Tag: mecha

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Iron Man

I didn’t learn about Iron Man till about a month before it would be released. I didn’t see the trailer until about a week before it would be released. I wasn’t interested when I learned about it (not exactly a comic book superhero fan except for Batman). But when I saw the trailer (that part when he fires a missile at the tank then cooly walks away as the tank explodes) I decided it could be entertaining. So I went and watched and indeed it turned out to be quite entertaining.

The movie made sure to be as close to the current world as possible. Here, Iron Man begins in present day Afghanistan (Iron Man, of course, existed way before The War on Terror). Tony Stark, owner of an arms manufacturing company, was in the country to demonstrate his latest weapon. On his way home, he was ambushed by terrorists using weapons made by his company. The terrorists wiped out his guards and he was captured and forced to create a high-technology weapon. But instead, he created a jump-capable powered armor (yeah mecha!) that he used to escape his captors.

When he got back home, he resolved to completely stop manufacturing weapons (instead of trying to stop sales to terrorists which would have been more logical). But all is not what it seems and things are easier said (or resolved :P) than done. Lots of action ensues spiced up with a little bit of humor (this is Robert Downey after all, I actually wasn’t convinced he can pull the movie off but he did) and romance (with Gwyneth Paltrow). Like I said, quite entertaining.

Rating: 4/5

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Neon Genesis Evangelion

I’ve heard about Neon Genesis Evangelion or Evangelion before. In fact I’ve seen an Evangelion movie (forgot which, see below) and Rei Ayanami is a favorite anime character. However, I haven’t seen the TV series. This is bad since Evangelion is supposedly one of the best as well as one of the most influential animes. This changed when I was able to borrow a copy of the TV series from Aby. I immediately and eagerly watched it over several days.

Evangelion is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth under attack by an enemy referred to as Angels. The Angels are invulnerable to conventional weapons because of their AT shields. The only weapon that can combat the angels are Evangelions or Evas. These are experimental highly-unstable mecha which also have AT shields. As the series progresses a lot of combat ensues and a conspiracy unfolds. This plus the focus on the characters makes for a quite compelling story.

Unfortunately, the ending– specifically episodes 25 and 26– was, to say the least, confusing. It was all a sequence of psychological and metaphysical meandering occurring purely in the characters’ heads. I did some research and found out a lot of fans were also confused and dissatisfied with the ending.

Thus, when the first Evangelion movie, Death and Rebirth, was released it included an alternate ending. It is composed of two parts: Death which is the merging of the truncated TV episodes and Rebirth which is the the alternate ending. Rebirth however is not the full ending as the movie was released before it can be completed.

So another movie called The End of Evangelion was released which is composed solely of the alternate ending episodes (episodes 25′ and 26′) to the TV series. After watching this, things become a bit clearer but also a bit more muddled. But heck, it rocks!

All these were finally brought together in Renewal of Evangelion which is composed of an edited Death part of Death and Rebirth plus End of Evangelion. This movie is considered the complete Neon Genesis Evangelion movie.

But wait! There’s more! A new movie called Rebuild of Evangelion with new scenes is coming out. And there’s even rumors of a live action movie.

Rating: 4/5

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Transformers

Transformers is the movie version of the Transformers animated TV series. Like the TV series, it is about the battle between two opposing groups of ‘bots: The goodie goodie Autobots and the evil Decepticons. I’ve never been a fan of the TV series. So I’m sure I wasn’t able to completely appreciate this movie version. Still, I liked it well enough especially since the ‘bots were much more intricate and complex than their TV series version and the action much more frenetic. Yes, it is first and foremost an action movie and it provided a lot of action kicks. You can’t help but be thrilled as the ‘bots transformed, ducked, spun, and pummeled, and shot at each other. This was especially true during the climactic battle in the middle of the city. Buildings and rampaging ‘bots: always a great combination. And human military forces weren’t so bad either. Aside from the action, there was a little bit of comedy, romance, and drama thrown in for good measure. Good movie. Now can somebody please make something like this for Robotech?

Rating: 4/5

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Appleseed

My friend Jeremy and I were originally actually planning on watching Ghost In The Shell 2. However when we got to the ticket booth, we learned that it has been canceled. So we decided to watch Appleseed instead. It turned out to be a decision I won’t ever regret: This movie is simply awesome! One of the best things about anime is the extreme intensity of the action sequences, live action sequences just can’t compare. The [what seems to be mixed] artwork and CG is beautiful and detailed. The movie has almost everything I could ask for in a movie: weaponry, soldiers (including the hot warrioress Deunan Knute), battlesuit (Landmates), vehicles, and mecha (mobile fortress)! And it actually has a story that could bring shame to more than a few Hollywood movies. If you’re an anime fan, you definitely should not miss this. If you’re not, do try to see it. You might understand what I’m raving about.

Rating: 5/5