From b862b661fa9c14f1dfbbad7c2e6461811c6c70d8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: dakkar Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 12:16:32 +0000 Subject: review: harlock --- src/anime/review/captain-harlock/.gitignore | 2 + .../review/captain-harlock/document.en.rest.txt | 78 ++++++++++++++++++++++ src/anime/review/captain-harlock/du2html.xsl | 1 + 3 files changed, 81 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/anime/review/captain-harlock/.gitignore create mode 100644 src/anime/review/captain-harlock/document.en.rest.txt create mode 120000 src/anime/review/captain-harlock/du2html.xsl diff --git a/src/anime/review/captain-harlock/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/captain-harlock/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/captain-harlock/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/captain-harlock/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/captain-harlock/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55b23b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/captain-harlock/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,78 @@ +================= + Captain Harlock +================= +:CreationDate: 2014-03-19 12:04:26 +:Id: anime/review/captain-harlock +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 3 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/space-pirate-captain-harlock + +After "`Space Battleship Yamato <../yamato/>`_", another one of +MATSUMOTO Leiji's (松本零士) works gets a movie reboot: *the* space +pirate, Captain Harlock. + +Harlock first appeared on television in 1978, saving the Earth of 2978 +from invading aliens called Mazons. That Earth was dying, its +resources long depleted, dependent on imports of food and materials +from other colonised planets; all work was done by machines, and the +population was kept docile through subliminal messages in every +entertainment broadcast. Harlock had rebelled against the world's +governments, and had taken to the skies to live free, with a small +crew, on the Arcadia. He and all his shipmates had been branded as +traitors and criminals, but they still fought against the invaders, +because they still loved Earth and cared for its people. + +This movie opens with a voice-over that sets a different premise: in +an unspecified far future, humanity left Earth, but they ended up with +stagnating and dying societies spread over the Galaxy. They tried +going back to Earth, but there were too many people, and a war +ensued. To end the war, Earth was declared an untouchable sanctuary, +nobody was allowed to go back on it, and all the various colonies were +essentially left to wither and die. Harlock fights the sort-of +government in charge of keeping people out of Earth, because he has a +plan to allow everyone to go back. His whole motivation is a bit +unclear, and this Harlock is not the same one we see in the various +animated series and movies: I'm not going into details, because I +don't want to spoil the only interesting plot twist, but let's just +say that he's not the paladin of justice and freedom he'd like to +appear. I'm not sure if Matsumoto had any part in this change, but it +felt like an unneeded dirtying of the character. + +What's more upsetting, though, is that Harlock is not even the +protagonist of the movie: it's Yama, a new character, who drives the +story and through whose eyes we get to know all the other +characters. And with Yama rests my biggest complaint: he's the most +blatant `Mary Sue `_ I've ever seen on film. He manages to +get accepted on board by uttering a single word; as soon as he mans +the guns everybody notices how good he is; he saves the Arcadia from +destruction *twice*; the resolution of the whole plot is in his +hands. I mean, I understand the viewer's need for a character to +identify with, but this is a bit extreme. Yama has one big redeeming +feature, though: he is able to change his opinion in the face of +updated information; when he realises that the beliefs that informed +his previous actions did not match reality, he uses the new +information to take different actions. Too often I see character who +keep doing the same things even when it doesn't make sense anymore! + +Another, minor but not small, problem I have with this film is the +excessive use of off-screen commentary (I can't really call it +"narration", apart from the first few minutes when it establishes the +setting), of long expositions by the various characters, and of +useless technobabble. On this last point, I want to underscore that +Matsumoto very rarely seemed to care about how his science-fictional +creations worked: they just did, in the exact way that served the +story; he didn't need to dazzle the audience with random big words. + +On the plus side, the film is visually quite good, with very good use +of 3D, spectacular battles, and well detailed faces and costumes +(let's ignore the way the characters move, animated as they are +without motion capture…). + +If you can track down the first TV series, I suggest you watch at +least the first and the last episode, to get a feel of Harlock as he +was conceived. If you want something more recent, try Cosmo Warrior +Zero. If instead you like your heroes very, very flawed, and you can +ignore some shaky characterisation, or maybe you're looking mostly for +engaging space battles, you'll appreciate this movie much more than +I did. diff --git a/src/anime/review/captain-harlock/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/captain-harlock/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/captain-harlock/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl \ No newline at end of file -- cgit v1.2.3