WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3
Reviewed by Carolyn Garner
Pioneer
Based on English language and Japanese language/English subtitled versions
Rated R for language
What it’s (basically) all about: WXIII is a futuristic, noir-flavored police drama, paired with an atomic age monster movie, which takes place in and around Tokyo Bay. Veteran police detective Kusumi and his younger partner, Hata, are called to scene of one deadly accident after another around the Babylon Project, a sprawling facility at the edge of the city. Their separate investigations reveal layers of intrigue and conspiracy among the police, the military, and even Hata’s new girlfriend, Saeko, a genetic research engineer, who has a secret connection to the cause of the accidents, a laboratory created monster codenamed Wasted Thirteen. Legendary Budokan Stadium is the site of the final showdown between the monster, created from chemically enhanced human cancer cells, and the patlabors of Special Vehicle Unit 2.
Nitty Gritty: The feature film is 102 minutes long and presented in 16x9 anamorphic widescreen. There is an English language track in Dolby Digital 5.1 with an optional English subtitle stream for Japanese signs and two Japanese language tracks (Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0) with an optional English subtitle stream for dialog and signs. If you have autoplay enabled on your DVD player or computer, the motion menu will begin playing. There are a variety of extras available, including 2 trailers for WXIII in English, two in Japanese and several TV spots for the U.S. market. There is also a small section on Patlabor terms. Pioneer includes a block of trailers for its upcoming (as of 2003, before the DVD distribution arm was renamed Geneon) releases Master Keaton, Armitage Dual Matrix, Lupin the 3rd TV series, X, Gate Keppers 21, Mahoromatic, and L/R (Licensed by Royalty). These titles may become available again after the recently announced (November 13, 2008) merger between Geneon and Universal Pictures Japan. There are also production and DVD credits in the Extras menu.
The DVD packaging for WXIII uses shadowing effects that echo the moody coloring of the movie. The front cover has the faces of the three leads (Kusumi, Hata, and Saeko) emerge from the darkness of a clawed hand above a Patlabor and Tokyo Bay. The back cover plays around with perspective as a Patlabor in shadow looms above the Budokan. The blurb is framed by small stills of scenes from the movie. It’s a bit of a spoiler, though, so if you’re looking for suspense, you better advised to seek it in the labyrinthine unraveling of the story itself. The bottom half of the back cover includes more DVD specs, logos, ratings, and some website information. No insert, other than a chapter listing, is included, nor is there a reversible cover.
Survey says: This disc is rated R for language but there is also a bit of gore (mutilated dolphin and humans, monster dining on security guards and cops, etc.) and violence involving the monster and its victims. Other than the occasional S-bomb voiced by the main cast, several F-bombs are dropped by sideline English speaking characters who are part of a music video shoot at the Budokan. Because our other Patlabor titles are in the YA section, I decided to put this one there at first. However, after watching it, I think I am going to move it to the adult section instead, because our YA audience tends to be younger teens and pre-teens, especially at our smaller branches.
Personal Ad: WXIII is more of a standalone, Patlabor-in-name-only movie, as the characters from the other movies are only supporting players in this one. The mix of mystery and horror are effective, although there are a number of unanswered questions at the end, which I thought detracted from the story somewhat. I also thought that there was less emotional involvement in parts of the story where there should have been a more overt display of feeling, especially the parts dealing with Saeko and her daughter. However, there is some compensation in the beautiful art and animation on display, from the character design to the climatic battle between Patlabor’s trademark Ingrams and the monster. And Kenji Kawai’s spare, dark score echoes the mood of the movie in a top notch way. If you have one or both of the other Patlabor movies and/or an audience of Patlabor fans, pick this title up when you find it.
This was also my first time reviewing the English dub version of a title and I have to say that Michelle Ruff (Noa Izumi) and Michael Forest/Alfred Thor (Kusumi) did a really great job of matching the tone and spirit of the original Japanese cast