and fiercely colorful work from director Mamoru Hosoda — and it stands shoulder to shoulder with his previous films, like “Mirai” or “Belle,” in their technical wizardry and boundless imagination.

Scarlet is a princess, but not the damsel-in-distress sort. She wields a sword expertly, and is on a mission to avenge her father, the king. He was killed by his brother, Claudius, who took his crown and the hand of the queen, Gertrude. Yes, this sounds familiar — it’s the basic plot of “Hamlet,” and Hosoda, as writer and director, even gives other characters names like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to underline the comparison.

Hamlet, though, never traveled through the Otherworld, a shadow realm where the dead get a second chance to die horribly. Scarlet is looking for a way out of this purgatory so she can pursue Claudius among the living. And in an afterlife where conflict and combat are commonplace, it’s a surprise for Scarlet to meet Hijiri, a 20th century EMT who teaches the warrior princess about the value of nonviolence. 

The animation by Hosoda’s team is richly layered and sumptuous. The digital techniques used here maintain the crispness of classic line animation, staying away both from the big-eyed caricatures of traditional anime and the fleshy roundness of 3-D computer animation. If Hayao Miyazaki had ever overcame his aversion to computers, he might have come up with something like this.

——

‘Scarlet’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, February 13, at the Megaplex Theatres at The District (South Jordan) and the AMC West Jordan. Rated PG-13 for strong violence/bloody images. Running time: 111 minutes, in Japanese with subtitles.