So some of you might be angry or annoyed that I haven't given this film a good score (since so far the ratings have been good) but there is a very good reason I do so. It is more to try and not have your expectations to high for the film, which is what I did when waiting for this film to come out in Australia this month. So as Trigun being my favourite anime of all time and being a huge fan to it, here is my review.
I did have very high expectations for this film because of how much Trigun, the anime series, impacted me with its emotions and morals and especially how Vash was as a character. When I first watched the series, Vash the Stampede was the type of person I wanted to be, though maybe not including the situation he was in. And even though I do mostly prefer the Japanese dub in anime, I did watch the English dub first and thought the characters voices suited perfectly.
Saying this, I did realize before watching the movie all the English voice actors weren't the same and thought they did a great job of each character, especially Meryl's character. I personally think the voice actors were fine. This is where we get to the main issue, the movie itself.
I personally didn't fully understand the theme of this film, or even the point. I was hoping for another intense, confronting moment with Vash's past and his serious side in where his morals come into conflict with everything around him, which is one of the reasons I loved the series. Though the movie was a huge side story which was similar to the first half of most of the episodes in the anime series and possibly more focusing on being an action film. This theme was not very strong because of the lack of amazing action in the film.
Trigun Badlands animation is amazing. There is this shot in the opening of the anime series which is shown in telling about Vash's past in the movie and it looks absolutely stunning. With the animation being so amazing though, there is a lack in amazing action scenes. every now and then you go "oh that was cool" but nothing that makes you grip your seat in excitement action, which it needed badly.
I really felt everything was squashed into this one movie because the movie wasn't fully focused on the fans but for new audiences as well. The characters (especially Vash) did not act the same way in the series. I know this type of opinion is from a fan based point of view but Vash seemed... almost annoying because he is trying too hard to pretend to be an idiot where it felt more natural in the series. I don't blame the voice actors but more so the script and plot. Some of the scripting in the English version was plain typical of most American cartoons where sometimes, the characters would just state the obvious for no reason.
Saying this, the movie has its moments. One of the scenes in the movie was hilarious where Milly and Meryl along with Vash and Amelia are in a bar drinking away. So much credit has to go to the drawing because of the facial expressions being so priceless. Some more scenes just work perfectly but still does not make up for this entire film.
My biggest let down was the music. The Trigun Series Original Soundtrack has to be one of my favourite soundtracks not just because it has so much emotional connection to the series but because it was written so well with so many themes you could relate to. If the movie had kept the same composer, I would imagine this movie would have had more impact on the trigun fan audience.
While watching this film, I wanted to believe so much that I was wrong and that I just viewed it wrong or something stupid. But as I did watch it again, this is how I do feel about the film. The film was good but its more of a feeling of I wish it was better, wishing this film could've satisfied your Trigun needs.
Though I have said not a lot of good things about this film, I still suggest checking it out but you might feel better not buying the film and maybe even renting it just in case the film was not your cup of tea also.
