Patlabor 2: The Movie

Original Title: 機動警察パトレイバー2 The Movie
Romanized: Kidou Keisatsu Patoreibaa 2 The Movie
Literal: Mobile Police Patlabor 2: The Movie

Plot Synopsis

Three years after the events of Patlabor: Mobile Police, trouble once again rises in Tokyo. An angry soldier has returned from his failed UN mission with only one aim in mind- to teach the citizens of Japan a lesson. His campaign of terrorism throws the authorities into confusion, setting the government, the military, and the police at each others' throats. The only ones who can prevent revolution from sweeping the nation are Captains Goto and Nagumo of the Special Vehicle Division and their crew who must unravel the riddle of Tsuge's motives and put a stop to his plans.

Quick Review

Rating: 4 / 5
Reviewer: Arcane
Review Date: 2001-03-28

Like the first film, Patlabor 2 is not a mecha action movie, although there is a fair bit of action, mecha or otherwise, in it. What it is, is bloody confusing--AKIRA crossed with Ghost in the Shell and the philosophical bits of Neon Genesis Evangelion raised to the power of a thousand. Studio I.G and Mamoru Oshii have produced a masterful film, full of fantastic mecha design, amazingly tense action, and fine directing, capped off by a brilliant Kenji Kawai score. Unfortunately, it has too much plot for its own good, and the story is devastatingly slow. The combination of politics, philosophy, and morality are enough to make your brain ache, and there's no way you'll get even the basics without watching it at least twice. Frankly, this movie is too tough for all but the smartest viewers.

Overall, Patlabor 2: the movie is a work of art, but it was written without consideration for the viewer. If you "get it" it's a 5; if you "don't get it" it's a 1. I "mostly got it," so it gets a 4.

US DVD Review

Bandai's DVD is much like that of the first movie; released under their new Honneamise label, it features a remastered anamorphic widescreen video transfer, a new Dolby 5.1 mix of the soundtrack in both Japanese and English, a new English subtitle translation, and for extras the Japanese trailer and TV commercials, plus a 16 page booklet. There is also a limited Collectors Edition set that includes a second DVD with "making of" materials, a 300-page book with Mamoru Oshii's storyboards, and a 144-page "archives" book.

Content Guide

About appropriate for the 13-up crowd.

Violence: 2 - Plenty of destruction, no real violence.

Nudity: 0 - Patlabor? Not bloody likely!

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Mature themes.

Language: 1 - Nada.

Notes and Trivia

Bandai's Official Site for the first two films has lots of information, and the "buy" links leading to Image Entertainment's site will get you trailers, too.

The Patlabor series started out with an OAV series, as well as a comic by Masami Yuuki that continued for several years. Neither was quite based on the other; they both went their own way, with the animated version focused more on characters and the manga more on action. The OAV was followed by a TV series remake, a second OAV series, and then three movies.

As of 2006 both OAV series and the TV seres are available from US Manga Corps, the first two movies are available under Bandai's new Honneamise label, and WXIII is available from Geneon. VIZ translated the first two volumes of the comic, but stopped at that point and nobody has picked up the remainder of the series.

Availability

Available in the US from Bandai under the Honneamise label on bilingual DVD, both as a single-disc "feature only" version and a very expensive limited-edition 2-disc set with a second disc of extras and a large amount of printed supplemental material. Was previously available from Manga Video on bilingual DVD, and subtitled or dubbed VHS.

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