This game tie in unlike it's cult classic predecessor still managed to keep me griped throughout the whole movie. The animation, while awkward at times is smooth, and the gore and fighting when there is some, was satisfying for my taste. While not filled with nudity like the original, it still has it's signature "Heavy Metal Boobies" in a couple of scenes. I found the soundtrack to be amazing, (A lot of people complain it's not Heavy Metal, but it's more of a modern take on the Heavy Metal Genre and fits in with the film. Hence the name "2000") The voice acting is mostly good, the villain was pretty cool and I liked the Cyberpunk take on it. I can understand why people hate it, but if you watch it as a B movie you'll probably find yourself surprised too. It's rare to come across adult films like this (Fritz the Cat, Rock n' Rule, Wizards, Heavy Metal, Dead Space Downfall, The Animatrix, Heavy Traffic, Exc.) which is a shame in my opinion, but in the end, give this a watch, it's a nice film.

An ordinary space miner named Tyler touches a shard of a glowing rock that gives him a hunger for power and a thirst for immortality. He attacks a space colony, Eden, to kill people and collect survivors who have a precious substance in their blood. Unfortunately for Tyler, he kidnapped Kerrie, but left alive her sister Julie. Germain was in his crew, but when Germain tries to protect Kerrie, Tyler leaves Germain behind.Julie dragoons Germain, and they follow Tyler on his journey to a jump point. They hitch a ride just before Tyler's ship enters the wormhole (the 'jump point'). Tyler tries to kill them. The results are really bad for both ships. They crash on a nearby planet where Julie meets Odin and his rock-like assistant. Odin is in search of the 'Key' (the glowing rock) which Julie is oblivious to.Tyler becomes leader of a local race of lizard people. He searches for the pool of the pure substance that will give him immortality. Odin leads Julie to Tyler's ship, where she rescues Kerrie. They go back to the city that protects the pool and the chamber of immortality.Will Julie and her new friends be able to protect the city from the lizard horde? Will they keep Tyler from his goal? -----Scores------Art/Animation: 6/10 Varies from barely competent to good. It seems a bit weak for a film made around 2000. Also, the use of mixed productions modes (some flat, some hand drawn, some done by export of 3d modeling) is rather distracting.Sound: 8/10 The sound levels might have been a bit better balanced. The metal background music seemed to be kept too low compared to the sound levels for gunfire, explosions and voices.Voice: 10/10 Michael Ironside, Julie Strain, Billy Idol, and Pier Paquette were all fine.Screenplay: 7/10 The twin quests for revenge and for immortality move the story right along. However, the story lacks the powerful heart and heroism of the first film.

Having seen the original Heavy Metal about 12 times, I was excited to hear that they were doing a sequel and that it would be a full length feature. The magazine format of the original had been one of its more troublesome aspects, thanks in large part to the clumsy framing device of the evil Loch Nar. Still, the gory fight action, hard rock soundtrack and nude scenes made for a pretty original viewing experience, especially for a cartoon. And Heavy Metal's subsequent influence on anime and other sci-fi long ago assured it of significant cult status.The sequel film, however, proved to be something of a disappointment. The character design and background visuals are quite good and the action is smoothly animated, but the story line is derivative and lacks imagination. Given all of the not-yet-filmed stories in the history of genre literature, yet another revenge for murder plot line seems totally unnecessary, and the addition of a fantasy story hook about a nasty villain searching the galaxy for a source of unlimited power is just a meretricious add-on. I found myself enjoying the look of the movie, while being bored out of my mind by its paint-by-numbers story and weak dialog. Approach with caution and keep expectations low.

Another review here mentioned the likelihood that this was a Julie Strain Ego stroke. I kind of have to agree. I find her a terrible,not-worth-the celluloid actress, although as a cartoon she is better than in real life. The storyline was really weak. So weak in fact one has to wonder if they wrote the entire script on a paper cocktail napkin while out drinking one night. True, the first Heavy Metal's storyline was a little disjointed, but it had multiple contributors and was the first of it's kind. And as the first it was good... and FUN. This one was not fun. There was no ironic/dark comedy moments. You knew where the story was going from moment one. Total formula I could not get involved with these characters either. The writing just never made me care. Lastly there was no sense of adventure. It was just very, repeat VERY, mediocre. Leave it on the shelf at the video store.