@jw_falcon
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer, originally released in 2010 and directed by Seiji Mizushima, is back in theaters. But, now, with a 4DX upgrade.
As a kick-off to my 2019 Anime Expo experience, I had the pleasure of being selected for an exclusive viewing. Going into this screening at LA Live’s Regal Cinemas, I had low expectations — seeing how this was my first time with anything related to the Gundam franchise.
That said, the overall feeling I had walking out of the Regal was that of.. childish excitement. While the animation is nothing you wouldn’t already be used to from the average anime film, the 4DX sensory upgrade kicked everything into a whole new level of epic. Every space battle sequence felt like being in a flight simulator and left me catching my breath.
Intense explosions on-screen caused smoke to filter in through the whole theater. The effects brought back memories of being 8 years old and riding Star Tours for the first time. 4DX has extremely strong potential to further the anime reach in an already popular genre. If you have never taken the time to experience it for yourself, do that shit do that shit.. do it.
As a newcomer to the Gundam universe, I was quickly drawn into the story and didn’t feel like it was hard to figure out the narrative. Taking place two years after the second season of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, the story focuses on a team of pilots, known as Celestial Being, who go up against a group of hostile aliens known as ELS. Seeing this movie has definitely given me the inspiration to go back and start watching the show from the beginning to see the original incarnations of the franchise.
As a stand alone piece of art, A Wakening of the Trailblazer was good, but it needed faster pacing. The movie clocks in at roughly 2-hours and they can easily trim the fat down to a solid hour and a half. And, while the abundance of battle scenes are sure to give weebs excitement overload, there is so much action in the film that it feels somewhat drawn out.
Also for our screening, there were issues with overlapping subtitles. This occurred enough times that it left me guessing how the particular dialogue was finished. I’ll assume this issue was an isolated incident, yet it still took plenty getting used to. While a mild annoyance, it’s really the only complaint of what was an extremely thrilling night at the movies.
If you have a few hours to kill, and your local theater has A Wakening of the Trailblazer available in 4DX, go out and treat yourself. And bring an ice pack cause the shit in intense! 3.75/5 Bibles.
-Anton Tilgren