Ergo Proxy

Ergo Proxy is truly one slick false prophet: it preaches and promises grandiosity, things holy and catastrophic; talk of God, life, and everything. It talks a good talk, but the reality is quite different above those overcast clouds, and all these fairy tales all lose their thread. The famous opening episodes are pumped up with adrenaline and perfectly interspersed with questions that pinned me to my seat with blissful delight until I cried. I have a deep affinity for film noir mysteries, I'd have intricate hideous and robotic dystopias for lunch any day, and everything was concealed behind smoky curtains everywhere I looked and I shivered with anticipation at exploring it. But sometimes things just don’t work out, do they? Too soon. A giant unchewable bite of philosophy on the one hand, another endless serving of lightly affronted existentialism, caricature allusions and hints to important plot elements, all in a dreadfully boring multi-episode center in which the series literally survives by the skin of its teeth. At that time, I had no idea what was happening on screen and, more importantly, why. Why were there suddenly several completely pointless, out-of-context episodes? If there was an attempt at a joke anywhere, it was straight out of the prime minister's cookbook. The realization that the whole biblical journey of discovery was completely pointless and it was time to freaking go back was a totally irrational insult. By that time I was so mentally broken that I found refuge even in trolling Pino with his childish rants. Thank goodness the ending adds to the pacing, symbolically reverting to the style of the opening and decently tying up the muddled storylines into something sensible, if not quite as satisfying and also strangely reminiscent of NGE. I appreciate the effort at this kind of ultra-serious epic, and thematically Ergo Proxy would be hard-put for a colleague, but I can't help myself: Ultimately, it's a solid mess because it never feels coherent, substantial, or like a unified train of thought. Likewise inconsistent is the artwork, which ranges from awesome to very unhinged, depending on your mood, I guess. The English OP and especially the familiar ED by Audioslave are of note. I hate to give Ergo Proxy only the best possible 3 stars, because this had the makings of something fantastic, but the landing came with a severely clumsy impact on the seat. (11/10/2021)

It's convoluted, logical/illogical, hallucinogenic, dark. I found myself rolling my eyes a few times watching it. Why? The things they were saying. The images I was seeing. But altogether? Ultimately, nothing more than a reading in philosophy and existentialism. What was a surprise and quite disappointing to me was that after the 19th episode, which is like a made-in-the-USA comic, there's a 20th episode where everything is completely different again. And now you don't know – a dream again? A fantasy? It's only towards the end that you realize it's reality. I guess they finally realized that there's been more than enough of these states. Well, my final impression was improved immensely by the last approx. 2 minutes. Vince made a decision to my liking :-D A weaker 4 stars. + I liked the opening a lot, especially when he "screamed". That moment was awfully impressive :-) (04/10/2009)