Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor 2 the Movie

Once again Oshii brings us Special Vehicle Unit 2 in this sequel adaptation. And boy does it get deep this time. Patlabor 2 offers more political allegory than the first's extremist environmental story, as we see Japan pulled to the brink of war. The darker tone in the dead of winter means a darker art style that's very bleak and ominous. The humor is still there but now it's a mere taste to keep us from losing our cool. The films are very much standalones from the series as a whole meaning you can bring in the uninitiated and show them a good movie. Mount up and mobilize!

So many other reviews said it better than me, but I'll give some of my thoughts on this film. At first, it teetered between an 8 and 9. The animation is beautiful, the somber mood and buildup is excellent. As well as the shift of main characters, and overall art style taking a shift. However, one thing this movie has that pretty much the old OVAs and first movie had (haven't seen the rest of the series to see whether this is a common there, too) is the pauses that seem to carry on far too long. Not to say that this movie is any worse, because it's not, but not only did that bring my score down some.... but upon further reflection of this movie, it started to feel less like a Patlabor movie and more like something "else". I have mixed feelings about this, because some of the things that make this somber film so iconic also made it feel like dragged on and was slightly tedious to watch as it went on. And even though the slow pace felt perfect for some sections, it felt too non-eventful in others, and having watched part of the series up to this point, this movie felt like it was the big "it's finally come to this" moment that would finally take all the "and we managed to resolve it before things got too out of hand" and finally bring us action. Don't come into this film wanting action, especially if you're not new to Patlabor and watched some of the series prior. Despite that, I did really enjoy how one bombing led to such chaos. The uncertainty of whether or not there'd be war as the philosophical discussion between two characters loomed over men and women in uniform trying to reassure the public while quietly seeming to reflect, themselves, was excellent. The quiet, dragged out moments here were the best in the film.. However, like the prior entries I mentioned, the ending ended in a major "non-conflict" where the plot kept building and building, only for the "oh thank heavens it managed to get resolved before it got worse" washed over. And hey! I'm not saying it'd have been better if war actually broke out, but with as much building as this series does, and that's to say, this movie does that as well with plenty of other dragged out moments that are somewhat boring... I wanted to see at least one major battle, for the terrorist group to give a final stand or at least have one last explosion that actually caused death that we could SEE. I wanted to SEE the horrific impact in a moment that went beyond "what ifs" and "quiet reflection", see the horror on the faces of people so that the danger felt a step up from where it actually left off. I feel like the statement behind that would've been massive, but it left me feeling disappointed as yet again, the police were able to get their guys with minimal casualties, ones we don't even get to see or even know personally, and were practically glossed by. And by this point on the series, despite it feeling like it could be fitting as it's a message for humanity and a criticism about how war and profit of war go hand in hand, and how there's a line hard to define which side is right when it comes to justified war and a rotten peace... it feels..... like if it's not the peak of the Patlabor series where beyond this point, things start to finally get chaotic, then I'll go mad. Maybe on that front, it's better watched as a stand-alone or if you're starting with the movies first, but I have a hard time judging it outside what I've seen of the series thus far, and I've had spoilers of similar "ending before too major of a battle" being common even beyond this point. I hope I'm wrong. I guess where some of my disappointment lies is that this series can sometimes feel "too realistic", but at the same time, ironically, feel like it doesn't have the brass to take it a step further so opts out for the idealistic resolution. On one hand, part of the charm is how real the patlabors and the police force feel, and it's also why I feel so torn and why my review for this movie is all over the place and "wishy-washy". All I know is that it's not a terrible film, but as I watched it, I felt something, that despite it being most likely a better executed film compared to the first movie, especially story and art-wise, I liked the tone and overall execution from start to finish slightly more in the first. There's no way to give partial scores on MAL, but if I could, I'd say the first movie would only be a .5 more than this. I don't know if this review will help anyone as again, there's far better reviews than mine, but if after watching a bit of Patlabor, you feel the need for more of the conflicts to have battles that live up to their high stakes, then you, too, may feel like this movie drags some. But still, I would definitely recommend it to Patlabor and non-Patlabor fans due to the portions of the film that still feel top tier on its discussions of war

Really nails the sombre, pessimistic atmosphere, and I don't think anyone can deny that it's central diagnosis of the de-facto continuum between peace and war in the post cold-war global political situation, the fact that the first pole simultaneously denies and profits from the second, stabilising the core at the cost of the periphery, is pretty much simply just correct. This general outlook and mood feels very pre-emptive of the later Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (despite that work not having been directed by Oshii). The comparison does though highlight what is probably this films key weakness. For whatever reason, Patlabor 2 feels the need to wrap things up uncharacteristically neatly, and the simple resolution, concluding on an uneasy optimism, feels a bit out of place. I can imagine some people think that the even slower pace that Jin-Roh goes for is boring, and that the unflinching gut punch with which it ends is cheap, but I think the comparison with Patlabor 2 demonstrates that that is exactly the direction to take a film like this, one concerned morbid with criticism, and leaving hope to other projects. The alternative, if one does not take that path, is unsatisfying if left unexamined, and laughable if not — for what is the 'hope' that we can gleam from this film, if we are to take it seriously, and not discount these formal issues as mere cowardly conformity to commercial movie structure? To put blind faith in a few good cops, and similarly benevolent actors within the government? That suggestion is clearly ridiculous now, and I can't imagine that Oshii and Ito felt much reassured by the idea back in the 90's either.

Peacebuilding Based On Cover Up Patlabor 2: The Movie is a movie about listening to a cross-eyed man talk about how peace is an illusion, while constantly having to find out, which eye you have to look at. As a fan of Mamoru Oshii, this movie is so interesting, because it feels much more like his later work, like Ghost in the Shell and Sky crawlers, then any of his previous stuff. Lots of dialogue about philosophical, society with political intrigue, but patlabor gets lost in the process, and now feels nothing like it did before, it's a political drama where the characters we like, are barely in it. The cinematography and stylish florises are great. the constant sickening glow of office lighting, with use of security camera footage, to make us grounded and feel like the characters are always being watched. Warped reflections to make us think of war and peace, and how those two ideas can be warped. The music with the slow scene transition, makes it feel like a transient state that is amazing. It lacks the patlabor balance that made the first movie so good, if you like that detective parts and philosophical dialogues, then this is a great movie for you, but it lack the friendship and camaraderie the first movie has.

I've only watched the OVA and the first movie, I guess from what I've read maybe I should've watched the series too before jumping in to this second movie? Nonetheless, excerpt from FAKEANIMEGIRL's review represented my thoughts really well: "If Japan’s political issues don’t hold much relevance to you, this movie’s implied emotional undercurrent gained by association will barely expose itself." I think my unfamiliarity with Japan's political issue at the time really made me feel underwhelmed with this one. I *think* I get the message, reading several thoughts & reviews of this validated my understanding of the film. But somehow it just didn't hit me just as much as other people, or maybe it hit me offbeat because I really think the message is quite great, but the execution just went over my head. I found myself lost within the plot so often. I did get lost in Movie 1 too but it still hit more than this one. Even GiTS too, I didn't get it the first time, but something about it was just interesting enough for me to keep rewatching it several times over the years and I grew to understand and like it so much by now. But this? Idk... I don't see myself wanting to rewatch this at least in the near future 🥀 As much as I hate to say it, I wish there was at least more action...? Not even a lot, at least as much as the first movie. And I'm not saying it's boring because there was less mecha action, I'm not even a mecha fan, but I agree with some saying this is more of a Oshii tryna send a message but just plastered "Patlabor" with it. Because to me, Patlabor is more about the SV2 unit, Goto being charismatically sly/smart, Noa & Shinohara bickering, Kanuka? Not even in this movie 😭 I feel like this could've been another film that is not Patlabor imo, because all the characters are barely in it... It felt more like a Goto standalone movie or something. Idk tho, maybe if I wanted that, I should've just watched the series. But unfortunately as fun as the characters are, I'm not into this series *that* much. But hey I'd rather admit I'm still a bit too dumb to fully understand or immerse myself with the philosophy instantly, instead of straight out saying this is a bad movie, because it is not. Though I still prefer the first movie.