Mobile Suit Gundam 00: the Movie - A Wakening of the Trailblazer Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Mobile Suit Gundam 00: the Movie - A Wakening of the Trailblazer Blu-ray Movie Review

Can't we all just get along?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 3, 2011

When Rodney King uttered those now legendary words directly above, he of course probably wasn’t thinking about any number of multimedia enterprises built upon layer after layer of interminable conflict. And just as certainly, without conflict there wouldn’t even be any number of multimedia enterprises. Mobile Suit Gundam throughout its several incarnations has had a slew of warring factions, as befits one of the longest running anime franchises in history, and the strata of its intersecting storylines are so complex by this time as to defy easy characterization. But suffice it to say when writers run out of ways to introduce (and reintroduce and re-reintroduce) various internecine conflicts into a franchise’s basic plot, there’s always that standby bugaboo of an external force on which to fall back, and that’s exactly what happens in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer. For those of you new to the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 universe, this next bit may be a bit incomprehensible, but here goes: forget everything you knew about Celestial Being, A-Laws, Union, Human Reform League, AEU, Gundam Meisters, and any of a hundred (a thousand?) other little dribs and drabs that made the two season series on which this film is based so labyrinthine. Why, you may ask, should we forget about all of this? Because the refuge of any exhausted writer (and the writers of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 must certainly be very tired by this time), namely a vicious alien attack, makes everything else kind of secondary in A Wakening of the Trailblazer. That’s right, we’re dealing with big bad (metallic) aliens in this film, but that doesn’t mean Celestial Being and A-Laws, not to mention Union, Human Reform League and AEU, all settle down in harmony to battle a common enemy. This is Mobile Suit Gundam, after all, and “getting along,” even if the very survival of Mankind depends on it, isn’t readily in the cards.

Have you ever been at a party and moseyed over to a distant corner where you hear the end of someone’s private conversation, and instantly wonder exactly what the context is and what they’ve been talking about? Anyone coming in cold to Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer is going to feel exactly that way. In fact, even the length of this film’s title hints at the complexities within, and even those familiar with the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 universe are going to be scratching their head (as, frankly, I was) at least some of the time. This is one convoluted movie, filled to the brim not just with returning characters, but at least a couple of new ones, not to mention the big, bad aliens. But this film cartwheels so uneasily through its embarrassment of riches, character wise, that it can be next to impossible to keep everything straight.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer picks up a couple of years after the second season of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 ended, in the early 24th century. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 dealt with the fallout of a major energy crisis (sound familiar?), with a bunch of warring factions, including a number of Black Ops-like organizations that were supposedly doing the government’s wishes but which actually had their own (often nefarious) plans. The series ended in a truce, more or less, but the film barely takes a breath before things devolve once again into total conflict.

This is a film which lives and breathes by its action sequences, and the good news is, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer delivers in spades in that arena. The first major battle turns out to have a very clever punchline, one which harkens back to the best elements of the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 series, but (without posting spoilers) the serendipitous humor of that punchline isn’t something this film really exploits, and that may in fact be one of its problems. This is a film so relentlessly serious, and so decidedly stuffed full of characters and set pieces, that what little plot there is takes a decided back seat. But there’s absolutely no denying how visceral the action sequences are, and for that reason alone this film will probably be loved by the adrenaline junkies who have long made up a large part of the Gundam fanbase.

Ultimately, though, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer is a paper thin film blown up to be a summer blockbuster action epic (sound familiar?). The film’s central thesis can basically be summed up as, “War is bad; peace is good,” and unfortunately there’s little depth added to that over obvious premise. And so what we’re left with is a lot (as in a lot) of characters running around reacting to various threats, indulging in some admittedly exciting action sequences, and then settling down to the realization that all that horrible, horrible fighting wasn’t so great after all. At around two hours in length, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer is both too long and too short, as odd as that may sound. The film drags when the visceral action sequences aren’t taking place, but on the other hand the glut of characters, most of whom aren’t explained to newcomers, could have used extra time devoted to giving more backstory and context. As it stands, this is a film that will probably be exciting enough for longtime Gundam fans, despite its flaws, while leaving other audience members wondering what all the fuss about the long-lived Gundam franchise has been all about.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00: the Movie - A Wakening of the Trailblazer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This was not a cheap anime by any stretch, and it shows in virtually every frame. Colors are thrillingly robust and line detail is exceptional. The palette on display here is amazingly diverse and the final third of the film is a riot of design inventiveness, all of which pops spectacularly well on this Blu-ray. The one issue I had with the presentation, which is not endemic to the Blu-ray, was the kind of lackluster CGI, but only with regard to the spaceships and assorted accoutrements. While some of the CGI is fantastic (especially in the final third of the film), a lot of the spacecraft look like something done with a high end Etch-a-Sketch, and that kind of formless, lacking in detail quality inhibits the overall visual spectacle. Other than that perhaps niggling qualm, however, this is one fantastic looking presentation that should excite anime fans in general and Gundam franchise fans in particular.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00: the Movie - A Wakening of the Trailblazer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer has two absolutely top notch, incredibly aggressive, lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks, one in the original Japanese and another very good English dub. (Standard lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks are also included for good measure). These Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks establish their authority from the film's first second, with awesome LFE that roars out from the subwoofer and ripples into the surrounds. Over and over again incredibly robust sound effects erupt from discrete channels, thrusting the listener smack dab into the middle of an unbelievably immersive soundfield. In fact, the action sequences are so visceral that the dialogue and underscore seem lackluster by comparison, even though both are presented with excellent fidelity and dynamic range. But for those who like to feel the floorboards rumbling, there should be absolutely no complaints from the lossless tracks presented here, for they are completely effective pieces of sound design presented brilliantly via the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00: the Movie - A Wakening of the Trailblazer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Special Announcements (1080i; 5:18) contains four brief promos.
• Theatrical Trailers (HD; 2:31)
• TV Commercials (1080i; 2:15)
• Extra Promotional Video (1080i; 2:02)
• TV Series Guide (1080i; 4:17) gives a brief overview of the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 series, as well as the entire Gundam franchise. This could have been a lot longer and more detailed.
• Trailer for "Celestial Being" The Movie Within a Movie (HD; 1:21) is a lot of fun, though watch the actual film first.
• Trailers for other Bandai Releases

Mobile Suit Gundam 00: the Movie - A Wakening of the Trailblazer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hopefully I can be forgiven for hoping against hope that this film's title was an allusion to my hometown Portland's hapless NBA team, a team which hasn't been able to secure a title since the late 1970's and which is desperately in need of some sort of awakening. Joking aside, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer is best in its exciting action sequences, and if that's all you want from a summer flick, this outing will probably satisfy, despite a wafer thin plot, a cliché-ridden evil alien, and too many characters to keep track of. Longtime fans of the Gundam franchise are going to have a lot easier time following this film than newcomers, but even newcomers will probably get a kick out of the kick ass battle sequences. While the overall film has some major issues, there's enough to enjoy from both a visual and aural perspective that for Gundam franchise fans at least this release is Recommended.