Art - This is a 90's production and though they tried hard to emulate the style of the manga and the other OVA from 1983, it shows it's budget and it's corner cutting at times. That said, the style itself is actually absolutely fine and more of a realistic one that I kind of like. It liked to repeat the same frame 3 times or overlay multiple images with transparency to give some movement where there isn't really any. In this case it feels less like a stylistic choice and more of a budgetary or time concern. In either case, it actually quite negatively affects what could have been great action sequences.
Sound - Serviceable and not much worth talking about. The intro and ending credits theme are catchy but I can't really recall the music outside of that. The mix seemed okay and I could hear voices and sound effects pretty clearly. It lacks the "oomph" of the 1983 music like the sequence with Duke on the motorcycle. All in all, inoffensive.
Character - Duke is Duke and there's not much else to say. He seems relatively unchanged from what you'd expect. I could dissect Queen Bee but putting it simply she's a mixed bag, and she gets the most development. The worst parts of her character are her overtly sexual desires even at a really inopportune time, but her mother was killed in front of her and it's implied a politician also raped her so in a messed up way it makes sense. There's some legit good drama around her, but also bad stuff too, which is a shame. The main bad guy that Togo goes up against seems to be a PTSD victim with some kind of bipolar disorder of being tortured over atrocities committed but then being excited to go back and do more at times. He's not anywhere as weird or interesting as Hard Snake or Silver and Gold from the other movie, in fact he hardly ever feels like a real threat to Duke. I'll say quickly I actually liked that the candidate who made his daughter and wife "go away" felt such real guilt that he sort of tried to make it right and that made his character more interesting as it would have been easy to just make him a scummy guy like everyone else. Overall, some good highs but some real lows in the character department.
Enjoyment - Honestly, despite it's flaws, it was alright. It had some good moments of noir, Duke himself still very much felt Duke in nature (though he hesitates at some points i feel like he wouldn't). Without spoiling the final scene we get during the credits is pretty satisfying and really accents the bitter sweetness of the Golgo 13 stories. I don't think I'd watch it again real soon but I'd say it was worth once through for sure. Nowhere near as good as the 83 movie however.
Overall - I really wanted to like it a lot more than I did. I think it did some things quite well, but when you compare it to it's predecessor of 15 years prior you see really what a Golgo 13 movie could (and should) be. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the 83 movie, just don't expect the same quality. Again, it was worth a once through and I didn't feel like I wasted my time.
Edit - I rewatched it with commentary track and I found new aspects of the movie I hadn't really considered and maybe I was a bit too harsh coming off of the great 1983 film. After listening to the producer and the writer talk about it, I've decided to bump it up to a 7. Still nothing spectacular but if you like Golgo 13 this is a good flick.
