Cyborg 009 and the Monster Wars

Airing only 8 months after the first film this sequel delivers more of the same albeit in a more refined overall package. Everything about this movie marginally improves on the original. The animation quality is noticeably better with higher fluidity of movement. The cinematography is improved with some decent transition shots early on and more varied and creative perspective shots and the art design and art direction, especially the backgrounds, are noticeably more detailed and polished. The voice acting has also improved as a whole. Despite what seems to be the same cast the performances are more lively and spirited and the plot lends itselfto some emotional confrontations and outbursts where the actors do much to make the scenes more interesting than they otherwise should be. The plot here is in some ways even dumber than in the first film but this is compensated for with better pacing and more focus leading to a tighter overall narrative from start to finish. There is no attempt at any kind of political commentary around military–industrial complex this time around. This theme is seemingly replaced with a more generic statement on the nature of doing right by your personal convictions and not being a slave to blind loyalty. When it comes to the action set pieces, while they are better animated and slightly better choreographed than in the first film, recycled shots still abound and the exceedingly contrived ways in which the protagonists defeat their foes also carries forward. The nonsensical "exposed weak spot" trope is employed here in an even lazier way than in the first film if that can be believed and the catching and throwing back of missiles and artillery shells makes a return as well. The absurdity is not limited to the action sequences as tension is built up in some of the most spurious ways bordering on falling through plot holes. At one point 009 is holding another character over a ledge of a crevasse by the wrist, preventing them from falling. As the walls of the chasm start to close in 009 is shown struggling in an overdramatized, drawn-out way over the task of pulling this one character over the ledge and to safety... but 009 has already been established as an enhanced cyborg with super human strength so this scene plays out rather farcically with that in mind. At another point a character is first electrocuted by the main villain and then repeatedly shot by dozens of henchmen in an extremely cheesy way but nevertheless manages to slide across a wall very slowly to reach a lever to free the other cyborgs while sad music plays in the background. This all happens so painfully slowly and melodramatically that you have to question why the henchmen a) stop shooting, and b) make no other attempt to stop the character given how slowly they are limping and stretching for this lever. If you can find the unintended comedy in these kinds of scenes then you might find it amusing but otherwise you'll be left with your face in your palm. One other thing that jumped out more in this film than it did in the last was how annoying the 007 character is and how constantly they are featured throughout the film. It feels like they alone are given a quarter of all dialogue in the movie and practically all of it is either drivel, whining or poor attempts at humor. You could edit this character out completely and save what feels like 10 minutes off the run time while losing nothing of note or value. All in all, while this is a sequel that surpasses the original in essentially every way, being better than "horrid" still lands you "fairly bad" in this case. I still can't quite come around to recommending either film however if you have the inclination to watch only one of these two then this sequel is perhaps the one to go with.