Friday, July 1, 2016

Robotech: Love Live Alive

(Happy 4th of July Weekend Everyone!!!
I was planning to save these for the actual day (along with the series finale of Gundam: 08th MS Team).  But a friend urged me to post these today, who am I to argue?  Been sitting on these reviews for a while, waiting for the right time to post them.  Fireworks and Giant Robots?  Sounds like a winning combination to me.  So here we go, I present to you the final part of the Robotech Trilogy.  See you next Monday for the Conclusion of Gundam: The 08th MS Team, followed the week after by the beginning of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.)
Earth 2044 A.D. The Invid have been expelled from the planet and the third Robotech War is now over.  As peace begins to feel real again, Lancer, the freedom fighter also known as legendary rocker Yellow Dancer, sits down with a reporter to tell his story.  This is the tale of how Lancer came to meet a group of stitched together comrades and how they would play a pivotal role in the downfall of the Invid.  And as Lancer reflects on the past, he sets his sights on what the future may hold for him in this new era.

Fans of Robotech looking for a brand new adventure in the wake of The Shadow Chronicles will come away pretty disappointed with Love Live Alive.  The movie is more or less a compilation film detailing the events of the third season of Robotech-The New Generation (based on Genesis Climber Mospeda).  There is a new epilogue included that the film plays itself around based on a Mospeda OVA.  But the promise held in promos featuring brand new animated looks at Dana Stirling falls terribly flat.  Had this film been about the period between the second and third Robotech wars, that would have been a better draw.  Up until this film (and the Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles graphic novel) it was unclear what happened to Dana and the rest of the Southern Cross.  We knew they after their war with the Robotech Masters, they were in no shape for another battle so close ahead.  And all we get for their tiny, tiny bit (Dana doesn’t even have any lines), is a 30 second escape montage with new animation worse than the Shadow Chronicles.  It’s beyond sad and a bad cheat.

I have a love/hate relationship with compilation films.  Some, like the Madoka Magica movies, are pretty solid and are good substitute watch if you’re short on time to check out an entire series.  The tell the right moments, flow correctly from one scene to the next and are pretty well paced.  Others, like Love Live Alive, jump around a lot and have no flow or connection outside of the characters and the timeline of events.  Even the introduction of the main New Generation cast is handled way too quickly.  It’s cool to see the old animation at times and it’s great to hear the old Robotech music again (something The Shadow Chronicles definitely needed).  I guess as far as compilation films go though, this one was just eh.  Personally I never finished The New Generation as I thought it was just ok.  Maybe I need to finish it but I’m sure it would be better served to me in full season format rather than a movie.

At the end of the day, this just isn’t the Robotech movie I wanted to see.  I was set for either a Shadow Chronicles continuation or an interquel taking place between the Masters and New Generation sagas.  I might be acting a bit harsh towards this film.  The music is great, old Robotech themes and the Yellow Dancer songs.  Scott Bernard is a solid lead character.  The Cyclones and new Veritechs of that era still look cool.  This just isn’t what I wanted to watch though and I think that’s a problem most Robotech projects have.  We want Rick, Lisa, Max and the Macross crew again.  We want to see their adventures continue properly…or you know, KNOW THAT THEYRE STILL ALIVE!!!!  Fans of the New Generation will enjoy this last, greatest hits look at the final season of Robotech.  Others like myself will be let down, knowing that the Robotech adventure we really want to watch still eludes us.

5/10

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