May 7, 2011
Before I get to anything else, let me point out something: This movie isn't intended to be watched right after the anime with no information given. There was actually a video game made that takes place in between the television series and the movie where a lot of important things happen. You can watch the movie right after the anime and probably still understand it, but it might distract you from the story of the movie trying to figure out what happened. It's called Martian Successor Nadesico: The Blank of Three Years. I don't think it's necessary to actually play it (I haven't), but finding
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and reading a plot summary is helpful.
With that out of the way, let's begin. It's obvious that this can be a very polarizing movie: Just take a look at the reviews on this page. An 8, a 10, a 4 and a 1. So there's definitely a big element of personal preference here. Personally, I think that it does have some pretty big flaws in parts, particularly in terms of some character development, but it's entertaining enough to make up for it.
The story is fast-paced and exciting. The getting-the-band-back-together elements of the story, while cliche, are very entertaining, and the final battle at the end is typical Nadesico fun. That said, there are definitely some flaws. There's one in particular that stands out: The villains, the Martian Successors, have motives that are only vaguely defined - it's stated briefly in the movie that they want to control all aspects of society and life, and that plus some of their regimented attitude makes you think they might be a bit like Nazis or something, but you're never told HOW exactly they're going to change the universe for the worse if they come into power. Without this important information, they seem pointless and silly, and their whole plot just becomes kind of dumb. It's especially disappointing since for some reason the English version was named after these villains instead of the Jovians, and yet once you see them it doesn't take long to realize that there's no good reason to name the series after them. Most of the story, though, remains quite entertaining. I was especially interested in the way they built upon the sci-fi concept of the chulips that they had explored in the original series.
The art is as good as ever, even better than the TV series. Admittedly, it was a 1990s series, so the animation was not always top-quality, and nothing much to write home about compared to some of the series of today, but I've always felt the more 90's style character designs had a lot of charm, and the animation was always perfectly adequate. It's improved upon, though, in the movie, since, you know, higher budget and all.
The music is just as great as usual, with more of the orchestral type stuff that really energized the original series, and it energizes the movie as well. The voice acting is the same as it ever was in the dub, which is the version of the series I watched and so the version of the movie I watched, for consistency. I know some people don't like the dub at all, but I personally love it, and I felt it was just as good as it was in the original series. I liked especially how Ruri sounded older but still like herself. None of the characters we've already met are recast and the voices of the new characters fit in seamlessly, so all in all I'd just say that whatever you thought of the dub the first time around will be exactly the same as what you think of it here. The Japanese appears to be just as good, but I wouldn't really know for sure. Oh, and the sound effects are pretty good I guess. I wasn't really paying attention to that.
Ruri pretty much takes over the helm of main character from Akito in this installment, as she's the captain of the Nadesico B and basically gets to do all the coolest stuff in the movie. Personally, though, while she definitely got a lot of the spotlight, I didn't think she took much away from the other characters. It's interesting to see where they've ended up and how much they have grown in three years, but they don't change so drastically as to be unrecognizable and there are still plenty of great character moments. Nearly every character from the series gets at least a few moments to shine here, and Hikaru and Izumi in particular provide some welcome comedy relief toward the end of the movie.
A couple characters really get the shaft, though. Although she's plot-important, probably crucial actually, we also don't see Yurika very much during the movie - although admittedly some viewers might be glad to be rid of her. And Akito himself gets some pretty lackluster development. His character frankly becomes a lot less interesting.
There are also a few new characters, mostly the crew populating Ruri's Nadesico B. They aren't quite as interesting as the characters from the anime, but they're likable enough and fit in with the rest of the cast. The new villains, however, have basically no real character whatsoever. Even the leader just seems like some random guy, and their whole group really isn't given much of a good reason for doing anything that they do.
The most disappointing thing about the movie is probably the ending. By this I don't mean the resolution of the Martian Successor plot threads that began in the movie; that's fantastic. What I do mean is that there are a lot of things left hanging open-ended by the finish, and unfortunately it's the last Nadesico related thing that was ever produced before there were some disputes between the creator and the anime company. There was going to be a sequel in 2005, but it fell through. While I still hope there might be a continuation of the show someday, I'm not holding my breath. Knowing this is the last bit of Nadesico we'll probably ever get is a bit of a downer and it does make a lot of the ending unsatisfying.
All in all, although I think it might have helped a bit more to consider character development and plot more, especially the matter of who exactly these villains are and why we should give a damn, but it's still a pretty good movie. Even though the story can be a bit ridiculous at times, it's still a lot of fun. And although it's disappointing that this is pretty much the end, you can always imagine what comes next in your mind.
Or hell, write some fan fiction if you want. Frankly, it could be better than any continuation we might actually get.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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