Golgo 13: Queen Bee

The sequel to the classic Golgo 13 : The Professional, is a more enjoyable movie, despite (or perhaps because of) being simpler and relatively straightforwards.

Without spoiling the first movie, after all that, you sort of wonder what would become of the protagonist... not that he seemed to be concerned himself, mind you.

In this one, Queen Bee, Golgo shows that he can adjust the timing of his jobs in order to accomplish other goals. I would say more, but it is hard not to spoilt it.

So, I will just say that, even if you know nothing about Duke / Golgo, this movie is enjoyable: it ... seems like an action-drama based on an assassin sent on a difficult job (hunting down a rebel leader, alone and in the jungle), but then seems to turn into more of a love drama, but what the true emotions of the stoic protagonist are, are left open to debate, right up to the end.

I recommend seeing this movie, if you haven't already. It is not as well know as the classic prequel, but it is actually more enjoyable as a general movie / investment of time, since it is simpler, yet still, has a variety of locations, scenes, and sub-plots to give you a good, entertaining ride.

So, the scores, reflect how much enjoyment I had from this movie. I don't think it could really be improved, except perhaps with some flashier artwork, but considering its age and the genre, the artwork is very good (but you know, nowadays it's all about bullet time and all sorts of useless flashy stuff, so...), so I left the art at 8, and took a mark off from the sound because I haven't had the opportunity to listening to it on a proper HTE yet, so I don't know how good the Surround Sound mix is... but I will check it out and do another review or something later.

Otherwise, this gets a perfect score for me... to me, a movie doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be perfect, it just has to entertain without messing up anything, which is a lot harder to do that it might seem.

Anyhow, I'm surprised no-one reviewed this yet... hopefully, more people will see it because of this.

Another bad ass entry. Seriously, I could live on Golgo 13 films, this time the quiet sharpshooter Duke Togo is out to stop the assassination of a presidential candidate by the ruthless Sonia, or Queen Bee as she is known for birthing many children. With a rockin pistol hand and body, this red hair plays by her own rules. So naturally she bangs Togo, but he knows his mission. But once certain things are reviled about Sonia, and the candidate's sinister second hand hires a ex army solider with an eye patch to finish the job, things get bonkers.

Perfect 90's anime cheese wrapped in ... a steaming, sexy tortilla. What I love about this is the maturity that goes into the product. This isn't about big boobed aline girls (okay sure there are boobs) but the story takes itself and the characters seriously. The blood is harsh and real, just like the sex. And the music....my god. Right out of a Street Fighter arcade game. Probably the best part of the entire film.

The main problems with Queen Bee though is the lack of Queen Bee being a fully fleshed out villain. Sure, we learn a lot about her, her past and present state. But for me she posed no real threat, just some woman with a gun and who likes to bang. The psycho ex army solider was far more interesting and he had way less scenes than her. Also constantly playing back those frames multiple times was cool, but way over used too the point of irritating. I know that's the style you're going for Osamu Dezaki and maybe that was what the manga represented, but damn too much is too much. Not as good as the 80's movie, that one had more interesting villains and a more complete feeling story. But it's Golgo 13 and I love the guy.

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The second and currently last Golgo 13 movie. Well technically it's an OVA, but it's all one feature so whatever. In this one Golgo 13 is hired by the US's vice president nominee to assassinate "Queen Bee", a major drug distributor who plans to assassinate the presidential candidate for his anti-drug platform. Golgo 13 is suspicious about how simple this job is and investigates further before making his move. Simple indeed! Queen Bee came out 15 damn years after the first movie, and despite Osamu Dezaki still being the ... director things have drastically changed. Nothing to do with the story of Golgo 13, and it's still a fun one in all of its grimly serious pulp glory. But the eccentric direction I raved about for the first movie is almost entirely gone and replaced with a more straightforward rendition of the story. It's a real disappointment. The original Golgo 13 movie was elevated to something great because of its acidic, ethereal direction and powerful, symbolic stills. This has neither. The animation and directing can even get downright lazy. There's an overuse of painted stills replacing moments of impact in the action, and to emphasize chaotic movement instead of showing it with perhaps erratic cuts and complex choreography Queen Bee opts to constantly use a shaky camera effect and panning camera repeats. It's almost comical how noticeable this gets when it comes to cutting corners.

Well, with the execution being bland in comparison to its predecessor, that leaves the story for comment. There's no getting around the misogyny in Golgo 13, but I overlooked it in the first movie. My patience is tested this time around, as the titular Queen Bee character gives a ridiculous philosophical excuse for screwing and fathering literally every man and their child. It's pretty pathetic, and of course she wants to screw Golgo 13 like everyone else despite knowing he wants to kill her. The story itself is also not as interesting this time around. Golgo 13 doesn't come into contact with any really freaky opponents like he did in the first movie, and the villain is much less interesting. I liked the theme song "Turquoise Blue" a lot. Overall I enjoyed this basic rendition of Golgo 13 enough to look forward to the series, but it's a real shame it doesn't posses the bizarre atmosphere or stylistic scene composition as the first movie.