Heartland: Esluna: The Crown of Babylon
An action-packed anime-style science fiction/fantasy adventure that's probably a better fit for kids.
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“Esluna: The Crown of Babylon” is the baby of writer/director/animator Denver Jackson, and is essentially a continuation to his nine-episode TV series of the same name, subtitled “The First Monolith.” (Unseen by me.)
Both center on the character of Maeve (voice of Grace Chan), a relic “chaser” who’s part Indiana Jones, part Rey from the “Star Wars” and a little bit Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. Instead of a whip or lightsaber she wields a strange device strapped horizontally across her back that can be used as a grabbling hook/winch or weapon.
She also has a robot that follows her around that basically looks like a giant eye with rockets for flying. Named Muchi (sp?), it acts as her pet, companion and steed, with Maeve often hopping on its back for some dare-deviling. She berates and scolds Muchi a lot — in general, Maeve is a pretty scowly type — but they’re always there to save each other’s, uh, skin.
The storyline is a bit hard to follow, with various fighting factions on Esluna and evildoers who need stopping. Maeve was raised by a village of monks who use a combination of martial arts and retro tech. Her mom died when she was young and she was largely raised by Caz (Ariel Hack), a chaser-for-hire who she caught trying to steal one of the monks’ sacred medallions.
Now, the two are somewhat estranged, with Maeve resenting Caz’ willingness to work for just about anyone.
Esluna is a vaguely Earth-adjacent world caught in a steampunk mix of medieval and sci-fi tropes. So there are holograms and spaceships but also magic and mysticism. Her friend and former chaser team member, Bataar (Shawn O'Hara), has glowing hands that he can use for various telekinetic purposes — powerful enough, it seems, to even destroy whole cities if left unchecked.
At first it actually seems that Bataar is the main character, as the movie opens with his childhood escape from his dying home planet when his scientist father places him inside a teleporter that takes him to Esluna — a one-way trip, apparently. Very Kal-El.
Bataar previously left the team/family that also included Mitzu (Alain Williams), the bearded pilot and designated comic relief. But they get the gang back together to oppose Sparrowwood (Morgan McLeod), a former monk who is now leading an army of Obsidians snatching up all the medallions and other tech in pursuit of the Crown of Babylon, a mythological device that can purportedly bring back the dead.
He wants to use it to resurrect his long-dead son, while Maeve has notions of doing the same for her mom.
Also figuring into the mix is Fray (Barbara Poggemiller), leader of the monks and kind of a Yoda figure, and the snotty son of the empress — never seen and apparently a holdover from the TV show — who’s chasing Bataar, Sparrowwood and at various points Maeve, too.
If you can keep all this straight, kudos. But the film’s spotlight is really on the action. There are lots of chases, hand-to-hand fights, explosions, lift-offs, flights, falls and a whole bunch more.
The animation is reflective of its indie low-budget roots, but the action scenes boast kinetic flow and are well-staged by Jackson. This is sort of an Americanized version of Japanese anime, but has a lot of the same look-and-feel, right down to the characters’ mouth movements not exactly matching the words that come out.
This latest iteration of “Esluna” seems better suited for kids than adults, what with its focus on constant whiz-bang action over story. It never really stops moving.