Psycho Pass: The Movie

2116 AD.  With large success in Japan, the Sybil System is ready to expand its reach.  The country of Seaun brings the Sibyl System to its country to quell the ongoing civil war.  Things seem to be going well until a name reaches Japan, one that draws Inspector Akane Tsunemori’s attention…Shunya Kogame.  It’s been three years since Kogame killed Shogou Makashima and disappeared.  Now he is helping insurgents wage a guerilla war against Seaun and its Shamballa Float paradise.  Akane heads out solo to track down her former partner.  But Kogame is hardly an easy read.  Will Akane be able to figure out his motives and the sinister undertones of a cross country Sibyl?

Much like Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie last fall, I was able to catch a special screening of the Psycho Pass movie tonight.  Psycho Pass is a series I think even those who aren’t Anime fans can get into.  It’s basically a futuristic Criminal Minds with more gore and questionable morals.  So how was the series jump to the big screen?

The premise is very befitting a movie.  The already murky and deceitful Sibyl system is setting its sights on a more global view.  For the uninitiated, this is a system that eeks out peace in a disturbing manner.  If you think a violent thought, youre designated a “Latent Criminal” and are either sentenced to imprisonment or death depending on your Psycho Pass.  Some would call that peace.  But those seeing it for the first time would call it unjust and downright brutal.  Seeing that system go worldwide would be a doozy.  And seeing it function in Seaun is downright unsettling.  It’s a whole new kind of discrimination: those with collars attached to them to indicate their status as Latent Criminals are more the labor force and cant even ride a bus…damn.  Plus the system is in the hands of war hungry soldiers, led by Wong-who looks like he was ripped from a Final Fantasy game.  This was never going to work…and that makes the story grab ya.

But once the movie gets going, it kind of lost that big feel luster that comes with a movie based off a franchise.  It’s like the movie dialed it back to expanded episode territory in favor of a “Case of the Week” approach rather than something grander.  It just felt like it was lacking something.  It was great to see Akane reunite with Kogame and there’s plenty there to keep the “shippers” busy for a while.  There’s some missed oppourtunities with Kogame actually.  Exploring his psyche following the end of Season 1 would have been a great sequence.  This isn’t helped by a surprise cameo that would have been better served throughout most of the movie rather than one short scene, to show just how Kogame has changed and maybe not all the way for the better.

There’s also the matter of the left over baggage from the series.  Familiarity with the Psycho Pass universe doesn’t hurt coming into this feature.  I had only seen the first season at the point.  And really the movie plays more like a straight sequel to Season One in several respects.  The only bit of Season Two that might help is with Akane’s new team, who are left to the wayside for much of the film.  This could have been a sole Akane mission…but this is a movie, that wasn’t going to happen.  Much is explained about Akane’s tense relationship with the Sibyl system but, again, it’s better if you’ve seen her arc in Season One to feel the full effect of the decisions she makes in the film.

Animation wise, Production IG always does an amazing job, no matter what it animates.  That being said, Psycho Pass: The Movie doesn’t look any different from the series in terms of animation quality.  It may seem a bit polished but nothing stood out to me from the TV show.  The action is pretty fast and hard to keep up with sometimes.  But those of you who loved Psycho Pass’s gore factor will not be disappointed (Those Dominators can still do their jobs…and was that a DOMINATOR SNIPER!!! AHHHHH!!!!).  One thing I found annoying, and im not sure if this happened a lot in the series, were the continuous jumps to black. I felt like I was missing something everytime they happened.  Really aggravating.

In the end, if you, like me, like Psycho Pass, then you’ll probably enjoy the movie.  It tries to broaden the stage for the sake of scale and succeeds in bringing many of the shows thought provoking questions to the big screen.  If it had been a bit more accessible to a wider audience, I’d give it a higher score, cause I was entertained and I enjoy this universe a lot.  I guess it’s a good thing we got a wink from the movie that this may not be the last time we visit this world.  I just hope next time, we get the game changer of a movie I know Psycho Pass is capable of.

7/10