Don’t worry stalwart anime fans (and thus GI-goers, as who else in Seattle shows you the goods?), I didn’t think it was a Kubrick film. That’s just for the rest of the movie-going public. I, however, knew what I was in for having followed the original show for a while back in the day. You know, right before all the t-shirts and sweatshirts and various other gear pushed the Trigun and Cowboy Bebop merchandise off of Hot Topic shelves. It came at a point in my life when I had been on anime overload, and I needed a change of pace. Well, a couple TV series and movies later I come back to it, and I gotta say it handled the big screen transition (yes, I’m aware of the other movie; again, haven’t seen it) better than a lot of TV shows. Sure, I will praise the Cowboy Bebop movie to no end, and the two Evangelion films we had recently are stand out. As much as I love Trigun, the movie mostly made me excited for the characters and the original show again. What we have in “The Sacred Star of Milos” is a full-fledged tale that anime fans like me can enjoy without having seen all of the previous episodes and such.
No, it's not the new Batman movie. They're the Dark Bats. Yes, they use grappling hooks to help them launch and glide. Not like Batman at all. Where are you getting that from?
Why is “The Sacred Star of Milos” so good? Well, it utilizes the classic formula of introducing new characters that get a full story and emotional arc that Ed and Al can mixed up in and experience plenty of top-notch action sequences. I love me some unbridled anime action sequences! They plow along at full-speed in this film, not a whole lot of back and forth banter in between incantations that you get in some anime. Not even the latin-esque shouts of the Harry Potter universe (though there are some colored bolts clashing in mid-air, you kinda have to have that). Their hands glow and they just make it go crazy! Any mid-battle character development is often handled without breaking the action flow. And at nearly two hours, which is generally much too long for a half hour show to fill comfortably, at least not without poor pacing and extra padding (I’m looking at you, Trigun movie), the movie moves along at an assured pace without resorting to a bunch of unnecessary flashbacks and exposition. A couple decent twists at the end that don’t leave you feeling cheated and you’ve got yourself a decent second film.
Goddammit, I guess I’m gonna have to watch some anime now to catch up. Oh rats. Wink.
–blogsta, dan
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