The Confused Project that Was Armitage III: The Motion Picture

While trying to archive other anime review from the Bus's Transit of Anime Realities, I discovered that I had also written an "Armitage III: Polymatrix" review for another website of mine AnimeFlow. The funny thing about this is that it is a counter to what I originally wrote. All I can say about this re-post is that it reads better, but to truly understand this anime, you might want to read the opposing side.

So, I'm schizophrenic. The good lord must want me to discover something new about my futile existence everyday just to prove his own. Jesus H Douche.

"Armitage III" was always a title I wanted to check out, but with so many other multi-video collections I was trying to complete, I didn't want to trouble myself with another one. So when I heard about the movie version, I was pretty sure I was going to buy it, and when I found out it featured the voices of Keifer Sutherland and Elizabeth Berkley that kind of sealed the deal.

Its great to see celebs trying to help bring this style of art to the main stream. This is the second anime feature length film I've ever bought, but I knew not to expect another "Akira", but this was pretty enjoyable despite it may seem at some points to be over done.

After finally viewing the original OVA series, some may appreciate the restraint the film had when compared to the material it was pieced together from. Then again it may just be an issue of preference. Do you want to dedicate days to the character over the top voice acting or not. Again, this is the fanboy in me wishing that anime DVD's were not released in complete sets, so that I could truly figure that out on my own terms if a series was worth continuing. Does disc one encourage me to buy disc two, or I have the movie, so I'll just put this disc on Half.com.

Of course, if you do not buy much anime and you just want to see this to see another Elizabeth character act like a slut ("Show Girls", "Any Given Sunday", Saved By the Bell type characters) you will be disappointed. This is not one of the reasons I bought the tape, but you some time wonder when is this Cop in hot pants is going to get naked.

Ross Sylibus has left the Chicago PD for the Martian PD after his partner was killed by a cyborg. He immediately gets involved in some traditional movie cop action with a shoot out at the space port where his new partner, Naomi Armitage, is trying to apprehend one of the flights passengers. During the shoot out the criminals suitcase opens and we find the dead body of the universe's only remaining country singer (^_^Yay^_^) Kelly McCannonen. After the suspect escapes, Armitage and Ross find out that the victim is a robot.

Just as Ross is settling in, the murderer, Rene D'amclaude pirates the TV signal to show a montage of the murders other female robots he's takes credit for and calls for a revolution of the "Thirds". With antirobot feelings on Mars, this man gets a lot of support, but the higher ups in the PD seemed to be more concerned with Armitage's drive to solve these cases?

The biggest flaw in the film is that it tries to cover too much in too little time. This is the same plot as the series, so the action has to be hurried. It would appear that there is little room left for the characters' emotions, but it is actually being loyal to the OVA. Some of the voice acting is pathetic, and Sutherland seems to try too hard, but Berkley does a great despite it being an overly whining lead character. This was probably the way the series and film stand behind a claim that the show is quite emotional.

Voice, body what else does Liz need? A decent agent.

The artwork and animation are great. Just looking at still shots and posters doesn't do the film justice since these drawing are beautiful in action. The plot does seem to have too many variables like how the Thirds can be impregnated. Confusion or a sense of over stimulation is all that creates. Despite all this, its extremely enjoyable without the addicting nature of the series.

Armitage III - Polymatrix is not addicting, its not excellent, but maybe the opium suppository for the anime fan with a budget. Just a hit to get you by.