is a 2001 Japanese animated futurist cyberpunk drama film loosely based upon Osamu Tezuka's 1949 manga of the same name. The film was directed by Rintaro, written by Katsuhiro Otomo, and produced by Madhouse, with conceptual support from Tezuka Productions.
Plot
Humans and robots coexist in the multi-layered city of Metropolis, although robots are discriminated against and segregated to the lowest levels of the city. Most humans in Metropolis are unemployed and impoverished, with many blaming robots for taking their jobs.
Duke Red, Metropolis's unofficial ruler and wealthiest citizen, has recently completed construction of The Ziggurat, a massive skyscraper which he claims will allow mankind to extend its power across the planet. A wayward robot disrupts the Ziggurat's opening ceremony, prompting Duke Red's adopted son Rock, the leader of an anti-robot paramilitary organization known as the Marduks, to shoot it down. Meanwhile, private detective Shunsaku Ban and his young nephew/assistant Kenichi Shikishima have traveled from Japan to Metropolis to apprehend rogue scientist Dr. Laughton, wanted for organ trafficking and human rights violations. Unbeknownst to Shunsaku, Duke Red has hired Dr. Laughton to secretly build a highly advanced android, modeled and named after his deceased daughter Tima, with the intention of using her as the central control unit for a powerful superweapon hidden at the top of the Ziggurat. Duke Red's plans are disrupted however when Rock learns of Tima's existence, and fearing for his father's safety, shoots Laughton and sets his laboratory ablaze.
Discovering the burning laboratory, Shunsaku locates the dying Laughton, who directs Shunsaku to a notebook containing his research. Meanwhile, Kenichi stumbles upon the newly activated Tima. The two fall into the sewers and are separated from Shunsaku. While Shunsaku searches for his nephew, Kenichi and Tima search for a way back up to the street level. They grow close as Kenichi teaches Tima how to speak, both unaware that she is a robot. Learning that Tima survived the lab's destruction, Rock and his subordinates hunt them relentlessly. The pair encounter a group of unemployed human laborers who stage an armed revolution against Metropolis's leaders and robot workers.
Unhappy with the Duke's popularity and influence, the president and the mayor of Metropolis try to use the revolution to overthrow Red and regain control of Metropolis. However, the president's top military commander, General Kusai Skunk is revealed to be one of Red's subordinates and assassinates them both. Red then imposes martial law and violently suppresses the revolution. In the aftermath, Kenichi reunites with Shunsaku, but Rock, who exposes Tima as a robot, wounds him. Red disowns Rock and removes him from command of the Marduks for attempting to kill Tima before taking her and Kenichi away to the Ziggurat.
Still determined to eliminate her and regain his father's affection, Rock kidnaps and deactivates Tima, who is now confused about her identity. Having tracked Rock, Shunsaku recovers Tima, and following instructions from Laughton's notebook, reactivates her. The two discover Kenichi is being held in the Ziggurat, but Duke Red and the Marduks capture them while the pair are en route. They are brought to the top of the Ziggurat, where Tima confronts Duke Red about whether she is a human or a robot. Duke Red tells her she is "superhuman" and destined to rule the world from her 'throne', the control system for the Ziggurat's superweapon. Disguised as one of the Ziggurat's maids, Rock shoots Tima in the shoulder, exposing her internal circuitry, before being shot by Red's men.