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Char's Counterattack

This is it, the finale of the Char saga, the culmination of 150 episodes of Gundam, the conflicts it resolves that brought countless deaths in its wake. And.... I don't know what to think. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad movie.

Let's get the basic stuff out of the way. The action is phenomenal. Every fight feels impactful and every blast, punch, crash feels good. Comparing the action from ZZ to this is about as big of a jump as 00 season 2 to AoT. The funnel fights get ridiculous and the mobile suits animate smoothly. The characters don't look like they got much of an upgrade. While the animation in nonfight scenes is much more detailed and consistent then ZZ, it still retains that same artstyle.

But oh man, the music. Great score, some 80s synth thrown in but for the most part, it makes the movie feel so much more epic. And you know how I'm always complained about UC Gundam's scale? CCA defintley fixed that problem.

I was afraid I was gonna hate this movie because Amuro Ray was the main character. I didn't care for Amuro in MSG and found him to be bland. But in this movie, holy hell a lot has changed in 14 years. Not only has he manned up and become a good mobile suit pilot without having to rely on his Newtype skills, he's no longer whiny.

Char has changed quite a bit from Zeta. With his romantic and hinted sexual problems due to Lalah's death, alongside the Federation's 6 years of ignorance and lack of care for the people, it created this magnificent bastard. i actually was sort of rooting for him a bit in this movie. Granted not the, "Throw an asteroid into Earth and people will automatically stop being ignorant" thing but about trying to evolve everybody into Newtypes.

Let's talk new characters. Chan and Char's new lover chick really didn't serve much of a purpose. Quess didn't annoy me and Hathaway was okay. I thought Quess' arc was interesting with her daddy issues along with Char's romantic and potentially sexual frustration with women since Lalah's gone.

One thing I love about the new kid characters is that it sort of plays up the Gundam series' "Adults are bullshit" mentality that the main characters have, and to see both the perspective of the adults and the kids is really interesting to see. As it no longer is about Adults being ignorant but about people's ideals in general. What happens to those kids who grow up and rebel against the ideals of the adults that controlled the world before them. Essentially, Char and Amuro's conflict is about them being able to execute the ideas they have long held.

And that's the problem. This really isn't a resolution of 0079, Zeta and ZZ, its just an extension and resolution of the First Gundam series. If you wanted that sort of thing, that's fine but the lack of representation from Zeta and ZZ's influence on Char is kind of disappointing. I know we have Unicorn to resolve the stories of Zeta and ZZ now, but still.

The biggest problem this movie has is, WHERE THE FUCK ARE KAMILLE AND JUDAU? I know Judau had a five year journey and this movie takes place in UC 93 so he still might be getting back but Kamille? The end of Zeta the dude is fine and walking around. You'd think Londo Bell would have him for a mission like this. If Kamille or Judau were piloting the Nu in that last scene, the entire motherfucking Earth would have been enveloped in that light.

But as it stands, its a good 0079 sequel. Is it a good movie?

....Yes. The pacing is a little hectic and fast paced at first but the story is written well enough to feel perfect for a two hour movie.