Patlabor 2: The Movie

This movie grabs me in a visual sense more than many other movies, in a way only a few films can compare such as 2001. The melancholy yet realistic nature of the film is one of the highlights. With a deep story, this is a very interesting movie. Actually the theme of this film is probably reality, and if what an image is portraying is actually real.

Director Mamoru Oshii gets it right the second time round. His penchant for deep philosophical stories is executed with the right touch of pathos and aided greatly by the superior quality of animation and more "mature" character designs.

Followers of the TV and OAV series would know that the chief of Section 2, Goto harbours a crush for chief Nagano of Section 1. However, being the stoic man that Goto is, he could never openly admit his affection for her.

The plot focuses on Nagano's past as a brilliant student of labor tatics - and her relationship with her much older mentor.Their affair was doomed as he was a married man. The political fallout caused her high-flying career to to come to a halt and ended up with her posted to the "lowly" Special Vehicle Section 1.Her mentor took charge of a UN labor peacekeeping force which got slaughtered in the jungles due to inept commands from his superiors. He returned to Japan a changed man.

The story is a vastly superior adaptation of "SV2's Longest Day", one of the outstanding episodes in the first OAV series. The film is filled with poignant scenes and quiet, surreal sequences in the heart of the city that are a prequel of sorts to Oshii's masterpeice Ghost in the Shell. Like I said, fans of the series will especially appreciate Goto's dilemma in the closing scene.

I was like many people upon viewing this film for the first time. I could sit through it without getting bored or falling asleep. It's not your typical robot anime at all. Its more than that really. The film isn't like its mecha predessors - its not about the action. And if your watching this film purely for action than you will be disappointed. Because this film is mostly dialogue and politics all the way through. But once you have a greater understanding of the film, you will realise as I have how wonderful and amazing this film actually is. The film is a commentry on Japanese 'common-sense' pacifism to war. It asks the viewer to question this pacifism: how can Japan claim to be peaceful nation if it ignores the security of others. The film makes it's point very clear, and it is effective in bringing this message across. But of course if you only want to watch the film for its action sequences, then obviously your missing the point of what makes this thoughtful film so amazing to watch.

This is a fine example of what Japanese animation can produce at its best. The style of this movie strongly reminds me of a Tom Clancy novel, which is unusual for anime. At the beginning I was a little put off by the slow pace of the movie, but as the story unfolded, I was sucked in by its complexity and realism. Indeed, the conflict and the political games between the government, the army and the police are so well constructed that I thought "this could *really* happen!"

If you liked this movie you should try to see "Jin-roh". There's the same kind of political and military intrigue but the story is more personal and close to the action than the high-circle strategy atmosphere which permeates Patlabor 2.

patlabor 2 is as good or better then patlabor 1 in my opinion. why can't we in America turn out gems like this? this movie has everything that you would want in a good movie. the script is super-tight, the characters are all interesting, the animation is beautiful, there's mechanized robots and cool battle-choppers, the action when there is, is very intense and well done. you actually care about the characters and what will become of them(a sign of a good movie).

this is not an anime movie for kids, not because of nudity or gore or language, its because the story is very deep and complicated and you need a mature mind to break it down. the movie brings back everybody from the first movie and goes deeper into the back story of 2 of the main characters from SV2. this time around the movie talks about government conspiracy and that without a true military big time confusion happens when you don't know who is in charge.

i love the fact that the movie is almost 2 hours long and full of intelligent dialogue with the occasional brief action. i watched patlabor like everybody else, thinking it had a lot of Mechs and non- stop action. boy, was i wrong...but i'm glad i got to see patlabor 1 & 2, cause it is as good or better then most stuff that Hollywood puts out.

wanna see a very good intelligent movie with action that doesn't dumb you down and is a anime no less...the buck stops right here. if you are a true fan of anime then patlabor 1 & 2 is essential viewing...enjoy!