Redline (2009)
★★½ — Redline (2009)
Redline arrived in Japanese cinemas in 2009 after a production process that had become something of an industry legend. The film took roughly seven years to complete, with the animation studio Madhouse (working alongside TFC) employing over 100,000 hand-drawn frames across its 102-minute runtime. That figure is worth sitting with for a moment. In an era when even prestige animation houses were migrating to digital workflows, the decision to commit to fully traditional hand-drawn production on this scale was, by any measure, a significant one. The result is a film that carries the particular warmth and weight of ink on paper, a quality that digital animation still struggles to replicate. For those who came of age watching the great Japanese animated films of the late eighties and nineties, the aesthetic registers almost immediately as something familiar and, for some, actively nostalgic.
The film is directed by Takeshi Koike, making his feature debut here after building a reputation as an animator and character designer. Koike had contributed work to various productions over the years, but Redline served as his chance to set the visual agenda entirely on his own terms, and the film wears that creative freedom openly. The premise is straightforward enough: a reckless racing driver known as JP becomes determined to compete in Redline, a galaxy-spanning race held only once every five years, one so dangerous that entire governments try to shut it down. The story threads in organised crime, romantic entanglement, and military conspiracy around that central chase, though the racing itself is clearly where Koike's real interests lie. The film has a tagline that does not undersell things: "The most violent race in the universe." Produced under the Madhouse banner, which had already established itself as one of Japan's most respected animation studios, Redline sat somewhat apart from the mainstream releases of its moment, finding its largest audience gradually, through home video and word of mouth, rather than at the box office.
The voice cast is led by Takuya Kimura, one of Japan's most recognisable entertainers, who brings a loose, confident energy to JP. Kimura had previously worked in animation, most notably lending his voice to another major production (you can read my thoughts on that one in Howl's Moving Castle). Yu Aoi voices Sonoshee McLaren, the driver whose path crosses with JP's both on and off the track, while Tadanobu Asano, a prolific and versatile actor whose work spans art cinema and genre films, appears in the cast alongside veteran voice performer Takeshi Aono. It is a solid ensemble, though as with most films in this register, the visuals are doing at least as much work as the performances. For fans of Japanese animation looking for further context, it is also worth noting that the country's film output is hardly limited to this kind of hyper-kinetic action: the site has reviewed everything from quieter, more contemplative Japanese pictures such as Yi Yi and The Snow Woman through to more recent animated productions like Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain, which gives some sense of the range on offer. Redline, though, occupies a fairly singular corner of that landscape.
Redline (2009) is an animated adrenaline shot, a two-hour love letter to speed, style, and pure visual insanity that feels like it was hand-drawn on fire. From the opening sequence onward, it’s clear this isn’t just a movie; it’s a sensory overload in the best way. The art style is breathtaking: rich, detailed, and 100% traditional hand-drawn animation, with a retro-futuristic flair that channels the golden era of Japanese anime, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, even Cowboy Bebop. There’s a nostalgic glow to every frame. It feels so much like the Podrace from Star Wars: Episode I. The premise of a galaxy’s most dangerous racers gathering for a death-defying interstellar race is pure sci-fi spectacle, and Redline takes that energy and cranks it to eleven. Neon-lit cars, insane weapons, alien spectators, and tracks that spiral through volcanoes, battlefields, and zero-gravity zones, it’s chaotic, loud, and gloriously over-the-top. It does get a little “samey” as the race drags on (event after event, explosion after explosion) but it never completely loses momentum. The characters are archetypal (the fearless hero, the mysterious femme fatale, the mad scientist), but they’re fun, and the humour lands often enough to keep things light. This isn’t deep storytelling or philosophical sci-fi. It’s a high-octane joyride built for fans of kinetic animation and absurd action. Short enough to avoid total burnout, stylish enough to forgive its thin plot. If you grew up loving the look and feel of 90s anime, Redline will hit you right in the nostalgia berries. A cult classic with engines.
Going back to Redline after writing all of this, I find myself still thinking about those hand-drawn frames and what it must have taken to produce them at that volume and that speed. For me, that commitment to a particular way of making images is inseparable from the experience of watching the film. It is the reason it feels different from so much else on the market, polished but alive in a way that a cleaner production might not be. The thin plot does not bother me as much as it might in a different kind of film, because the film is not really pretending to be something else. It knows what it is and it commits to it without apology. Sometimes that is exactly what you want from a trip to the cinema, or the sofa, or wherever you happen to be watching. Not every race needs a finish line that means something. Some just need to be fast.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 2009 | Watched: 2025-11-13
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Redline (2009) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Rent: Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More with Takuya Kimura: Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
More from Japan: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · Blue (1993) · The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
