Patlabor: The Movie (1989) [Anime Review]

Patlabor: The Movie, or, Robo Police Story

      And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

This week’s review will exceptionally not be about a standard Asian motion picture, but it will focus on an anime flick. I can already hear all the yells from cinema connoisseurs that anime films are not what one would call movies per se. I agree with this statement to a certain extent, but it cannot be denied that anime constitutes a highly integrated part of the Japanese culture, including its high and low spheres. Thus, we should not be prevented from taking into consideration one of the highest cinematic achievements in terms of an animated story-telling that Patlabor: The Movie actually is.

Release Info

Directed by: Mamoru Oshii Voice actors: Miina Tominaga, Toshio Furukawa, Ryunosuke Ohbayashi
Language: Japanese Original Title: 機動警察パトレイバー the Movie Runtime: 98 min

Synopsis

Welcome to Tokyo of the year 1999. Since the 1980s, the world has made a huge development in terms of robotics and especially in manufactured “Labors” that have revolutionised modern industry. However, along with their usage, Labor-related crimes have skyrocketed as well. That’s why the Metro Police created a special Patrol Labor unit called Special Vehicles Section 2, whose aim is to prevent such crimes. Needless to say, members of that section are the laughing-stock of the whole police force. Although successfully completing missions, they often demolish everything that stands in their way, thus generating huge financial losses.

The story begins with the development of the so-called Babylon Project, an advanced technological attempt to connect small islands in Tokyo Bay and artificially create new land for the expanding Tokyo suburbs. However, some Labors participating in the construction go haywire and break loose, even when not controlled by the human pilot. Section 2’s skillful commander, Captain Goto, begins his investigation and determines that all labors recently upgraded in Shinohara Heavy Industries were contaminated with a virus devised by the company’s programmer Eiichi Hoba. The Patlabor team steps into action in order to find Hoba and prevent the annihilation of Tokyo before it is too late. However, the problem is that Hoba has already committed suicide…

Cyberpunk Spoof

When watching Patlabor do not expect anything in the style of Ghost in the Shell, Akira, or Blade Runner. This film is primarily a buddy-cop adventure, thriving on the chemistry between the  Section 2’s characters. We have Noa, Asuma, Ohta, Hiromi, Shinshi, Kanuka, Goto, Shige, Sakaki, and Shinobu. Quite a lot of characters for one picture, but since the film’s story is a team-assemble type, everyone has their fair share of screen time. In addition to this, in spite of a quite comedic and light-hearted tone to the movie, the whole conspiracy-plot is very engaging.

Basically, if you have not seen the 7-episode-long OVA entitled Patlabor: Early Days, I recommend that you do so, since the movie heavily relies on the premises from this series. To be more specific, it addresses the question of non-manually operated Labors and a possible resistance from their side. Do not worry, it it not T3: Rise of the Machines (2003) all over again, but a well-thought-out study of what advanced cybercrime may bring us in the future. In addition, there is also action. Labors serve as an excuse to show some top-notch fighting sequences with the final showdown in the Babylon’s “Ark” being pure icing on the cake, especially for Kaiju fans.

Recommendations

Needless to say, Patlabor: The Movie is awesome. It is funny, interesting, and (most importantly) action-packed, with a brilliant music score from Kenji Kawai, great animation, and decent voice acting. What is more important, it does not feel like anime at all. It is so entertaining that it enhances the viewing experience. If you like Godzilla or Pacific Rim (which was, ironically, inspired by Patlabor) this movie should not disappoint you, even though it is an animation. In addition, I also highly recommend to anime fans the Patlabor franchise as a whole (with three theatrical films, three anime series, and a live-action TV show). If you have not seen Patlabor, go and check it now!

Overall score: 9/10