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 n the late 20th century, highly advanced robots,
known as Labors, were created for construction purposes. Other labors were
developed to be used in the military, for undersea exploration and even
recreational purposes. However, with the growing amount of labors, there is
an unfortunate side effect in the form of crimes involving the use of
labors. These range from terrorist activity to drunken or disgruntled
industrial workers running amok in their destructive robots of choice.
To combat this new type of crime,
the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department creates the Special Vehicles
Section 2 (or SV2). The division has the use of Patrol Labors, or PATLABORS,
which are labors specially designed for police purposes. There are two such
units in the SV2: Shinobu Nugumo commands Unit One, and Captain Kiichi Goto
commands the 2nd Unit.
Giant robots are a staple in Japanese anime, much
like talking animals are in Disney animation. Throughout innumerable anime
productions, robots have been big enough to sit in, small enough to fit in
your pocket, and tough enough to use as fighters in battles against aliens
and other robots. They can also level entire cities when called upon to do
so. It would make sense that controlling these robots is a complicated
process, probably requiring assistance from computers. And computers use
operating systems; and of course, any operating system is bound to have
flaws and bugs here and there, and some of those flaws are manmade. This
is the premise of "Patlabor: The Movie."
Viewers can be excused for expecting an action movie
where robots beat holy hell out of each other when they're not laying
waste to the city. Indeed, the movie kicks things off as a military labor,
a sort of hovering tank with legs, is hunted and finally disabled by a
unit of the Japanese Self-Defense using troops, tanks, helicopters, and
labors in a spectacular and wholly believable nighttime firefight. From
there, the movie briefly recaps the "Patlabor" world and
introduces the members of the 2nd Unit as they take out a runaway labor
before settling into the meat of the story, which is at heart a slick and
philosophical techno thriller.
"Patlabor" serves as a terrific
introduction to director Mamoru Oshii (the "Ghost
in the Shell" movies), whose style is striking. The handful of
action sequences in the film are all top notch, but instead of going the
predictable route by throwing one labor confrontation after another, Oshii
understands the real conflict of the story is how and why the labors are
going nuts. If the 2nd Unit can uncover the cause of these rampages, then
they won't have to deal with it. Not quite what you'd expect from a
"cartoon".
"Patlabor" is directed in a very restrained
and subtle manner, sort of an anime film-noir. Exposition comes in the
form of long stretches of dialogue more so than action scenes, all of it
depicted in the trademark Japanese anime style. They're not especially
dynamic or exciting to watch, but they do fit the mood of the scenes. This
artistic economy is also reflected in the storytelling. The pre-title
sequence depicts the suicide of a character that will prove to be a
crucial element of the mystery that unfolds. However, because he's dead
and the film doesn't utilize flashbacks or time jumps, the character is
never seen again. As members of the 2nd Unit follow the mystery of
the labor rampages, they discover who the man is and what he was about.
But don't think this is just some cerebral sci-fi
chamber piece. The opening labor confrontation is extremely well drawn and
animated, and lets viewers know right off the bat what's at stake if more
labors run amok. As for the finale, it serves to close out an incredibly
well developed mystery where we've followed these characters and have come
to understand their thought processes and motivations. It's a perfect
capper because the movie chose to tell its story from an unexpected angle,
and yet still manages to give both "Patlabor" rookies and
longtime fans the ending they demand.
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