Taking place one year after the events of the original OVA series 'Bubblegum Crisis', we find that the superheroic Knight Sabers have disbanded and gone their separate ways, leaving MegaTokyo at the hands of crime and corruption. But predictably this situation cannot last, so the girls must regroup and get back into the firing line. So essentially, we have three more episodes of more of the same, just a little dumbed down this time.
So the first main difference here is, in 'Crisis' we got eight episodes that ranged in length. This time we get a mere three episodes, but all three are around 50 minutes long. The second main difference is the plot; in Crisis we got eight different stories set in the same time period and locations. Almost like an anthology. Here in 'Crash' the three episodes are just about in continuity and form an entire movie split into three parts. Is this better or worse? Well that depends on you, myself? I prefer the anthology style a little more because there's more scope for different stories and they are more easily digestible.
The first part sees the AD Police in MegaTokyo struggling to combat a team of bank robbers in power suits. The criminals (under instruction of a mastermind) are after special AI components that can make Boomers more Human-like. After seeing how the four main female protagonists have been getting on since splitting, they eventually reunite as the Knight Sabers to battle the threat. The second part sees one of the company's (Zone) researchers go rogue, killing his team and stealing the latest AI technology, 'Adama', a very Human-like Boomer in terms of speech and behaviour. And the third part sees a virus infect all Boomers citywide, causing them to attack Humans. Turns out this virus was unleashed by an old enemy back from the dead.
Now, I'm not a fanboy of this franchise, nor do I know all the ins and outs of the stories, but the original series was clearly much darker and more violent than this follow-up. You could almost say that the original series was simply more adult-themed than this sequel. Now this is not to say that I disliked this sequel series, no Sir, but for whatever reason, this was a much lighter tone overall with less violence and even comedic moments. Admittedly I did find the original series to be a bit too close to certain Hollywood sci-fi movies in terms of visuals and whatnot, but it definitely packed a punch.
This time around, a lot of the movie feels more like a standard Hollywood action flick with moments of buddy-cop camaraderie. The first and second parts heavily revolve around the rogue group 'the illegal army' who are trying to steal top-secret AI tech. This merely felt like watered-down cops and robbers in mech suits, whereas the actual Boomers in the second part clearly take a lot of influence from 'The Terminator'. It's funny how all the evil Boomers are square-jawed, good-looking, buff guys that look like a mix of Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, and Michael Biehn. A lot of it feels like 'Universal Soldier' too, but obviously that came a year later.
The second part also introduces the new super AI child-like Boomer Adama, which comes across like something out of a Spielberg movie or a Disney animation (the eyes). At the same time, rogue Zone researcher Dr. Yuri looks suspiciously like Sting at his blonde peak. His huge combat Boomer being another generic spider-like tank (this future isn't overly inventive in the design department). The third part kicks off with the very unoriginal concept of a virus corrupting all Boomers, making them go dangerously insane (minus any actual on-screen bloody violence). Unfortunately, it soon devolves into a massive battle against a huge, highly generic, tentacled, bio-mechanical, cybernetic monster in downtown MegaTokyo. I feel like all sci-fi anime movies have something like this at some point.
Despite these complaints, the movie still looks beautiful. The plot and tone might have taken a dip here but the visuals certainly haven't. Maybe they aren't quite as sharp as the original, but overall the science fiction all looks authentic and super cool. The action is smooth, slick, and puts many live-action offerings to shame. The sound effects are also as good as you have come to expect from anime action. Personally, I love all the gun sound effects, reloading, ricochets, impacts etc...The originality may be lacking but the artwork and animation certainly aren't.
So, in terms of whether this was good or not, yes it is good. Whilst it doesn't have the same tone as the original, I think I actually preferred this sequel in terms of engagement and understanding. Yes this sequel is a bit watered-down, but I just found it a bit easier to get into; the plot didn't feel as in-depth and political, which just made the whole thing chug along more smoothly for me. Although I can't deny that the return of one character felt cheap, his master plan felt Saturday-morning cartoonish, and the resort to body horror with big monsters felt totally out of place when compared to the original Blade Runner-esque scope. Nonetheless, this is most definitely a highly polished science fiction romp with plenty to get your teeth into.
7/10
