In late 2011, a U.S. dubbing company called Funimation released the Japanese animated comedy, Hetalia: Axis Powers PAINT IT, WHITE!. In order to explain what the movie is about, the viewer has to know about the series from which the film is derived. Hetalia: Axis Powers is an anime about the personified stereotypes of America, England, France, Russia, China, Germany, Japan and Italy. The show;s plot revolves around how these countries dealt with each other during World War II and in modern day. While its’ history is pretty accurate, it’s a comedy. The film is set during modern times, where white, faceless aliens called Pictorians are turning the people of the world into their own species. It’s up to the nations to figure out how to work together and save everyone.
When looking at a film based off of a cartoon or television show, it’s best for a film critic to look at it not only on its own merit, but also how it holds up with the rest of the series. The first thing to think about is the animation. While it’s great for low budget, better animation would certainly have made for a better film. That isn’t to say it’s regular low budget animation as people know, either; while the backgrounds are kind of faded, the people are done with great detail. The main characters have great presence and are always eye catching when on screen in terms of how they move and look.
The film has a very mixed feeling to it. While the comedy is pronounced, there is a sense of dread when the Pictorians are on screen. It’s kind of like if the cast of Monty Python’s Flying Circus fighting against the Borg Collective. It feels like a legitimate threat, and you want to see the heroes pull through, and there are frustrations when their values clash. It’s nice to see, however, that one feeling doesn’t overshadow the other a lot, otherwise the film might be bland as a result.
While most movies have two main characters, PAINT IT, WHITE! has the challenge of not only having seven main characters, but also keeping them all equal in the limelight. However, because of how the film is written, people coming in knowing nothing about the show shouldn’t have a problem finding who is who. The characters themselves are a lot of fun, one of the reasons being that while all the characters are stereotypes, they aren’t mean spirited stereotypes. For example: you have the obnoxious and spotlight hogging America, played by Luci Christian, the sarcastic and magical England, played by Scott Freeman, and the primary main character, the innocent and idiotically naïve Italy, played by Brina Palencia. While most adaptations have the problem of changing characters too much to fit the needs of the film, this film keeps the characters just like from the show.
Now, this isn’t some glowing review for the film; there are problems with the film that can be difficult not only for regular people but also for fans. For one thing, there are characters that don’t really have a place in the film. While the often forgotten Canada and rough and life loving Cuba have a place, the stern Switzerland and innocent Liechtenstein are just sitting and talking to each other about things completely different from the actual film. They seem to be there for a joke and for fans. The other problem is the film loves to cut sketches from the show into the film, this might be okay except that they tend to come at very crucial parts in the film. While this might help people get a little standing with the characters, it feels like obvious padding for an 80 minute film.
Overall, this is a fun movie to sit down and laugh with friends on a weekend. While this might not be the best introduction for the show for people, they shouldn’t have too much trouble following along. There are weird padding decisions, useless characters and unimproved animation, although there is enough going on to satisfy fans and get people’s interest. This is a recommended watch for something new.