Weekend Movie Review – “Robotech: Shadow Chronicles”

The repackaged release due this coming Tuesday inspired me to finally get around to reviewing the original release.

Cast and Crew Information

Mark Hamill as Commander Taylor
Chase Masterson as Janice
Kari Wahlgren as Ariel
Greg Snegoff reprises his role as Scott Bernard
Yuri Lowenthal as Marcus Rush
Tony Oliver reprises his role as Rick Hunter
Robotech alum Edie Mirman as Maia Sterling
Arthur Santiago as Alex Romero

Written by Tommy Yune, Thomas J. Bateman, Steve Yun, Ford Riley and Frank Agrama
Directed by Dong-Wook Lee and Tommy Yune

Premise

A fleet of fighters return to Earth to end the Invid threat, little knowing that an even greater threat is hot on their trail.

High Point

The quality of the animation. The 3D work is high quality, and frequently well integrated with the 2D stuff.

Low Point

The parade of shallow new characters. Without 85 episodes to fill out and evolve through, the characterizations are little more than character cliches peppered through the (very well done) plentiful action sequences.

The Review

This isn’t original. It’s a great big fight in space with similar tone and feel to the Macross sequels, with missiles instead of loudspeakers in space (thankfully.) I give it 2 out of 6.

The animation is excellent. There’s a mix of traditional and computer generated work, and it blends together better than it often does in other media. The large scale space battles of the television series are well represented here. I give it 6 out of 6.

The story is pretty predictable, especially if you’ve seen series like the one this is a sequel to. Expect more action than plot, and know that the main characters are not guaranteed to survive, and you’ll enjoy yourself. I give it 4 out of 6.

The voice acting is well done by most. In fact, Arthur Santiago’s work is the only work that I wasn’t happy with. I give it 5 out of 6.

The production was enjoyable, if unremarkable. The diagonal split screens were really the only touches that demanded notice. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response was still pretty good. I was expecting action, and they did produce that exceptionally well. If that’s all you’re looking for, you’ll really enjoy it. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable action piece, with little else to recommend it. I give it 4 out of 6.

In total, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles receives 30 out of 42.