Robotech II: The Sentinels (1988) OVA movie

Overall verdict: 6/10

The Good:  Decent character design, good voice acting, more natural character interactions, serves as an intriguing pilot movie, nostalgic revisiting of classic characters.

The Bad: inconsistent artwork, horrible pacing, over use of repeated animation, some questionable new designs.

***********Review***********

ROBOTECH II: THE SENTINELS was meant to be the start of a new series following the adventures off the ROBOTECH: THE MACROSS SAGA characters on an expedition mission the the far reaches of space. 

A myriad of reasons caused production to be halted and only less than 3 episodes worth of material was ever completed. Despite the various setbacks, Harmony gold edited the remaining completed material into a 75 minute feature meant to bridge the gap between the first and second Robotech sagas. 

Following the defeat of the giant Zentradi armada, the remaining Zentradi have joined forces with the humans to build a massive vessel, the SDF-3. They intend to reach the home-world of the Robotech Masters, the masterminds behind the Zentradi invasion, and establish peaceful relations with them. 

Thanks to the truncated nature of the completed animation, the movie is split into two story arcs. The first takes place around earth. As the heroes of the first Robotech war prepare for their interstellar voyage, new heroes try to earn their place among those chosen for the expedition. 

Here we are introduced to the hot headed Jack Baker and the intelligent and spirited Karen Penn. Re-introduced are the characters from the Macross saga like Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes, who are in the midst of planning their wedding. Fans would no doubt get a kick out of seeing their favorite characters, older but instantly recognisable as the same people they knew and loved.

The second story arc takes place around Tirol, the home-world which the Robotech Masters abandoned to search for the lost protoculture matrix, leaving their old, sick and young behind. 

The invid led by the dreaded Regent (husband of the Regiss) takes this opportunity to launch an all out invasion of Tirol. Amidst the decimation, an aging scientist called Cabell and a familiar looking man named Rem try to survive and carry on their research.

As expected, the earth scenes featuring the recurring macross saga characters are pretty much all talk and no action other than a combat simulation at the beginning.

 Most of the action takes place during the Tirol invasion scenes. Thankfully the voice actors put up an excellent performance and the script keeps the dialog very natural preventing the slower scenes from feeling dull.

Many fans have lamented the lower quality animation but really, the artwork is no less inconsistent than what was in the original series and the animation is actually on par with the The Masters season. It is sub par for a movie but one must remember that Robotech II The Sentinels was produced as a TV series. 

While there are scenes with better than usual animation, such as the opening sequence with Jack Baker and Rick Hunter flying their Alphas, there are also a lot of animation short cuts, repeated animation to pad out the run time, and even unfinished animation.


Another common complaint is the altered character designs for the returning Macross saga characters. Keep in mind that this show takes place 8 years after Macross saga. Eight years can do a lot to someone's appearance especially characters like Rick Hunter and Lynn Minmei who went from teenagers to full adults. 

If anything, the changes in appearances of said characters gives a sense of realism of the series, showing that characters do not remain immortally young unlike other TV animated shows.

Visual changes aside, the music was also changed for this movie. There is much more reliance on synthesiser music which can be a mixed bag. This style is great for fast paced scenes, or scenes involving the alien invid. Outside of those, the music sounds like something out of a generic video game. 

While this show does provide some answers for fans, no one else but fans who have watched the original series would be able to understand it. Furthermore The Sentinels concludes rather abruptly; actually showing the SDF-3 leaving earth would have been a much more fulfilling conclusion but given the limited resources available, this is also not unexpected.

Despite the valiant effort of the creative team, Robotech II: The Sentinels loses points for its abrupt ending, inconsistent story and mediocre animation for a movie. It serves as a decent enough teaser for any fan looking to follow the rest of the unfinished tale in the Robotech novels or comics. 

For fans of Robotech, watching Robotech II The Sentinels would be like returning to visit a family that one has not seen in years. It is a quick simple visit to catch up on old times and marvel at how much they have changed over the years, nothing more nothing less.



***********Review***********

Entertainment: B-
Art: C-
Animation: C

Story: C+
Voice Acting (English): A 

Characters: B

Music: B-

Replay value: B-
"Brains": D-

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020) Direct to Video Animated movie

Overall verdict: 7.5/10

The Good:  Detailed artwork, smooth animation, mostly great voice acting, decent music, likeable characters, well written dialogue and humour

The Bad: Rushed story, lack of character development, more concerned with being a finale than an actual movie, lacks exploration of deeper themes, Darkseid's voice

***********Review***********

The often bumpy “DC Animated Movie universe” which began with JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX and JUSTICE LEAGUE: WAR now comes to an end in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR. In a highly out of character moment, Superman leads the DC universe’s greatest heroes on what is tantamount to an assassination Mission against Darkseid, ruler of the planet Apokolips. 

But the intergalactic warlord laid a trap using new elite creatures cloned from Doomsday, the creation that once killed Superman. Heroes are gruesomely slain, others were captured and brainwashed to serve Darkseid, some even willingly collaborated with the enemy. Superman himself was infused with pure kryptonite and made to watch powerless as Earth was laid to ruin.

Now two years later, dead heroes have returned as robotic monstrosities, vicious parademons roam, picking off the remaining population, and the magic wielding John Constantine, is drowning his survivor’s guilt over the death of his friends. But with the arrival of two unexpected visitors, John is about to be roped into a do or die counteroffensive to save what is left of this ruined world.
On the surface, APOKALIPS WAR is easily the most brutal of the dc animated movies. Character deaths are shocking and gory with dismemberments, disembowelments, and decapitations. Truly this movie earns its R Rating. The animation is provided by “Tiger Animation Studio”, a South Korean company who had done mostly support work for past Dc animated movies like JUSTICE LEAGUE VS TEEN TITANS. This is their first project as main animation studio and they have exceeded all expectations.
The level of details in the artwork with actual shadows and Dynamic shading that shift as a character moves, it is beautiful! The amazing art thankfully does not come at the expense of the animation quality which maintains its smooth frame rate throughout. 

Action scenes are fast paced and intense with a lot of things happening at the same time in frame. The only nitpick that stands out are a few scenes where hordes of enemies like the cloned “paradooms” are done in a cel shaded CGI form and this clashes badly with the other traditionally animated characters.

Dig below the surface however and this movie comes across as a bit shallow and rushed. With A story about survivors’ guilt, the horrors of war and defeat, one would expect this movie to be among the darkest and deepest of superhero movie offerings showing how failed individuals can still rise to the occasion and overcome their past failings and emotional shortcomings. Unfortunately, it revels more in its shock factor than anything deep. 

The main story follows the group of Constantine, Etrigan the demon, Raven and Robin of the teen titans, along with a depowered Superman. None of them go through much development over the course of the movie. 

Raven and Robin’s arc merely brings closure to their romantic tension in past TEEN TITANS movies, Etrigan is just bored and looking for a new challenge, and Superman of all people seems comparatively upbeat for a guy who led half of earth’s greatest champions to their deaths and then further doomed his home world. 
Constantine himself could have had a character arc of grieving and eventual acceptance and self forgiveness, especially after the revelation that he only survived by running from the pivotal battle. Alas, he gets no such emotional arc whatsoever and the whole thing about abandoning his friends turns out to be a literal “Batman gambit” involving a compulsion spell.
There is no emotional journey for anyone. Who they are at the start of the movie ends up being who they are at the end of the movie; there is no development. Whatever conflicts the characters face come from external factors, threats that can be punched, blasted or magicked away. 

The plot with its often contrived twists drives our main cast from one such conflict to another whether it be a prison run by supervillains or the fiery pits of Apokalips. Where the script excels is in its brisk introductions of all its characters, giving them easily recognisable qualities, and making them immediately likeable especially the villains comprising the Suicide Squad.
Interestingly, most of the moments of levity come from the "bad guys". Their crazed personalities and interactions with the main cast are snappy, well written, and thankfully do not clash with the overall tone.

One gets the sense that this movie is less concerned with telling a story and more concerned with being “the conclusion to a franchise”. In that regard it succeeds in bringing the closure needed for plot threads set up in the ongoing JL movies, the BATMAN solo movies and the Teen Titans movies. Just that whatever emotional connection viewers may have with the characters comes from past movies rather then what they go through in this film. 
On its own, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKALIPS WAR fumbles its execution. What could have been a deeper character deconstruction of various heroes in their darkest hour is instead turned into a fairly typical “A-team lost, so B-team steps up to play”type of plot that we’ve seen countless times. 
The more interesting side of actually showing the war and its effects is merely glossed over or glimpsed or happens off screen or in brief flashbacks. As a mere “finale” to a 15 episode series of movies, it does it’s job. Whatever narrative shortcomings are buried nicely under its superficial visual splendour, shock value and just the novelty of seeing so many characters interacting on screen. Nothing more, nothing less.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: A-
Art: A
Animation: A-

Story: B
Voice Acting (English): A- 

Characters: B

Music: B-

Replay value: B+
"Brains": D+

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003) movie review

Overall verdict: 6/10

The Good:  great special effects, detailed monster designs, touches on deeper themes, retroactively creates a shared universe

The Bad: unlikable characters, bland plot, repetitive music, cartoonish fight scenes, mediocre acting from main cast

***********Review***********

GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS has the honor of being the only “sequel” to exist in the Millennium era of the long running Godzilla franchise. Taking place a year after the events of GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA, Tokyo SOS sees the return of not only fan favorite Mothra but of late actor Hiroshi Koizumi reprising the role of Dr Shinichi Chujo from the 1961 movie MOTHRA.

With the Mechagodzilla named Kiryu undergoing hasty repairs in preparation for Godzilla’s return, Mothra’s fairies, the Shobijin, appear to Dr Chujo, his grandson, and his nephew Yoshito, with a warning that using the bones of the previous Godzilla in the construction of Kiryu was an affront to the natural order of the universe and if the bones are returned to the sea, Mothra would take Kiryu’s place as Japan’s defender.

Of course the Japanese government is reluctant to give up the one weapon capable of defeating Godzilla, and have much less faith in Mothra’s capabilities. As Godzilla returns to wreak havoc, those capabilities will be put to the test alongside an increasingly unstable Kiryu that is still haunted by its memories of its death back in 1954.

In its overall premise, TOKYO SOS shows a lot of potential. It goes back to the “humanity’s sins returning to punish them” theme that was prevalent in the first Godzilla movie. It also promises an exploration of two common contrasting reactions to disasters: faith in the divine (embodied by the fairies asking for japan to trust in Mothra) and a pride driven reliance on human capability and self determinism (embodied by the government’s refusal to scrap Mechagodzilla).

 Where the film could have delved deep into these themes, deconstructing both or showing how they can coexist hand in hand, it instead drops the ball in favour of cliched storytelling and characters.

Rather than continuing the previous movie’s character development, those already shallow characters are ditched in favour of new though much less likable characters. Our main protagonist is Yoshito Chujo, a hot headed mechanic in the Kiryu maintenance team. He had a quirk for understanding machines more than people and.....that’s about it. 

The movie sets up a relationship triangle between Yoshito, former mechanic turned pilot Azusa, and another arrogant male pilot Akiba which.....goes no where. You get a couple of scenes involving fiery male tension and that’s it. Not much in the way of resolution other than an arc about how our lowly mechanic wins the respect of the glorious pilots (an arc that was already done in GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA). 

In terms of acting, the older actors do a much better job. Almost as if the younger actors portraying the young adult characters, especially Azusa, were hired more for their looks than ability. The characters they portray come across as generally unlikable with only Yoshito having some redeeming qualities.

Visually, this movie upholds the standards set by its predecessor: beautiful imagery, detailed miniatures and monster suits, near flawless visual compositing. It also upholds the flaws, retaining the overly choreographed cartoony battles and the stiff movements of the monsters.

What I appreciated the most of GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS, was how it and it’s predecessor GODZILLA AGAINST MEGHAGODZILLA is the first Godzilla movie to retroactively establish a proper “shared cinematic universe” by bringing in old Toho movies like MOTHRA and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS as part of its continuity. This stands in contrast to the Showa era and heisei era Godzilla movies which were just sequels to each other and not actual “shared” cinematic universes in the way we know them now.

Other than that this movie is a mixed bag for me. For every positive such as the special effects, the shared universe lore building, and a return to the darker themes of the original GODZILLA movie, there are equal number of negatives in the cliched storyline, unlikable characters, and cartoonish fights.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: B+

Story: C-
Acting: C+

Characters: C-

Music: C+

Replay value: B+

"Brains": C+

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002) movie review

Overall verdict: 7/10

The Good:  Awesome special effects, likeable human characters, "feel good" story, relatable themes, easy to follow narrative.

The Bad: cartoony battles, cheesy dialogue, cliched plot, reuses many elements from previous movie, 

***********Review***********

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is the fourth Godzilla film in the “millenium era” that started with Godzilla 2000. It is the second Godzilla movie by director Masaaki Tezuka, after his previous (and relatively unimpressive) GODZILLA X MEGAGUIRUS, and this entry retreads a lot of ground covered by that movie. So much that it’s plot could be considered a remake of GXMegaguirus only with Mechagodzilla.
After the first Godzilla that attacked japan in 1954, there have been attacks by other giant monsters prompting the formation of the Anti Megalosaurus Force (AMF), an elite tactical unit given sci fi technology and tasked with fending off such attacks. A failed sortie against a new Godzilla in 1999 had prompted Japan To use the bones of the previous Godzilla to create Kiryu, a titanic robot in the form of Godzilla: a Mechagodzilla. 

Equipped with missiles, beam weapons and the dangerous “absolute zero” freeze cannon, Kiryu is a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately their first battle awakens the memories of the Godzilla whose remains form a part of Kiryu and the giant robot causes just as much damage as the monster it was designed to stop. While awaiting the next attack, the AMF scrambles to ensure Kiryu is able to remain in control.
It’s similarity to GXMegaguirus comes in not just the setup of a deadly uncontrollable new weapon that leads to more trouble than it is worth, but also the characters. The 2 main characters are Akane Yashiro, a soldier and survivor of the failed 1999 sortie racked with guilt and vowing revenge against Godzilla, and Tokumitsu Yuhara, an optimistic jokey scientist who helped with the creation of Kiryu. 

Both of them are rehashed from the characters in GXMegaguirus Kiriko Tsujimori and Hajime Kudo, complete with the scientist trying to get friendly with the cold and distant soldier. Fortunately, the character development here is more gradual and the characters themselves more likable than Director Tezuka’s prior efforts. 

The addition of Tokumitsu’s daughter and her bond within Akane gives the soldier an emotional anchor to slowly warm up to. Akane’s character arc of at first being looked down upon by fellow teammates but slowly winning over their respect to be treated as an equal mirrors a very real challenge women in male dominant professions continue to face.
The overall tale is much more focused on the human characters with a very pro-humanist slant. Godzilla himself is devoid of personality, reduced to merely being “generic threat to humanity”, an obstacle that a country can overcome through unity, dedication and ingenuity. 

It is decidedly more in the “feel good” category as compared to the more nihilistic GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK. Depending on one’s taste, this could be seen as an improvement over something that was too dark or as a step backward into more idealistic “happy and kid friendly” territory.
A more objective improvement is in the special effects. Miniatures of the buildings, vehicles and city are breathtakingly detailed. Green screen effects are also more polished than what came before. 

However with detail comes a trade off, and that can be seen in the monsters themselves. The well crafted giant monsters move very stiffly; melee fights consists of awkward flailing or pushing or hugging each other while pyrotechnics go off behind them. 

Director Tezuka tried to get around these limitations by enhancing the footage with CGI and filming in a certain style involving over the top feats. This all only adds to the often cartoony feel of the battles like one scene when Mechagodzilla flies at full speed to tackle Godzilla away. Mechagodzilla comes to a complete stop upon hitting Godzilla and just stands there while Godzilla is sent careening into the distance. It is like something out of Looney Tunes!
Like Kiryu of the story, GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA is not without some kinks. For all it’s good special effects, characters and themes, you have the cartoony battles, the often over the top acting, and the cliche ridden story that we have seen twice already. 

For me, I found it very entertaining despite its shortcomings. It is a competent movie and while I did prefer something darker, I do appreciate the entertainment value of this one.


***********Review***********

Entertainment: A

Story: C+
Acting: B-

Characters: A

Music: C+

Replay value: B-

"Brains": C+