Anime Flix: WXIII- Patlabor the Movie 3

What did I get myself into?  As noted, I bought this one from a Thrift Store for $1 late last year.  It went on the pile of Movies I needed to cover at some point.  That point is now!  This is WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3, the final Film for the original run of this Series.  I apparently stumbled upon a whole big thing that I'll probably have to make Bob cover at some point.  Patlabor was a long-running Manga (and later Anime) that ran in some form until this 2003 OVA (Original Video Animation aka Movie).  It was rebooted much later, since Hollywood isn't alone in that trend.  So, to be clear, I'm coming in after 70 Episodes, countless Manga and 3 Movies.  So will this make sense?  Surprisingly-yes!  Thankfully, the Film feels fairly self-contained and you can actually just watch it without even knowing what the hell 'Patlabor' is.  The Plot involves a series of strange attacks around Tokyo, some Police Officers, a mysterious Genetics Company and a woman stuck in the middle.  Can they solve the case before too many Poor Bastards of Cinema meet their end?  To find out, read on...

A series of strange attacks and incidents have been occurring.  Debris falls from the sky.  Something attacks a boat.

It is up to 2 Detectives- one young and one old- to work the case. 

On the way back from the scene, he picks up a lady with car trouble in the rain and gives her a ride.

This will, of course, be important later.

Meanwhile, we see that a secretive Company is talking about their experiments.  This one is #12, which is somehow living longer than expected.  What about the one after that, which is missing.

And yes, this does feel like it may have inspired 2006's The Host.

In a neat bit, they find a VHS Tape of a News Story about the Plane Crash that is important to the story.  In the background, they 'zoom and enhance' to find a guy talking.

Since they can't hear it- obviously- they find a deaf woman to read his lips.

'Project 13.'

Right at the thirty minute mark- Syd Field's Screenplay was translated into Japanese, I see- a big ass monster shows up at a Plant!

All of a sudden, this Police Procedural turns into a Monster Movie for the next 10 minutes! 

With the monster in hiding, the case continues, now with a new mission.

The young Detective starts up a tentative romance with the woman from earlier, but finds out that she was a Geneticist that worked on Project 13.

In summary, she had her Husband die, followed by their daughter- to cancer.  Seeing how cancer cells regenerate in perpetuity (is that true?!?), she uses...her daughter's cancer cells on #13.

That was alot of Plot to unload.  Time to relax and listen to some vinyl.  Got any? 

Skipping ahead- mostly just the techno-babble about how they lure the creature in-, we see that the Movie has another bit of tonal shifting.

The creature is wearing a damaged mech-vehicle as a shell and fighting the cops, who have, well, Gundams!

The creature is eventually defeated and there's one last twist- its body will be destroyed by order of the Company.

Thankfully for you, I didn't screen cap the part where they reveal that the creatures has what appear to be human breasts.  Oh, Japan!

More tragedy strikes as the woman falls to her death- despite the Detective's best efforts- and dies with her 'daughter.'

In the aftermath, details of the incident are leaked by who is clearly supposed to be the young Detective.  The End?

What is this Film?!?  Is it a Police Procedural?  Is it a Monster Movie?  Is it Kaiju Film?  Is it a tale of love, loss and rebirth?  I guess 'yes' to all of them.  From what I can tell, the Patlabor Series as a whole is just about Cops/Detectives/Agents stopping crimes/danger with vaguely-futuristic technology like mech-vehicles and the basically-Gundam Suits you saw above.  I'm sure that there is more to the Plots, mind you, but that's all you need to know, I think.  I'll get Bob on more of these in the future.  As a standalone Film, this thankfully all makes sense.  It is weird as hell, but it makes sense.  All of the weird stuff is treated like it is just a normal, every day thing, which is nice.  Oh, of course you used cancer cells to grow a giant Crayfish monster- why not?  You guys have Gundam Suits- complete with hand guns sized for them- of course you do!  That's just obvious.  The parts without the giant monster are probably the best, as they do so much with so little.  The Film nicely uses good dissolves and transitions.  They do some nice compare-and-contrast bits where you see the differences between the 2 Detectives.  In addition, they play with visuals in neat ways, like a random shot drawn to look like an Elevator's Security Camera or the bit where they zoom in on the VHS Footage.  In contrast, I will note how they make the Scientist Woman look as pale as a Ginger Vampire- what's the deal with that?  The Film will appeal to you if you liked mixed styles and narratives.  If you don't, you'll be annoyed with stuff like the fact that the final fight has a child playing piano as the accompanying music.  It is truly Japanese- for better or worse.  If nothing else, the Film will make you feel...

Next up, I try to finish off a Disc of 4 Films that I started last year.  One was good and one was terrible, so anything goes!  Stay tuned...