JB

When it reluctantly popped this into my DVD player expecting a lousy cash-in, I was pleasantly suprised.

Despite being less than an hour long, Idolo is a high quality film. In a war between Martian colonists and the opressive Earth, the Martians have constructed a prorotype super robot from a powerful metal known as metatron. This metal is said to have a mind of its own and threatens to consume Radium, the test pilot and main charachter.

What follows is a short but sweet tale of Martian opression, and Radium's internal battle between his desire for revenge and more rational self. Battle scenes are well animated: Giant clunky robots have a sense of being weighted down, wheras Idolo moves gracefully, slicing through enemies with ease.

Also very interesting was the strong sense of drama apparent through Radium's feelings of helplessness and anger towards the Earth expressed through the Idolo and more significantly, the relationship between Radium and Viola, the main female charachter. All this culminates in an unexpected, but very well excecuted ending, which polishes off a very good movie. It could have benefitted from more length, but what is present is packed with character development and action.

Take note, this is no cash-in, it's 55 minutes of quality.