Story (8/10) Very Good
More Specifically (8.50/10) Very Good
The story for Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway in a nutshell quite easy to grasp. And it is presented in a way that if you don't have prior knowledge of main Universal Century Timeline for Gundam, you could still very quickly grasp what is currently going on. For a story that is to be a three part trilogy I went into this movie knowing that this will be mostly the setup movie and indeed it was. This is definitely the movie to lay all the groundwork and in that regards, firstly I wasn't disappointed and secondly for a setup movie the pacing I actually thought was very well done. Nothing to me felt like it inherently could have been taken out (maybe the "caught naked" troupe but even that showcases a side of Hathaway that the viewer is able to see which I will get into him later). Overall as a first part of a trilogy movie this one is a very good start.
Art and Animation (8/10) Very Good
More Specifically (8.75/10) Very Good+
The art style in this movie I was a very big fan of. The later Universal Century adapted series (basically everything that has been animated in UC after Unicorn) have this distinct and sophisticated look to it and I love it. (Makes it feel all the more superior to those damn crusty AUs! I'm just kidding... not really). The certain in-betweens did stand out as a tad sloppy though from a hand drawn standpoint. And at the very end when Hathaway was walking outside, the art style and animation had this very odd cg/cell shaded animated look to it that I wasn't a fan of, it looked borderline jarring and stood out to me like a sore thumb. And although they don't look bad, I will never prefer CG mobile suits to hand drawn. Overall though it was very good done.
Sound (8/10) Very Good
The sound in this movie was very good. Nothing to really to heavily brag about here, the music was also very good and I watched this in Enlglish Dub. Everyone sounded fitting to their role and the voice acting behind every character and scene was very well done.
Characters (7/10) Good
More Specifically (7.50/10) Good
*Minor Spoilers*
The characters in Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash were good enough.
-Most people that had any knowledge going into this movie I assume were curious to how our main character Hathaway Noa would act. Because this guy is the only returning character in this movie from past entries. In regards to Hathaway Noa and his depiction in this movie he came off are as a very hard to read young fellow. It is revealed very early on that the terrorist known as Mafty is Hathaway himself and for a terrorist that is well known and sounds like he knows what he's doing, Hathaway comes off as someone to me who is still extremely vague in regards to his decisions in every day life choices and more. It's complex at best "i guess" and convoluted for him at worst both sides depending on how you look at him in regards to a specific angle isn't wrong. He's just a tad too inconsistent to what we've heard about Mafty from the world around him. He showcases very early on that in a combat situation he can take out multiple armed terrorist with ease. So it showcases that he definitely hasn't been sitting on his hands this entire time since Char's Counterattack but this uncertainty he showcases when he hears about Mafty from others whether it's Gigi, Kenneth or even some goofy ass taxi driver makes it seem like he's not solidified with his stance or resolve in regards to what he wants to actually accomplish. This isn't necessarily a bad thing especially if you know how Hathaway (or Simpaway as some people would call him) acted in Char's Counterattack, it's just a character flaw at best that I see he still retains from the person we knew him to be. If there was something that I'd have to question about his character which I hope is explored upon more is his skills in a mobile suit. As far as I'm aware he only was in one once back in Char's Counterattack and for a very small amount of time, unless of course when he was with his group he was flying around in mobile suits getting better and better but this is all we can assume at this time. So unless I'm missing something (which I hope I am) it's hard for me to grasped how he was able to outdo another mobile suit pilot (and hell not just any damn mobile suit pilot, an upcoming ace pilot in at this time with a state of the art Gundam superior to his own that he just hopped into a few minutes ago) within such a short period of time. The fight was cool but it was hard for me to let that question go fully unanswered even for this first movie.
- Kenneth was one of the other characters they spent a decent amount of time on. And he seemed like he is setup to be the intellectual rival for Hathaway. He seemed interesting and his boldness towards Gigi was entertaining. I am not entirely sure how much potential he has moving forward though he could easily hit the back burner by the time the 3rd movie comes around but we'll see as of right now he seems alright.
-Gigi was the third character that got the most screen time. I found it very odd how quickly she was able to come to the conclusion that Hathaway was Mafty himself. Sure she explained herself how she came to this conclusion, but it still came off as offputting to me, not sure how I felt about the believability and the execution behind it all. She is probably the character who is the sore thumb in this movie to be honest. She is all over the place and her purpose in the movie felt more so like a "token female character needed" instead of having a more valid reason of existing outside of "this is the girl who's going to be eye candy and poke at Hathaway's feelings thus making him think of the time he was Simpaway". Nonetheless she was still some what of an entertaining character to watch do whatever she do. I just hope she has a more integral role in later movies other than the "good luck charm for Kenneth," because her goofing around will get old if she's still doing it by the third movie.
-The last character is Lane Aim, he didn't get too much screen time and we only briefly see him before the climax of the movie. Like I stated in Hathaway's character portion, I don't understand how he was so easily out maneuvered while having more experience in his Gundam and also being in a Gundam that from a specs standpoint is considered superior. It honestly just made him feel anti-climatic when it came to his purpose in this story which it looks like it was supposed to be someone who is suppose to be the piloting rival to Hathaway but currently right now he has disappointed me from both a characterization standpoint and a piloting skills standpoint. All that does though is leave a lot of room for growth in both of those sections in the future movies so hopefully that is the case.
Enjoyment (8/10) Very Good
More Specifically (8.50/10) Very Good
I enjoyed my time fairly with this movie, it made me feel like I was back home watching something in the good ole Universal Century (THE BEST UNIVERSE). I enjoyed all the setup and I'm glad that this movie did end off with some good ole Gundam vs Gundam action as well because they easily could have left that out. But from a director standpoint they probably thought it would not be smart to not show some Gundam action of some sort in a Gundam movie of any kind, which I'm glad it made it in even if it was at the very end.
Overall (8/10) Very Good
More Specifically (8.25/10) Very Good
Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash is a very good Gundam movie and a very good start to a trilogy movie. I am glad to say you can indeed hop into this movie without prior knowledge. Even if you have prior knowledge it outside of knowing who Hathaway used to be, who he's related to and a few flashbacks you aren't going to feel super rewarded having prior UC knowledge from this film and that's not necessarily bad if it meant not alienating newcomers. You can tell it was built to be able to understand and hop in which is a smart way to go about it since it did premier on Netflix. I recommend this to anyone interested remotely interested in it.
