Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom

Cosmic Era 75.  Two years after the end of the Second Bloody Valentine War, the tenuous peace is maintained by the peacekeeping organization Compass, led by Lacus Clyne and Kira Yamato.  The rising nation of Foundation seeks to join their resources with Compass to end the threat of Blue Cosmos once and for all.  But when an unexpected action from Kira turns him into the most wanted man on the planet, Compass finds itself under attack from a plot years in the making.  Against an enemy that can surpass even Coordinators themselves, is this a fight Kira, Athrun and the others can win?

“There are those who said that this day would never come.  What have they to say now?”  That quote from Halo 2 is definitely appropriate for fans of Gundams Cosmic Era.  After 20 years of delays, including the loss of SEED and SEED Destiny writer Chiaki Morisawa, the Gundam SEED movie is finally a reality, just in time to properly ring in the Gundam franchises’ 45^th Anniversary.  Back when SEED first launched in 2002, it wasn’t just supposed to be Gundam’s first step into the new millenium but also the launch of a new Alternate Universe meant to rival the parent Universal Century.  But after the disappointment of SEED Destiny, it makes sense why other avenues were taken.  Personally, my dislike for SEED Destiny is well documented on this blog and any new CE project would have to work overtime to earn my trust back.  Well good news everyone: not only is Gundam SEED Freedom a huge improvement from Destiny, it’s also a strong showing that shows the Cosmic Era has plenty of life still left in it.  This is Gundam SEEDs redemption story and it is freaking awesome.
 
Taking a hint from SEED Destiny’s multiple leading storylines, Freedom is a return  to basics for this corner of the franchise.  The spotlight is refocused squarely on Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne and their now troubled romance.  Kira in particular is at his weakest and most unsure.  He’s been fighting a lot since he first got into the cockpit of the Strike Gundam back in Gundam SEED and to him, it doesn’t seem like victory comes with much progress, only more war.  The main story keeps it priorities squarely on Kira’s inevitable breakdown and whether or not he’s ready to throw in the towel or find the spark he needs to keep fighting.  It’s some of the best character work for him since the original SEED and a good reminder why Kira still has such a dedicated following.  I was worried poor Lacus would be a damsel for the entire movie but even she needs to rediscover why she loves Kira and is willing to stand alongside him.  Make no mistake, this is Kira and Lacus’ show and they’re more than capable of shouldering the weight of being complicated but likeable Gundam leads.
 
Much of Gundam SEEDs staff and crew have returned for the Freedom feature and every picture, frame and Mobile Suit design makes it feel like we haven’t been gone from the Cosmic Era for very long.  The most noticeable addition is the CG Mobile Suits. Once again, Gundam continues to be one of the few Mecha franchises that can do CG right and it’s been doing so since Gundam Unicorn and slowly perfecting it.  No longer hindered by the constraints of Digi Paint and reused animation, the action sequences are SEED firing on all cylinders at its fullest potential.  It’s pretty brutal action too.  The body count in this one is pretty high and the depictions of destruction are incredibly chilling.  All of this only fuels the heroes resolve to make those responsible pay with their newest Gundam Mobile Suits and with all the beam spamming possible.  Yep if you’ve missed Beam Spams, there’s plenty in every action scene.  We also get the return of TM Revolution and See-Saw reteaming to handle OP and ED theme responsibilities like back in the beginning of SEED.  This is a helluva creative reunion, no wonder much of Freedom feels so, well, right.
 
Freedom introduces a whole new cadre of characters who will menace our heroes for the films 2 hour runtime.  It’s here that a lot of the characterization misteps with SEED Destiny come into play.  Thankfully, our heroes are spared character assassinations though.  No main antagonist Orphee Lam Tao and his entourage of angsty pilots are pretty one note antagonists and that note is…spoiled brats.  Yeah when you break it all down, these guys are just here to whine about everything until they get their way.  Nowhere is this more apparent than with Tao’s scenes with Lacus.  His infatuation with her gets more and more creepy with every scene and the guy wont take a freaking hint, it’s impossible.  Tao and his Black Knight perseve themselves as perfect and unfalible and therefore, everything they do is going to go in their favor.  Is it worse than Shinn Asuka in SEED Destiny?  That’s debatable.  However, while Shinn is learning to play nice with his new team, I LOVED seeing him get smack talked and even punched (albeit accidentally) by Kira and Athrun during one scene.  Not going to lie, I laughed, cheered and clapped so hard.  I’ve been waiting 20 years for that and it was priceless.
 
With so much attention dedicated to the forces of Foundation, it does result in the sidelining of many prominent SEED characters for much if not all of the film.  SEED’s co-lead Athrun, doesn’t appear until the half way mark of the film.  And while he is instrumental in helping Kira, there’s not enough interaction between these two life long friends that has always been the foundation (no pun intended) of Gundam SEED.  Same goes for Cagali, who spends most of the film in a supporting role as leader of ORB.  It’s been forever since we’ve seen these characters, would it have killed Freedom to show Kira, Lacus, Athrun and Cagali on a double date or something?  Heck Shinn and Lunamaria get more to do as part of Kira’s personal Mobile Suit team.  Speaking of, fan favorites like Yzak and Dearka are basically here in glorified cameos along with other SEED mainstays.  Only a couple of their fellow veterans like Murrue Ramius and Mu La Flaga get anything of major importance to do in this epic adventure.  Mightve been too much to ask to shoe horn in so many familiar faces but their still faces we’d like to see for more than a couple of seconds.
 
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom does the impossible and restores my faith in the Gundam SEED section of the Gundam Multiverse.  The story is simpler and easy to follow even if you’re not up to date on your Cosmic Era history.  The characters who run this universe are back centerstage and are given excellent and emotionally charged continuing arcs.  The villains and some of the new characters are nothing to write home about and some fan favorites aren’t around for very long.  Still though, I cant believe I enjoyed this movie as much as I did.  I also cant believe I’m saying this but…when can we go back to the Cosmic Era?  Cause I don’t think I’m ready to have this be the ultimate conclusion to Kira, Lacus and Athrun’s story.  I want more.  And I’m pretty sure a lot of people are ready for the same.
 
8.5/10