Golgo 13: Queen Bee

So, I just checked out this movie called Queen Bee. Overall, it's got its ups and downs. The story has its moments, but it's a bit inconsistent at times. The animation style is decent, but you can tell there were some budget and time constraints, especially during the action scenes. Sound-wise, it's alright, but it doesn't hit you like the 1983 movie did.

As for character development, it's a mixed bag. There's some solid drama in there, but also some weak spots. Despite its flaws, I still had a good time watching it, especially as a fan of the 1983 flick. Oh, and that final scene ... during the credits? Pretty satisfying, and it captures the essence of Golgo 13 stories nicely.

In the end, I'd say give it a shot at least once, but don't expect it to measure up to the 1983 classic.

I was originally gonna save this till tomorrow, but I thought, aw hell let's finish this now and thus I am concluding my little mini-marathon of the Golgo 13 movies with the belated sequel to The Professional, Queen Bee. I'd forgotten how much I liked this one as it's a fairly underappreciated and ambitious follow-up to its predecessor despite a massively reduced budget and much easier-to-follow plot. For being only an hour long, it doesn't waste a moment, it's a very harsh and gritty political thriller that keeps Golgo in the background as this omnipresent threat while the movie focuses heavily on the titular Queen ... Bee and her campaign. The movie leans on its style quite a bit, both visually and sound-wise, which are both to be expected from an Osamu Dezaki movie, but ultimately feels undercooked due to its short length, it's got plenty of ideas and commentary but it never quite comes across smoothly enough to really stick the landing.

The second and last Golgo 13 movie. Well technically it's an OVA, but it's all one feature so whatever. In this one Golgo 13 is hired by the US's vice president nominee to assassinate "Queen Bee", a major drug distributor who plans to assassinate the presidential candidate for his anti-drug platform. Golgo 13 is suspicious about how simple this job is and investigates further before making his move. Simple indeed! Queen Bee came out 15 damn years after the first movie, and despite Osamu Dezaki still being the director things have drastically changed. Nothing to do with the story of Golgo 13, and it's still ... a fun one in all of its grimly serious pulp glory. But the eccentric direction I raved about for the first movie is almost entirely gone and replaced with a more straightforward rendition of the story. It's a real disappointment. The original Golgo 13 movie was elevated to something great because of its acidic, ethereal direction and powerful, symbolic stills. This has neither. The animation and directing can even get downright lazy. There's an overuse of painted stills replacing moments of impact in the action, and to emphasize chaotic movement instead of showing it with perhaps erratic cuts and complex choreography Queen Bee opts to constantly use a shaky camera effect and panning camera repeats. It's almost comical how noticeable this gets when it comes to cutting corners.

Well, with the execution being bland in comparison to its predecessor, that leaves the story for comment. There's no getting around the misogyny in Golgo 13, but I overlooked it in the first movie. My patience is tested this time around, as the titular Queen Bee character gives a ridiculous philosophical excuse for screwing and fathering literally every man and their child. It's pretty pathetic, and of course she wants to screw Golgo 13 like everyone else despite knowing he wants to kill her. The story itself is also not as interesting this time around. Golgo 13 doesn't come into contact with any really freaky opponents like he did in the first movie, and the villain is much less interesting. I liked the theme song "Turquoise Blue" a lot. Overall I enjoyed this basic rendition of Golgo 13 enough to look forward to the series, but it's a real shame it doesn't posses the bizarre atmosphere or stylistic scene composition as the first movie.