Patlabor Movie 3: WXIII

The third movie is usually the weakest in a trilogy and WXIII is no exception. However, the third movie is also usually utter shite and WXIII is far from that! A well written and paced story, consistently great animation, a soundtrack that compliments the visuals well but for all of that... Patlabor 3 isn't close to as good as the first movie, let alone the second! Something to do with the fact that Mamoru Oshii did not direct the film no doubt. Story - 9 The movie is a detective mystery focusing on detectives Kusumi and his junior partner, Hata. The story takes the premise ofa huge sea creature from OVA 3 of the Early Days OVA and the escaped lab experiment creature hunting down labors from episode 4 of the tv series and turns it into a feature length film. Everything that happens in the film is all traceable to the character Misaki, a scientist and Hata's love interest. Her backstory leads to some great revelations that adds layers to the plot and allows the plot to come to a conclusive end. The pacing is slow but reveals things at the right moment and as mentioned earlier, there are no loose plot threads left hanging. The themes of inter bureaucratic political strife and human bioresearch tampering with natural life is hinted at and very subtle. Where as Oshii is subtle with themes such as this through heavy layering of metaphors, symbolism and philosophical dialogue, WXIII simply never directly mentions these themes. Thus, the film lacks the lasting impact of the other in the series. Art - 9 Produced by Madhouse rather than Production IG, Madhouse obviously does a brilliant job with both art and animation. It is consistently pleasant throughout the film and the artstyle is realistic. However, no part of Madhouse's fault, the film is nowhere as visually spectacular. Without Oshii, the dynamic angles, great choreography, slow panning shots, odd camerawork and a fck ton of symbolism that are his trademarks are non present. The film does have nice shots of the city but this, combined with the flight of birds only makes it look more like an attempt to emulate Oshii's work in the earlier films. Sound - 8 Kenji returns to compose this film's soundtrack. It follows the format of the other two film's soundtrack and compliments what happens onscreen well enough. I'm no expert in techno/ambient music but it should be obvious that the music lacks the punch of the other two movies. Character - 8 I suppose its nice to have Kusumi get his own story. His veteran knowledge and detective instincts compliment Hata's sharp observational skills and quick thinking well. Hata also helps draws out Misaki's motivations and thoughts. Misaki's actions are selfish and flawed but unfaultable. Its rather interesting. It is regrettable that most of the SV2 group barely appears in the movie; if at all. Noa, Ohta and Shinohara are no more than background characters! The Ingram itself appears barely as long as the aforementioned three characters do while thankfully, Goto as a supporting character per usual appears for 5 minutes at least. Overall - 8 Given the lack of not only the SV2 cast but also the Ingram; especially considering that they appear 20 MINUTES before the films end and the fact that there is no excuse since this is NOT an Oshii film where story and visuals come first over characters, it can be argued that this is not a Patlabor movie. It is merely set in the same universe but instead, focuses on the exploits of two detectives of the regular police. Indeed, pacing could be a little slow for some people; especially annoying since the movie manages to have less action than the two first despite having even less visual and thematic development. All of that aside, a flick that hardcore Patlabor fans and newcomers to the franchise can easily enjoy thanks to its solid storytelling and animation. Rating: M for people being eaten and a particularly foul mouthed film director (in natural English too)

To keep things simple, imagine if someone made a boring detective anime with a mediocre budget. But catch this: They isekai'd in Special Vehicle Unit 2 from Patlabor! That's how out of touch this movie felt to me. Me and my friend who had been binging the Patlabor series/movies just this week and we both agreed this movie is like the unnecessary "reboot". It was only a decade after movie 2, but Oshii (the original creator) has made it clear through movie 2 that it was the final movie in the Patlabor franchise. This one felt like a forced attempt to revive the series (since Oshiiisn't even directing this one). The scene where SVU 2 actually came in to action in this movie was so alienated; I keep feeling like they're hollow husks of their once bright personalities, called upon to act out roles they no longer have. Still, it gets a 6 for me since I still like serious detective/crime series and compared to modern standard it is still somewhat okay. Fun fact: Took 1 hour 16 minute into the movie to see an actual robot.

For years, "Akira" was the Gold Standard, the movie that you showed to your non-anime fans to turn them into true believers. With "Patlabor WXIII: The Movie", "Akira" is dethroned. This movie, is, without a doubt the new feature movie anime that all others will be measured against. It's a movie that takes it's time, in a poetic way, to tell the story of two detectives who are trying to solve a series of brutal murders. Like the best episode of "Homicide: LOTS" or "NYPD Blue" the story gradually unfolds involving bioengineering, death of loved ones due to cancer, a tragic failed attempt at romanceby the younger detective, and the realization of age and decay by the older. Each frame is breathtakingly beautiful, the music is hypnotic and the director makes full use of the Surround Sound 5.1 in the effects. The Special Forces Unit 2, our regular stable of Patlabor characters are a small but important part at the end of the movie, but their absence is not important. What is important is the story and how it unfolds. This is the movie to rent, then own, to show others what anime is all about.

The movie itself is really set between 1 and 2, so it doesn't really advance the plot line. Also it's more a detective and monster film than a straight sci-fi mecha film. It's kinda nice to see some of the side characters get their time in the spotlight. However, the plotline behind it, while it was well done, was kinda ruined by one one character, the lady researcher. Not to be rude, but she made it really easy to hate her guts. as the story goes, she lost her husband in an accident, and later lost her daughter to cancer;however, she used samples of her daughter and the cancer that killed her in creating the monster. Mother of the Year material, huh? I won't give away too much about it, needless to say it was nice to watch, but it's not exactly necessary to the whole story to see it.