This was not a good movie. The characterization is exceedingly weak, to the point where everyone is more or less a caricature. There are far too many characters for the running time of the film, so virtually none of them ever go beyond being cardboard cutouts. It really needed to pick somebody for the story to be about, but even the closest we get to a main character, Marcus Rush, is far from being fleshed out.
The continuity issues between this and the ending of Robotech are unfortunate, but they do allow the makers of this film room to play. Sadly, this opportunity is squandered. The plot itself could have been interesting, but the overall pacing of the film and its structure sucks the life and potential out of it.
The ultimate reveal just isn't done very well, and it leaves very little time to deal with it. Plot-wise, it feels much more like an introduction, but it spends so much time introducing that it doesn't really have much of a plot itself. As the pilot for a series, it might have been OK. But for a stand-alone film, it's weak.
All of the above would have make the movie merely average. But it screws up one of the most important elements of Robotech. Namely: mecha action.
The action scenes are slow and clunky, and those are two words that should never be applied to Robotech battle scenes. The mecha animate very slowly and with very stilted movement. None of the acrobatics and movement that Robotech mecha are known for are visible. Hell, "Enhanced Imaging" sequences from the old BattleTech cartoon had more life in them than this CG.
I don't blame this on the use of CG in combat scenes. I love CG in general; it simply isn't very well used here. The animators just do the bare minimum to deliver a shot. This ennui eventually infects the viewer; it's hard to get excited about a sequence when the people behind it clearly didn't put any effort behind it.
Ultimately, it doesn't seem like anyone behind this film had any real vision behind it. It was just a job, something to crank out to generate money. Nobody seemed to really care about creating some form of art here.
Overall, the movie isn't particularly painful. It doesn't generate enough caring to make you even hate it. The feeling you most come away from it with is just... meh.
WesternAnimation Not Worth Your Time, Even For a Fan
This was not a good movie. The characterization is exceedingly weak, to the point where everyone is more or less a caricature. There are far too many characters for the running time of the film, so virtually none of them ever go beyond being cardboard cutouts. It really needed to pick somebody for the story to be about, but even the closest we get to a main character, Marcus Rush, is far from being fleshed out.
The continuity issues between this and the ending of Robotech are unfortunate, but they do allow the makers of this film room to play. Sadly, this opportunity is squandered. The plot itself could have been interesting, but the overall pacing of the film and its structure sucks the life and potential out of it.
The ultimate reveal just isn't done very well, and it leaves very little time to deal with it. Plot-wise, it feels much more like an introduction, but it spends so much time introducing that it doesn't really have much of a plot itself. As the pilot for a series, it might have been OK. But for a stand-alone film, it's weak.
All of the above would have make the movie merely average. But it screws up one of the most important elements of Robotech. Namely: mecha action.
The action scenes are slow and clunky, and those are two words that should never be applied to Robotech battle scenes. The mecha animate very slowly and with very stilted movement. None of the acrobatics and movement that Robotech mecha are known for are visible. Hell, "Enhanced Imaging" sequences from the old BattleTech cartoon had more life in them than this CG.
I don't blame this on the use of CG in combat scenes. I love CG in general; it simply isn't very well used here. The animators just do the bare minimum to deliver a shot. This ennui eventually infects the viewer; it's hard to get excited about a sequence when the people behind it clearly didn't put any effort behind it.
Ultimately, it doesn't seem like anyone behind this film had any real vision behind it. It was just a job, something to crank out to generate money. Nobody seemed to really care about creating some form of art here.
Overall, the movie isn't particularly painful. It doesn't generate enough caring to make you even hate it. The feeling you most come away from it with is just... meh.