WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3

A series of grizzly murders leads Tokyo detective Hatta and Kasumi into a web of intrigue and danger.  The case takes a turn for the bizarre when Hatta encounters and begins to date a beautiful scientist, harboring a dark secret.  A new breed of monster is lurking in the shadows of Tokyo Bay and it’s existence could be a dark foreboding of things to come.  As Hatta and Kasumi hurry to unravel a dangerous conspiracy, the military takes action.  It all leads to a showdown in a stadium between a new breed of weapon and the Patlabors of Special Vehicles Section 2.

WXIII (or Wasted 13 if you were curious), is the (so far) final entry in the Patlabor Movie Trilogy.  It’s the only of these three films not to be directed by Mamoru Oshii.  That doesn’t make it feel any less like one of his films though.  The atmosphere and long touring moments of cities and day in the life activities are still ever present, as is Kenji Kawai’s comforting yet exciting score.  But that’s not the only thing that stands out about this great entry in the Patlabor franchise.  Time between Patlabor 2 and 3 and the advances in Anime also offer a great service to the film.  Patlabor 3 is visually stunning and, like Patlabor 2, you just want to mute the audio, keep the music on and just watch the film unfold in a soothing but heart pumping experience, especially once the finale gets going.

Right off the bat, you’ll see that this isn’t an SV2 story.  No the movie takes us into another group of detectives we normally wouldn’t see much of in this universe.  For me, it’s not too hard to look at Hatta and Kasumi and not think of Benjamin Bratt and Jerry Orbach from Law and Order.  I cant help it, it’s just a vibe I get from their character designs.  I do like the mutual respect they have for each other.  Kasumi hardly ever flaunts seniority over Hatta and in return Hatta is able to speak with him as an equal even in the most intense moments of the film.  One part I did like is towards the end of the film when Hatta is in dire need of help.  Kasumi doesn’t hesitate to rush to his aid, even if he has a bad leg injury.  The rest of the SV2 only pops up a little bit throughout the film: Shinobou is totally absent, Noa, Asuma and their unit only appear at the end to take on the WXIII monster.  Only Gotoh has any sort of meat in the movie.  He’s not only an old friend of Kasumi (almost making me think that Kasumi was his detective friend Matsui from the other films) but he’s also the police rep when it’s time to plan the offensive against WXIII.  I did find it funny that Hatta thinks SV2 should be brought in super early and Kasumi comically dismisses the idea, kind of the films way of saying this is going to be their story alone, for the most part.

We get a nice, solid monster mystery tale in WXIII and a tragic one at that once we learn of the poor things origins.  It’s kind of a classic fall from grace mixed with mad and depressed scientist tropes.  I do think they could have fleshed out the relationship between Hatta and Misaki before the latters mysterious past is revealed.  Idk I just didn’t buy them as a couple.  This can make their side of the story a little tough to accept.  But I think there’s more from Patlabor 3 that makes up plenty for this unbalanced romance.

The monster moments when Wasted 13 makes itself known on a construction rig are just great as Hatta, Kasumi and a couple of red shirts try to avoid death by giant teeth.  Being a robot sized bio weapon also means we do get to see the SV2 Patlabor’s in action against this unexpected foe.  Tack on a piano piece that makes sense when you watch the film and you’ve got one the best paced, best looking robot vs kaiju fights ever, seriously I think this showdown tops the end of Patlabor 2.

If this is to be the end of the Patlabor film saga, it’s kind of sad.  Patlabor 3 is a very welcome entry to the franchise, expanding on the world and giving us some fun new characters and action to enjoy.  Those expecting another full blown outing with the SV2 may be let down by the amount of screentime our favorite Police mecha pilots get.  I still wouldn’t let that keep you from enjoying this one.  Had the Hatta and Misaki parts been stronger, I would be willing to rate this alongside Patlabor 2 for excellence.  But still im willing to give the grand finale of the Patlabor Film Trilogy, WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3… 

9/10

Getting into the Thanksgiving holiday over the next couple of weeks.  So we’ll be spending them with two Anime classics that should never be forgotten.  The Galaxy Express double feature begins next week with Galaxy Express 999.