Synopsis
When the level of Labor accidents begin to escalate around Tokyo Bay, police detectives Kusumi and Hata are assigned to investigate. What they discover leads to a series of government cover-ups, conspiracy concerning a new biological weapon entitled WXIII-Wasted Thirteen and a tragic, personal connection to Hata. The only hope to stop this threat is to cooperate with the military and lead WXIII into a showdown with the Labors of Special Vehicle Division 2.
Just finished watching the third movie from this franchise and have to say it's actually a good movie for what it's (in a way, have some similar feel from the 1st movie I have watch). Now, I think those who are a fans of this franchise will know this already but I think it's better to post it for those who never watch any of the Patlabor show/OVA/Movie. This isn't a patlabor movie as all the characters you love from the series have a very limited time in the movie (and I mean very limited time). Hell, the SV2 group won't be shown till 3/4 of the way of the movie and even then, they're either background characters or have a very limited screen time. Even the Ingram from the SV2 are only there for the major climax battle and even that isn't very long (just few minutes). Only Gotou have the longest time in the movie and that's only around 5-7 minutes. Not saying this make the movie bad. In the contrary, the movie itself is actually pretty good. A well written and paced story, beautiful animation and soundtrack which fit well for the visual. It might not be as good as the 1st movie but it stand well for it's own.
The story takes place around Tokyo Bay where a huge sea creature terrorize the water and causing damage of labors and killing people around the area. You follow detectives Kusumi and his junior partner, Hata, trying to found out what is causing this incident and (when found out) where this sea creature come from. Eventually, they manage to trace this to the character Misaki, a scientist and Hata's love interest which he met her near the beginning of the movie. Her backstory leads to some great revelations which adds layers to the plot and help push it to the climatic tragic ending. Like in Patlabor series, themes of inter bureaucratic political strife and tampering with natural life are at play in this movie but very subtle. Like the 1st movie, pacing is slow but it reveals the necessary detail when it need to push the story and leave very little loose plot threads hanging in the movie.
Most of the character development from this movie are coming down to the two major character, Kusumi and Hata. Kusumi is the old veteran cop who have experience knowledge and detective instincts which work well with Hata's observational skills and quick thinking. Also, Hata manage to draws out more of Misaki's motivations and thoughts. What she did was wrong and selfish but once you understand her reason of why she did it, you start to understand her reason (even if it's wrong in so many way). This eventually reach the tragic point at the end when all of her work is destroy while she have to watch her own creation destruction. Her reason and purpose to go on crease to exist after that which make the scene much sadder and even more for Hata.
Animation for the most part is consistently pleasant throughout the film and the artstyle is realistic. As this isn't direct by Oshii, it don't have the touch you see in his movie and you start to notice this in the movie like slow panning shots, symbolism, etc. Still, it's still good to watch. You can say the same with the music soundtrack in the movie. Kenji compose this film's soundtrack as with the other movie and even though it work well, you feel like they is a lack of punch.
Overall, this movie is actually good but don't have the touch like the other movie from Patlabor. You can blame a bit as this isn't direct by Oshii or a very limited characters present from the Patlabor franchise which we love. But by itself, the movie done well with a well written story, beautiful animation and soundtrack. Would recommend it and might be a good movie if you never saw any of the Patlabor series and just want a movie with a serious tone drama and which consist of monster attacking Japan.
