released 07 jun 03 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* Fans of the PATLABOR anime series know the basic elements of the scenario: a near-future Japan in which giant robotlike "mecha" called "labors" are in widespread use, with a Japanese police group operating "Patlabors" -- patrol labors -- to fight labor crime.
What PATLABOR fans may be surprised by with the third PATLABOR movie, "WXIII" (for "Wasted-13") is that the Patlabor team plays only a supporting role in this film, which instead focuses on two police detectives, the old hand Kutsumi and his young partner Hata. The two are drawn into an investigation of a number of gruesome killings along the Tokyo waterfront, while Hata becomes increasingly involved with a mysterious bio-researcher. Soon the two detectives find out that the killer is not human at all ...
That's about as much as I can say without giving everything away, and I would rather not do that because this movie really needs some help to maintain some suspense.
I have to say first that PATLABOR WXIII is a well-produced film, implemented in the style I call "cinanime" or "ciname" -- what looks like a live-action movie rendered in good quality animation. The production values demonstrate fine craftsmanship and the production crew was earnest in giving the customers what they paid for.
The script is written in a conscientious fashion to provide convincing characterizations and many plot twists. However, despite all the good work here, PATLABOR WXIII is not a memorable movie, unlike its predecessor, the excellent and underrated PATLABOR II.
One of the problems with PATLABOR WXIII is that the basic plot concept is familiar -- it's essentially the old IT CAME FROM OUT OF THE DEEPS scenario, though it does introduce an interesting variation on the mad scientist stereotype. Another problem is that PATLABOR WXIII is slowly paced. While I don't think this movie would have worked as a high-gear action flic, it goes slightly off the centerline in the other direction and tends to drag. It tries to be a cerebral movie and the story concept just can't support it. A third problem is that by reducing most of the PATLABOR squad to bit parts, the script has to reconnect with the viewers from scratch, and Kutsumi and Hata are just not that interesting.
I have to emphasize that this is a perfectly watchable movie. Its production quality is consistently high, and at no point, unlike many other anime movies, does it insult the viewer's intelligence. It's just that lacks any strong impact. When it's over, viewers will get up as if nothing in particular happened. PATLABOR II is a much better bet than PATLABOR WXIII, and even the more uneven PATLABOR I movie is a better watch.
One little bit in PATLABOR WXIII that did make an impression on me is that they have an American character in the movie -- a big, loud, and foul-mouthed music video producer -- who was actually voiced by what sounds like an American. I always watch anime in Japanese with subtitles, and when they have an English-speaking character anime producers usually try to fake it and use an English-speaking Japanese person as the voice actor. It's never convincing to a native English speaker of any sort.
So this was a nice touch, and it also provided some of the few traces of humor in this otherwise dark film. The American couldn't speak Japanese, so he had a Japanese woman as a translator. He'd say something loaded with EXPLETIVES DELETED and she'd pause for a moment, then translate it into very polite and formal Japanese. I'd howl.