 Movie OverviewDVD/Bluray Info Trailer Rating: Overall = A+ Story = A Video = A+ Audio = A+ |
Journal
20 years after meddling into the bank heist of a notorious robber named Gasback, Vash the Stampede is heading towards Macca City. Rumors say that the legendary thief might appear there causing an enormous influx of bounty hunters in the area who want to collect the $$300,000,000 prize for his head. (Source: ANN)Remember the old Trigun TV series? Well, now Vash the Stampede is back and better than ever with large-scale action, great comedic timing, and a dash of drama in this feature-length awesome-fest of gun-blazing greatness. In terms of it's relationship to the series, I'd compare it to the Cowboy Bebop movie: just another self-contained adventure of the main characters, but probably better than any of the episodic adventures from the actual original series. The plot is easy to follow and is simple enough to give the characters breathing room to display all of their quirks while still allowing the story and action to keep steaming forward.
It's been years since I saw a Trigun episode, and this movie brings back all the nostalgic joy of the original. It's pure entertainment that simply makes me happy when watching it. Pretty much everything is bigger and more awesome, wisely taking the things that were great about the TV series—including the traits of the characters—and enhancing them. So you have Vash's uncanny ability to use his gun to avoid violence while maintaining a cheery facade, you have Wolfwood's coolness, and you have the insurance girls' frustration with Vash and hilarious dedication to their job. The effect that Vash has on the other characters, the contrast between his reactions and the situations, the paradox of his being notorious for causing destruction while being goofy and unnaturally skillful, all combined to make for a fantastic ride. It's also awesome to see the interplay between Wolfwood and Vash again, even if there's not as much casual banter between the two as I would have liked. The new characters—Gasback and Amelia—are not as multidimensional of either Vash or Wolfwood, and are not as interesting by themselves as they are when reacting to Vash, but that was the same for the extraneous characters in the original series. Even so, they have plenty to offer in terms of bringing the story to life and kick ass in their own way.
The animation is fluid with incredible art that includes unique character designs—even among the background characters—and the seamless inclusion of computer graphics that allows the animators to do some pretty sweet large-scale action scenes. Plus there is still the fantastically blistering guitar music as the soundtrack which nicely adds that hard edge to each scene.
I'm not sure if I would say this is good for someone who has not seen the TV series because there is not much explanation given for some concepts, the setting, or the characters. It's more satisfying as a re-visit for those who are already familiar with the story. It's got humor, action, relatable and cool characters, drama and all out fun-as-hell pure joy entertainment. Fans of the original series, and even those who watched it but were not originally fans need to watch this and love it.
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