Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A wakening of the Trailblazer
When I watch a movie, one thing that lets me know if it's a good movie is the way I feel as I am watching it, and how I feel when I have finished watching it. I felt that for this movie, with the whole emphasis placed on people understanding each other, that the point I just mentioned was essential. Luckily, in that respect, the film did not disappoint - and unlike films, by Studio Ghibli for example, that leave viewers with a warm feeling that all is right, this film decided to go for an emotion we all humans have felt at some point - helplessness.
Even early on in the film, we are given the sense of sacrifice. Be it the climax to Allelujah and Marie's rather energetic and excellently animated initial encounter with the ELS, when Hallelujah took control to try and divert the ELS' attention away from Marie; or Tieria sacrificing himself to try and protect Setsuna (but being an Innovade, he isn't really dead). Those earlier instances of noble sacrifice are but a portion of the intense emotion displayed throughout this film.
One thing that really struck me as I was watching this film, is how characters who were once divided and once fought each other had joined together as one to battle the ELS, to protect humanity, and to ensure they had a future. Throughout the battle, everyone knew it was futile, that their failure was almost guaranteed. However, they held on to any small thread they could - namely, that Setsuna F. Seiei would awaken from the coma induced earlier in the film. Graham Aker was the symbol of all of this - even telling Feldt by the comatose Setsuna that his goal was to surpass the young innovade. His sacrifice to give Setsuna the chance to begin the dialogues was a touching moment of awesome that really fit his character. Although he ultimately survived, Patrick Colasour's message to Kati Mannequin as his mobile suit was being assimilated was quite touching - and that's coming from me, the guy who's hated Patrick since his introduction. I found Patrick's youthfulness to be useful in this film, in breaking the ice of tense scenes. Mehna Carmine was also useful in that respect, although otherwise she didn't contribute much to the film (well, except a boob press).
I will say one thing - I am so glad I watched this film on Blu-ray. Afterwards, I compared with standard definition images, and you can only really appreciate the detail put into each and every mobile suit and the ELS in high definition - in fact, the increased quality makes the film's antagonists even more frightening. I'll be honest, I was actually quite shocked during the first assimilation scene - when that teenage girl was taken over.
The battle scenes, with all the beams and GN particles, really looked fantastic in HD. Even the frantic war at the end was animated beautifully. This is only the second anime I've watched on blu-ray (the other being Eden of the East; before that, it was upscaled DVD), but this was truly breath-taking.
However, two big weaknesses from the series returned to stop this film from being perfect - first off, the large cast. Gundam 00 has a cast that is most likely bigger than the population of my village, which has always been a negative point, but when you bring a series to the big screen, there's always the need to give every character (no matter how minor) screen time in case say, the one fan of Andrei Smirnov decides to send pictures to Sunrise's offices of them shaking their head disapprovingly - seriously, he was pretty much cannon fodder. Sure, he had his emotional flashbacks to his parents, but y'know Andrei,
you killed your father, so you shouldn't really be getting all high and mighty.
My next point is Saji and Louise. By now, everyone must know I despise their existence in the series, and while with season 1 it could be argued that they were there to give an outsider's view into conflict - what were they doing in this movie? Sure, we had Louise showing signs of being an innovader, but did they do anything with that? Were either of them shown to be anywhere during the final conflict? Not really (aside from brief shots when it was showing what every character and their grandmothers were doing).
I will admit that when I first heard of the ELS being involved in the plot, I was skeptical - a series that prided itself in being politically motivated, involving aliens? Well, after watching the movie, and absorbing it's message, I can see how perfectly it fits. What better way to force people to work together, and eventually understand each other than the threat of assimilation by an unknown entity? Rather than being the typical little green men, the ELS were pretty effective antagonists despite having no lines of dialogue, or any features to distinguish them from other ELS. Sure, the invading aliens thing has been used time and time again in movies, and I will admit that it would have fallen flat in this film if not for one thing - the fact that this is a finale to a series where we have seen characters develop, hatred arise, and then unite in the face of danger.
Another aspect I was skeptical of before was Feldt. I felt her interest in Setsuna was rather sudden in season 2 (Especially considering her previous feelings for Neil Dylandy). There was an underlying theme of romance in this film; and although it didn't end the well fanfiction writers would have hoped, I felt Feldt's feelings were enough - watching her worry over Setsuna was one of the more human aspects of the film. After all, proof that she did touch Setsuna was the ELS' assimilating into the form of the flower she gave him.
Now, this film is no way near the intellectual level of the series. One comparison I will draw up is with the two
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films. J.K. Rowling described Part 1 as a journey film, and Part 2 as a war film.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 also fits into that formula - the anime series' are the journey to explore the differences in humanity, whereas the movie is bringing everyone together by war. The majority of the film's latter half is battle; however, what makes this battle far more brilliant than the Battle of Hogwarts is the feeling of desperation and helplessness I described earlier. In Deathly Hallows Part 2, we all knew Harry and his bros and hoes would defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and all of them were pretty cocky about it. However, in A Wakening of the Trailblazer, were are not shown any scenes of war heroism - we are shown the ugly side, the desperation of each and every soldier to do what they can to survive (Which fits the anti-war theme of the series). As I said earlier, the desperation of the world's forces on relying on the odd chance that Setsuna awakes from his coma incredibly powerful - Harry Potter's encounter with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest has nothing on that. The essential difference is most likely that Voldemort was always said to be evil, and good always wins. With Gundam 00 though; which side was the good side and which was the bad? Rather than there being good and evil, there was just misunderstanding.
Some people may say this is a rather drastic thing to say, but considering the effect I witnessed while watching this film, and how people were willing to throw away their lives for the survival of one person, I would say that this film is the Otaku's Saving Private Ryan.
I honestly cannot see why this film has received such mixed reviews. Perhaps people need to remember that instead of being a standalone film, this is an extension of the TV series?
Lastly:
"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding"
9/10