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Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: the Sorcery of Nymph Circe
This is the second of the Hathaway film trilogy (expect the third one in about five years) that shows the world of the Universal Century a decade after the events of Char's Counterattack and the fallout of the Axis Shock.
Essentially, no one has learned anything from the miracle Amuro performed by pushing the Axis asteroid out of its planetary descent in CCA and the Federation is as corrupt as ever. Without a Zeon to oppose them in any way, their excesses are running unchecked and they are more oppressive against dissidents than ever.
I used to think that CCA's climax should have been a turning point for the geopolitical temperaments of the UC and that anything that happens between CCA and F91 felt 'off' to me. However, in recent years I've come to see that I think I prefer for Hathaway to be a measuring stick for how things are coming along. Not because I am cynical or don't believe in humanity but precisely because Amuro does believe in humanity. As a hero, Amuro's role is to save the world and leave what comes after to those that have inherited the largesse of his deeds. Staying to guide them is infantilizing them and they are going to have to figure things out on their own in order to earn this second (fiftieth?) chance they've been given. Our sins have been paid for and now it's up to us to get it right.
Of course, people can never stay the course and I feel as though Hathaway is a very realistic portrayal of how things would go. Not even those that knew Amuro, such as Hathaway himself, remain influenced by his heroism for very long, as he becomes increasingly frustrated with the Federation's treatment of dissidents, illegals and others they deem undesirable despite the Earth having been depopulated by forced emigration into space, leaving the planet as a resort for the ruling class. Hathaway is disaffected by everything and has reached the point where he believes the entire system needs to be torn down and eradicated so that something new might emerge.
He's becoming more like Char than like Amuro despite knowing that Amuro is a good person and Char, who uses children to fight his wars and manipulates them to his own ends, is a bad person. Char is everything wrong with the Universal Century, an exact reflection of the very power he opposes (the Federation) and more than willing to employ the same methods for ends that he believes will have a net positive impact. That's where Hathaway is at this point.
In the first film, Hathaway is established as a conflicted person that is given every opportunity to walk away from the life of a terrorist that he's chosen but continues to stay loyal to the cause because he feels walking away would be a waste of all the lives that were lost getting him to this point. He's willfully ignorant of the reality that someone must follow Amuro's example and that hearts and minds won't ever change overnight. Instead, he is young, brash, impatient and foolish as all youthful idealists are. A lot can be said about the failure of parents to properly guide their children and for certain, Hathaway's own father Brite has his own guilt to assume for how things have turned out simply by being in absentia (Brite and Mira seem to have patched things up by UC 0104) during Hathaway's childhood.
However, it's also fair to say that children who grow up and remain in the niches carved for them by adults once they grow old enough to climb out of them are also responsible for what happens as a result. After I got done watching the first movie, I felt as though it was possible for Hathaway to have a 'Spartacus' moment where it is not HE who meets an unfortunate end with the conclusion of the third novel (and, presumably, film) bu a stand in so that he can have a happy life with Gigi (or whoever he ends up with). After watching the second film, I not only believe that Hathaway WILL be executed at the end of things but that he DESERVES to be. He has now embraced the dark path and intentions, not results, are what separate heroes from villains.
The second film continues the overarching plot of the first one, that being the eventual assault on the Federation summit where many high ranking officials will be gathering to discuss matters of state. Hathaway has come to Earth specifically to kill them all, and them gathering in one place for a massive event with eyes on it is a perfect opportunity for terrorists to make their move. The first film was enchanting, presenting a vision of the Universal Century where politics, espionage, information and subterfuge are highlighted to show just how many gears must turn in order for a fully realized fictional world to be effectively executed. The mobile suits are weapons of oppression, military engagement and deterrence. For an attack on a Federation stronghold, they're also the only hope a terrorist organization has of making their mark. However, despite all of these complex portrayals, the first film was magical in how it paid off its visin.
The second film is ponderous, plodding and overwrought with exposition. I think that for fans of the UC, well versed in the material and who understand the complicated political divides of the world in UC 0104, this movie will feel comfortable enough, alien but familiar like an echo of what they have loved for so long. But the frequency with which various agencies are referenced, factions come and go and characters enter and depart just as quickly will be bewildering to casuals and fans of the less intelligent Gundam series that rely more on emotional focus. This has always been Tomino's weakness. He doesn't know how to write truly human, relatable characters. Although Tomino did not direct or adapt the Hathaway films, he DID write the novels upon which they're based and he's almost too focused on theme at the expense of characters and situations you can get a hold of.
This has been the problem with every Gundam story he has told without Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's steadying hand to guide him when he went off the rails. Tomino, for all of his brilliance as an idea guy and as someone with a brain that is, perhaps, too big in terms of understanding realpolitik, needs an adult in the room to keep him from flipping out. The Hathaway novels, due to how much they rely on everything that came before and the many complexities of Gundam leading up to them, cannot be divorced from Tomino's particular proclivities as an author.
I STILL think Sorcery of Nymph Circe is a 'good' Gundam movie for fans of the UC but I can't recommend it as an entry point for people curious about the series. I have steeped myself in the lore of the Universal Century for the better part of 25 years and even I can't say I was invested much in the events of this film Of course, it's also a 'bridge' between the first and third parts so it has to contend with all of that-can't be the beginning and can't be the end-and I'm not concerned with the lack of mecha action in it whatsoever. Tomino is asking bigger questions than 'which mobile suit would win a fight'. He's not a child and at this point, neither are any of us long time fans of the series. Hathaway itself exists solely to show us a grim, if necessary, portrait of the world that Amuro left behind when he went 'beyond the time' with Char and Lalah.
But this move is just talking followed by more talking and some more talking and none of it makes much sense unless you live and breathe this stuff. Hathaway's most important legacy remains how it all ends in the novels. Tomino is in his own head and up his own ass about this story and Sunrise is doing their best to adapt it with some resonance, but this is a Sisyphean task they've undertaken.
3 out of 5 for its technical merits, breathtaking art and animation and the amazing soundtrack by Hiroyuki SAWANO, who continues to kill it for this franchise every single time.
2 out of 5 if you're not a Gundam fan or just want to watch the pew-pew.
This is the second of the Hathaway film trilogy (expect the third one in about five years) that shows the world of the Universal Century a decade after the events of Char's Counterattack and the fallout of the Axis Shock.
Essentially, no one has learned anything from the miracle Amuro performed by pushing the Axis asteroid out of its planetary descent in CCA and the Federation is as corrupt as ever. Without a Zeon to oppose them in any way, their excesses are running unchecked and they are more oppressive against dissidents than ever.
I used to think that CCA's climax should have been a turning point for the geopolitical temperaments of the UC and that anything that happens between CCA and F91 felt 'off' to me. However, in recent years I've come to see that I think I prefer for Hathaway to be a measuring stick for how things are coming along. Not because I am cynical or don't believe in humanity but precisely because Amuro does believe in humanity. As a hero, Amuro's role is to save the world and leave what comes after to those that have inherited the largesse of his deeds. Staying to guide them is infantilizing them and they are going to have to figure things out on their own in order to earn this second (fiftieth?) chance they've been given. Our sins have been paid for and now it's up to us to get it right.
Of course, people can never stay the course and I feel as though Hathaway is a very realistic portrayal of how things would go. Not even those that knew Amuro, such as Hathaway himself, remain influenced by his heroism for very long, as he becomes increasingly frustrated with the Federation's treatment of dissidents, illegals and others they deem undesirable despite the Earth having been depopulated by forced emigration into space, leaving the planet as a resort for the ruling class. Hathaway is disaffected by everything and has reached the point where he believes the entire system needs to be torn down and eradicated so that something new might emerge.
He's becoming more like Char than like Amuro despite knowing that Amuro is a good person and Char, who uses children to fight his wars and manipulates them to his own ends, is a bad person. Char is everything wrong with the Universal Century, an exact reflection of the very power he opposes (the Federation) and more than willing to employ the same methods for ends that he believes will have a net positive impact. That's where Hathaway is at this point.
In the first film, Hathaway is established as a conflicted person that is given every opportunity to walk away from the life of a terrorist that he's chosen but continues to stay loyal to the cause because he feels walking away would be a waste of all the lives that were lost getting him to this point. He's willfully ignorant of the reality that someone must follow Amuro's example and that hearts and minds won't ever change overnight. Instead, he is young, brash, impatient and foolish as all youthful idealists are. A lot can be said about the failure of parents to properly guide their children and for certain, Hathaway's own father Brite has his own guilt to assume for how things have turned out simply by being in absentia (Brite and Mira seem to have patched things up by UC 0104) during Hathaway's childhood.
However, it's also fair to say that children who grow up and remain in the niches carved for them by adults once they grow old enough to climb out of them are also responsible for what happens as a result. After I got done watching the first movie, I felt as though it was possible for Hathaway to have a 'Spartacus' moment where it is not HE who meets an unfortunate end with the conclusion of the third novel (and, presumably, film) bu a stand in so that he can have a happy life with Gigi (or whoever he ends up with). After watching the second film, I not only believe that Hathaway WILL be executed at the end of things but that he DESERVES to be. He has now embraced the dark path and intentions, not results, are what separate heroes from villains.
The second film continues the overarching plot of the first one, that being the eventual assault on the Federation summit where many high ranking officials will be gathering to discuss matters of state. Hathaway has come to Earth specifically to kill them all, and them gathering in one place for a massive event with eyes on it is a perfect opportunity for terrorists to make their move. The first film was enchanting, presenting a vision of the Universal Century where politics, espionage, information and subterfuge are highlighted to show just how many gears must turn in order for a fully realized fictional world to be effectively executed. The mobile suits are weapons of oppression, military engagement and deterrence. For an attack on a Federation stronghold, they're also the only hope a terrorist organization has of making their mark. However, despite all of these complex portrayals, the first film was magical in how it paid off its visin.
The second film is ponderous, plodding and overwrought with exposition. I think that for fans of the UC, well versed in the material and who understand the complicated political divides of the world in UC 0104, this movie will feel comfortable enough, alien but familiar like an echo of what they have loved for so long. But the frequency with which various agencies are referenced, factions come and go and characters enter and depart just as quickly will be bewildering to casuals and fans of the less intelligent Gundam series that rely more on emotional focus. This has always been Tomino's weakness. He doesn't know how to write truly human, relatable characters. Although Tomino did not direct or adapt the Hathaway films, he DID write the novels upon which they're based and he's almost too focused on theme at the expense of characters and situations you can get a hold of.
This has been the problem with every Gundam story he has told without Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's steadying hand to guide him when he went off the rails. Tomino, for all of his brilliance as an idea guy and as someone with a brain that is, perhaps, too big in terms of understanding realpolitik, needs an adult in the room to keep him from flipping out. The Hathaway novels, due to how much they rely on everything that came before and the many complexities of Gundam leading up to them, cannot be divorced from Tomino's particular proclivities as an author.
I STILL think Sorcery of Nymph Circe is a 'good' Gundam movie for fans of the UC but I can't recommend it as an entry point for people curious about the series. I have steeped myself in the lore of the Universal Century for the better part of 25 years and even I can't say I was invested much in the events of this film Of course, it's also a 'bridge' between the first and third parts so it has to contend with all of that-can't be the beginning and can't be the end-and I'm not concerned with the lack of mecha action in it whatsoever. Tomino is asking bigger questions than 'which mobile suit would win a fight'. He's not a child and at this point, neither are any of us long time fans of the series. Hathaway itself exists solely to show us a grim, if necessary, portrait of the world that Amuro left behind when he went 'beyond the time' with Char and Lalah.
But this move is just talking followed by more talking and some more talking and none of it makes much sense unless you live and breathe this stuff. Hathaway's most important legacy remains how it all ends in the novels. Tomino is in his own head and up his own ass about this story and Sunrise is doing their best to adapt it with some resonance, but this is a Sisyphean task they've undertaken.
3 out of 5 for its technical merits, breathtaking art and animation and the amazing soundtrack by Hiroyuki SAWANO, who continues to kill it for this franchise every single time.
2 out of 5 if you're not a Gundam fan or just want to watch the pew-pew.
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