Trigun: Badlands Rumble

*****SPOILERS ALERT*****

While it was fun to see Vash and the gang again I was really disappointed by this. My major problem was the story-line. It was predictable.

1 - Vash rolls into town, destruction (best part)
2 - Introduce the sex appeal (she's useless throughout the movie, but she can beat up a couple nameless thugs pretty good)
3 - Introduce the Bad Guy, he has a strange philosophy where destruction and robbery fuel his massive ego
4 - Re-introduce the old mains, who rally to save everyone
5 - Vash rolls in to save everyone at the last second, because only he can.
6 - Sun glances off ... Vash's super cool glasses and he wakes away into the desert without water

My problem with this story line is that it has been done over a million and a half times. There are no surprises in the entire movie (except for the part where Vash got shot, but we all knew he hadn't really died BECAUSE HE'S THE MAIN CHARACTER). I fail to see any creativity in this old re-used excuse to bring back fan-favourites.

Here is what I wanted:
1 - If you're going to introduce sex-appeal, then let there be sex. Otherwise, give them a use. Give them a personality. Give them something to make me feel like they are a real person and have something to contribute to the story. (Amelie was, admittedly the daughter of the bad guy, but whatever. That's not enough for me :/ )
2 - Everyone has flaws, except the characters I see in anime/movies/books. Fictional characters seem to have fallen into a cookie-cut staple where they are basic and boring. When was the last time you saw someone seriously fuck up, or kill the bad guy out of rage, or shoot a bullet that missed and ended up killing an innocent, or something I can't foresee.
3 - It seems to me that anime's choose to be realistic whenever it serves to aid the plot. Example, Vash never misses a shot, except when its the final bad guy of the movie. A weak example, but I feel if you're going to introduce realism to an anime, you need to keep it consistent throughout the entire thing. You can't use it as a plot device, because it cheats the entire story(side note: I hate plot devices, they are boring).

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I wanted more from this. I LOVED the original Trigun series, (I especially loved looking for that blasted black cat who was always hiding somewhere in the background of every episode, one of my favorite flavor-pieces of any anime ever). But I found nothing new or interesting in this story. It was nice to see Vash again, but I would have preferred that his memory was preserved in memory rather than tarnished by something new, and dull.

I love the anime for Trigun, and I love the manga. Like LOTS of other people, I was beyond excited when I heard about a movie. It's one of my all time favorite Anime. I was only hoping for something as good as an average episode of Trigun though (so pretty amazing), but didn't even get a decent film.

The worst part was probably the story. It is very obvious, every little twist that is. And I don't just mean that Vash isn't dead. If that's a spoiler for you, you're just strangely not aware of the likelyhood of the main character of a large franchise ... dying before the movie is even close to over.

Following that, would be the original characters. Like in many films, they lack even the interest that you would feel for a character who was introduced for one episode or chapter of a manga.

Lastly was the music, which while fitting in some ways, was rarely used and not put to good use.

The pacing was also strange. Like many movie adapations, it forgoes most character interaction for extended scenes of nothing. Also, planet gunsmoke now has 3 moons, which I don't personally recall. It also has a very populated galaxy, which again I don't recall. There's like 20 planets on the zoom out, all within a planets distance of each other!

Of course, Vash was made out to be an idiot, rather than just somewhat strange.

While the animation was really good, it just lacked most anything that made Trigun good. And I did watch it subbed, unlike some reviews for it that rated it rather high.

Hop along the idiot train everybody, because our top fool (Vash) is here to save the day.

The incessant need for Vash to portray a juvenile imbecile waned on my nerves, as it did during the original series. But having the displeasure to sit through an entire 90 minute movie, without the ability to take breaks through episodes, was especially excruciating. In addition, the same tired, “I’m the hero; therefore, I do not kill,” motive that was annoyingly prevalent, indicated that the writers were making no effort(s) in testing the protagonists resolve. When Amelia, a fresh character introduced in the movie, pushed back ... at Vash’s hero rhetoric and verbally lashed out by pointing to the unintended consequences of allowing evil people to live (namely, good people getting harmed) — Vash, discourteously, brushed it off, giving no consideration to her words. In fact, he placed his hand over his mouth, similar to when a five-year-old spills a glass of milk on the floor.

Now, let me be clear.

For those who watched the series before the movie, we understand why Vash gravitates towards being a gentle person; however, even benevolent individuals have moments in their life when they anguish over the gravity of their decisions. Why, then, is there no self-reflection about Vash’s own mission towards living an altruistic life? Where is the willingness to provoke inward conflict, forcing the character to answer tough questions and be open to new perspectives? None of that. What we receive is Vash reliving his prepubescence by eating doughnuts, acting silly, and flirting outlandishly.

The other characters, just like the original series, are dearth of personality and become one-dimensional with no depth or exploration into what makes them unique. Milly is the epitome of a dog in a human body. Happy-go-lucky without a care in the world. Meryl is the classic example of Tsundere. Wolfwood, for the purposes of this movie, is a plot device to present artificial tension. Gasback is the antithesis of Vash: bad for the sake of being bad. And Amelia is out for revenge, but purifies her ways because blah blah blah. Heard this story a million times, yet writers attempted to ham-fist it down our throats along with guns/explosions and call it a day. Given the average rating of 8.05 (considered “very good,” according to MAL’s grading criteria) its no wonder the anime industry continues to produce egregious garbage when the fans clamor for the lowest common denominator. By the way, why did Amelia attain a rash/hives when Vash touched her skin. It seems like an odd detail to place into the story when time could have been dedicated toward fleshing out her character.

To tie up loose ends, the animation, while improved in terms of character aesthetics, felt clunky during battle scenes. Movements did not feel polished, nor did they feel realistic (rewatch the scene when Vash stands on top of the car in the desert). The music felt disconnected from what was happening on the screen, quite off-putting at times. In all honesty, I cannot think of anything positive to say about this movie, neither do I wish to invest further time in writing a review about said movie. Therefore, I would vehemently recommend that you look elsewhere for entertainment, this production makes the last Diehard movie look semi-palatable.

The reason I don't like this movie is because of these reasons
1. Vash just doesn't feel natural like he did in the show he acts like a idiot but not naturally and he spends 20 minutes to flirt with the forced upon female
2. Wolfwood had better morales in the show and didn't just go out like a free agent looking for contracts he was always by himself helping vash and he doesn't even call vash his name, he calls him needle head which doesn't make sense.
3 The dub only has Johnny returning and everyone else replaced so no one sounds the same except for ... vash.
4. Milly and Meryle come to the city to buy something for the insurance company instead of saying they were following vash which they did the whole time in the show.
5. The Villian is simple and predictable no personality forced backstory and the female introduced is forced upon sex appeal.
The only thing this movie has is high animation quality and unless your a fan and you wanna see trigun in hd then check it out if you want to but be warned that this movie has no surprise
For any fans of the show.