T5W#152-Top 5 Personal Reactions to the Live Action Gundam Announcement

Last weekend at Anime Expo 2018, a pretty big announcement was dropped (amongst many but obviously this one caught my eye).  At the Sunrise panel, the studio that brought us just about every big mecha classic ever from Escaflowne to Code Geass, revealed to the world that they were partnering with Legendary Pictures (the studio that helped conceive US hits like Pacific Rim, The Dark Knight Trilogy and Straight Outta Compton) to bring us…A LIVE ACTION GUNDAM MOVIE!!!  Now, I know about as much as the next person does as this announcement is all that was given, along with a very short visual that told us the project had begun.  So…what did cross my mind when I heard that these two legendary (no pun intended) studio were joining forces to give us the movie ive waited my whole life to see on the big screen?  Well figured I’d save that for today and unveil my Top 5 Personal Reactions to the Live Action Gundam Announcement.

 

#5-When is it coming out?

You cant just make a giant robot movie in a few months and expect it to wow anyone.  Production on movies like Ready Player One and Pacific Rim took years to even get to actual filming, nevermind all of the work that goes into pre production, casting, visual effects, etc.  Which is why I don’t think we’ll be seeing anything before…idk 2021 at the earliest.  Then again, we don’t know how far along this pairing actually is on the project.  Still, I wait with a very deep breath.  It will happen when it happens I guess.  At least ill be looking forward to it more than those sequels to James Cameron’s Avatar that will never see the light of day cause he wont start filming cause he’s busy coming up with 15 more sequels…huh why am I so angry about that?

 

#4-The Terror of G-Savior

I think it’s almost fortunate that there’s a whole generation of Anime fan, much less Gundam fans, that doesn’t realize there has already been a live action Gundam feature…and it’s horrible.  G Savior was a piss poor production that had little to do with the actual Gundam universe, not even calling its central G Savior Mobile Suit a Gundam.  Terrible CG Effects, bad writing, bad casting, it was just…bad.  Personally ive never seen it all the way through but I know of its terrible legacy and that its one of the biggest blemishes on the Gundam Legacy.  Sunrise suffered through this travesty and…I cant believe im going to say this…hopefully people at Legendary have seen this movie…and will learn from its mountain of mistakes before going forward with a new project.

 

#3-What Era will they Choose?

One of the biggest questions going through anyones head is this one.  The Gundam Multiverse is a ginormous toybox with all the mecha, characters and settings you could ever want.  The most obvious answer is that we’ll see an adaptation of the original One Year War story with Amuro Ray and Char Aznable.  But given how Legendary did a recent attempt a team based Giant Robot tale with Pacific Rim Uprising, it wouldn’t surprise me if they went the After Colony route with Gundam Wing.  This goes double if the American Market is first in the projects mind.  While Gundam is one of Animes most successful legacy stories over all, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is the show that made most US Anime film goers aware of the franchise and it was a mega hit on Toonami.  So tapping into that nostalgia could be to the project benefit.  But there’s also every other era: The Future Century (G Gundam), After War Era (Gundam X), Correct Century (Turn A Gundam), Cosmic Era (Gundam Seed) and the recent Post Disaster Era (Iron Blooded Orphans).  Like I said, while the choice might seem obvious, the possibilities are endless.

 

#2-Stand Alone or Franchise?

Nowadays, it seems like most movies are being made with franchises in mind.  Most recently, Solo: A Star Wars Story had the chance to tell a self contained stand alone tale but ended up seeding other storylines for a new trilogy within the franchise when just one movie would’ve been fine.  That said, I cant imagine if the One Year War storyline is chosen that the whole conflict could be told in one single movie…it’s just not possible.  Let’s call it a double edged sword.  Some film projects like The Lord of the Rings are made with faith that the audience will enjoy one film and be back for more the following year.  Others like Pirates of the Caribbean, falter and see diminishing returns and less enthusiasm in sequels as a result.  I want Gundam to succeed as a live action film and if that means maybe telling another brand new story that doesn’t involve the need for more films as a result, ill take one win over a huge gamble should it not succeed.

 

#1-This Is Happening

I just listed numerous reasons why I think a live action Gundam project would and wouldn’t work but how do I feel overall?  Im a mixture, really.  To hear this is going down makes me nervous.  G Savior happened after all and that cant just be forgotten though we try.  But it’s also exciting.  Legendary Pictures has made huge strides in making movies to the scale that fit something like Gundam from the aforementioned Pacific Rim movies to the still being developed Godzilla Shared Monster Universe.  On top of that, I wonder if seeing the RX-78-2 Gundam pop up in Ready Player One had the same effect on Sunrise that it had on me…going absolutely fanboy crazy in my seat at seeing the legend itself on the big screen and used to great effect.  At the end of the day, for whatever reasons there are, this project is happening and the further along it comes, the more theories I can formulate and the more worried and excited I can get depending on what progress is shown.  I hope it works, I really do.  I’ve always loved Gundam and if this project works then the whole world will know why I love it too.