A TERRIBLE SHAPE-SHIFTING demon wizard is released from his imprisonment by dark forces unleashed by a solar eclipse, ready to exact his revenge on the Japanese emperor who was responsible for his captivity. Bold action series
"Samurai Jack"
keeps you guessing
Debuts 4 p.m. tomorrow, Cartoon Network
Reviewed by Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comIt is up to the emperor's son, a frightened little boy, to fight the demon Aku -- pronounced Ah-KOO, not like the popular Hawaiian fish name.
This is the setup for a new, boldly rendered, animated series called "Samurai Jack," premiering in a 90-minute presen- tation tomorrow. It starts its 26-episode run at 5 p.m. Monday.
Genndy Tartakovsky, who's worked on two of the cable network's more popular cartoons, "Dexter's Laboratory" and "The Powerpuff Girls," has pulled out all the stops in creating a colorful and highly-stylized action series that will appeal to viewers of all ages.
Watching the first half-hour preview videotape was a delight. During action sequences, such as Jack's climactic battle with Aku, the screen occasionally divides into horizontal or vertical comic-book-like panels, emphasizing the flow of movement. Except for a brief preamble that sets up the story, much of Jack's growing up and training to become a samurai was done without dialogue.Instead it lets Jim Venable's music soundtrack tell much of the story, as Jack trains with a variety of mythical archetypes, such as Japanese seafarers, an Arabian horseman, an African warrior, an Egyptian scholar, Greek wrestlers and even Robin Hood, Vikings, Russians and Shaolin monks.
By the time he returns home to help his weakened father and his enslaved people escape from Aku's tyrannical rule, he's quite the complete warrior.
You'd think that the title would clue in to anime-type work, but Tartakovsky and his artists opt for a more expressive facial look, especially with Jack's eyes (he looks like a variant of Professor Utonium from "The Powerpuff Girls").
It's a purposefully flat, two-dimensional look, made more so by eliminating any defining outline look on the characters. That way they blend in with the gorgeous backgrounds rendered by designer Dan Krall and painter Scott Wills.
Jack is voiced by Phil La Marr, a former member of the "Mad TV" troupe who has also lent his voice talents to "Futurama" and "King of the Hill." La Marr says he plays him like "a young Asian Clint Eastwood." The supernatural Aku's voice comes from veteran Asian-American actor Mako.
Jack's adventures continue in the future, as Aku banishes the heroic samurai just before what looks like an impending defeat. That bleak future world is still under Aku's rule, filled with exotic civilizations and strange cultures and policed by his evil robot warlords.
It is there he will have his continuing adventures, as he searches for the time portal that will take him home.
"From show to show, you will never guess what will happen next," promises Tartakovsky. "I think that it is going to be the most unique and different experience viewers have had watching a cartoon. Hopefully, people will really feel like this is a new mythology and they will want to follow the legend. For kids, it has great samurai action. Adults will appreciate the great filmmaking, the mood and the humor."
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