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REVIEW: Psycho-Pass The Movie


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Engineering Nerd



Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 897
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 12:22 pm Reply with quote
I agree the review, it's certainly a good follow-up of the acclaimed first season, and would benefit even more if second season does not exist (which IG did not even bother to produce themselves). It does feel a bit stretched, but the absolute breath-taking action scenes made the whole experience rewarding.

Psycho-pass might be the poor man's Ghost in the Shell, but without a doubt it is tailored made to the modern audience. So personally no complaint on that one


But still, I was REALLY shocked that this movie made more than 800 million yen in Japan and sold tens of thousands of BD/DVD. I mean....I didn't realize a show constantly flirting with extreme violence and heavy-handed with philosophy could be this popular (maybe shirtless Kougami helps *shot*)
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killjoy_the



Joined: 30 May 2015
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 12:32 pm Reply with quote
Hope wrote:
and the dub distinctly improves when dealing with violent emotions like pain and fear, but most of the dialogue still sounds flatter than it should even in casual conversation, to say nothing of the cast's tendency to monologue about dead philosophers.


Considering how bad the Engrish was in the Japanese audio, I'd take flat conversations any day.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:06 pm Reply with quote
The Psycho-Pass movie is okay. I liked some parts of it, but my affection for it is more or less in the level for season two. I am a bit surprised Jacob liked this movie this much.

Jacob Hope Chapman wrote:
this franchise is bound to spend many more TV seasons

While I don't believe there will be many more TV seasons, I was also left with the impression that this movie seems like a setup for another TV season, which I hope Urobuchi writes. The movie also feels to me like a setup for more anime content just like the Madoka Rebellion movie.

And Jacob, for comparison's sake, could you please list your overall grade for season 2. On your daily streaming review for episode 11 you gave a F grade. Is that the grade for the whole season?
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:18 pm Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:

Jacob Hope Chapman wrote:
this franchise is bound to spend many more TV seasons

While I don't believe there will be many more TV seasons, I was also left with the impression that this movie seems like a setup for another TV season, which I hope Urobuchi writes. The movie also feels to me like a setup for more anime content just like the Madoka Rebellion movie.


One thing that always frustrates me to no end about anime is that they often hint toward more content, and then rarely deliver. Probably more than any other medium. Gargantia is giving us a flipping novel in place of a second season, we're finally just now possibly getting more Madoka, and I have no doubt that any future installment of Psycho-Pass is going to be years from now if it ever comes. I don't mind milking a franchise if they continue developing the core story in the same medium, but when all we get is spin-offs, books, or hints for more that never come, it gets really irritating. I'm not optimistic that there will be more of this franchise.

As for the movie, I will be seeing it in Theaters on the 15th, but based on what Jacob has said, I have moderately high hopes for it. I like hyperviolence and the kind of fan-service that he is describing, so I don't feel like those will detract as much for me and the synopsis sounds great.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:30 pm Reply with quote
relyat08 wrote:
Gargantia is giving us a flipping novel in place of a second season, we're finally just now possibly getting more Madoka, and I have no doubt that any future installment of Psycho-Pass is going to be years from now if it ever comes.

You are probably aware of this, but Gen Urobuchi has written for these three franchises.
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doubleO7



Joined: 17 Jul 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:36 pm Reply with quote
Is this film standalone enough to be enjoyed without having seen the first season? It happens to be playing near me, and while my interest in the television series is nonexistent, as a movie it's just a one-and-done kind of thing. But who knows, maybe it'll actually spark my interest in the series?

However, my main concern with this franchise is summed up by this line from the review:
Quote:
...marinating in violence and melodrama...


The impression I've gotten from most reviews I've read of this series is that the level of extreme violence borders on unnecessary at times and that the melodrama can be rather heavy-handed. While I don't prefer it, I'm not necessarily opposed to either of those things in the media I watch, but my level of tolerance largely depends on how it's handled. If it comes off as schlocky and like it's trying too hard to force itself to be dark and grim "just because," I'm going to hate it.

So what do other people think? Is this franchise really just not for me? Would the movie work as a decent litmus test to see if I'd like the rest of it? Or do I have to force myself to watch at least Season One before I even think of seeing the movie?
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JacobC
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:37 pm Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:

And Jacob, for comparison's sake, could you please list your overall grade for season 2. On your daily streaming review for episode 11 you gave a F grade. Is that the grade for the whole season?


Naw, overall I'd give it a D. There were moments of joy in there, and it's not a HUGE disaster of a season or anything, just a wee disaster.

doubleO7 wrote:
Is this film standalone enough to be enjoyed without having seen the first season? It happens to be playing near me, and while my interest in the television series is nonexistent, as a movie it's just a one-and-done kind of thing. But who knows, maybe it'll actually spark my interest in the series?

So what do other people think? Is this franchise really just not for me? Would the movie work as a decent litmus test to see if I'd like the rest of it? Or do I have to force myself to watch at least Season One before I even think of seeing the movie?


The movie isn't really comprehensible standalone, you need to have seen the whole first season to get anything out of it. But based on that second paragraph, Psycho-Pass may not be for you. It's very gratuitous and morose.


Last edited by JacobC on Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:39 pm Reply with quote
I didn't watch season 2 so should I understand what's going in this movie?
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JacobC
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:41 pm Reply with quote
tintor2 wrote:
I didn't watch season 2 so should I understand what's going in this movie?


Yup. As stated in the review, there's a new Inspector from season 2 named Mika who has a few lines, but that's the only thing that might be unfamiliar to you. And there isn't anything to know about her except that she hates Akane and has a weird passionate love for the Sybil system.
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Tanteikingdomkey



Joined: 03 Sep 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 2:03 pm Reply with quote
JesuOtaku wrote:
tintor2 wrote:
I didn't watch season 2 so should I understand what's going in this movie?


Yup. As stated in the review, there's a new Inspector from season 2 named Mika who has a few lines, but that's the only thing that might be unfamiliar to you. And there isn't anything to know about her except that she hates Akane and has a weird passionate love for the Sybil system.

YAY in case someone hasn't told you yet RUN AS FAR AWAY FROM SEASON 2 AS POSSIBLE!
Seriously unless you want to see an amazing series have an utter train wreck of a second season then RUN!
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 2:08 pm Reply with quote
JesuOtaku wrote:
tintor2 wrote:
I didn't watch season 2 so should I understand what's going in this movie?


Yup. As stated in the review, there's a new Inspector from season 2 named Mika who has a few lines, but that's the only thing that might be unfamiliar to you. And there isn't anything to know about her except that she hates Akane and has a weird passionate love for the Sybil system.


Thanks. It's that I completely skipped the review to avoid some heavy spoilers.
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Ambimunch



Joined: 30 Aug 2012
Posts: 2012
PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 2:17 pm Reply with quote
I think this movie is what should have happened after season 1. It feels like Psycho-Pass, great action/moral debate/and sci fi elements.
Honestly, go watch it if you like Psycho Pass.


Last edited by Ambimunch on Wed Mar 16, 2016 10:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 3:09 pm Reply with quote
I'm just in it for the reading recommendations and the shipping, so this movie delivered pretty much everything I wanted from PP.


The art direction was really nice, and it's always fun to watch Akane beat people up. Also A+ Black Label product placement. And yeah I'm just pretending the second season doesn't actually exist at this point.

I will say that I'm a bit sad that it didn't dig into the thematic strengths of the first season; the anti-colonialism seems likely a weirdly unrelated direction to go after Akane's big "The law doesn't protect people, people protect the law" mission statement. I didn't really get how the movie was trying to tie colonialism into Akane's reckoning with the Sibyl system so the climactic confrontation between the two of them fell a little flat for me, and during the fight with the mercenaries I was just wondering what the point of it was. I guess superficially it makes sense if it's construing Sibyl as a colonial power, but that wasn't really the central argument in season 1, which was Sibyl's ability to guarantee a certain quality of life vs Akane's incorporation of Shogo's perspective into a compromise of calling for transparency rather than Shogo's anarchy (or Mika's categorical faith). Shamballa wasn't horrible because of the Sibyl system, it was horrible because it was an empire which was using the Sibyl system as an instrument of colonialism. So Akane's criticisms of the Sibyl system seemed kind of misplaced here I guess.

As an extension, the analogy the movie was trying to draw between the new guerrilla Kogami and old Shogo didn't really make sense to me. Kogami was fighting against protracted genocide and imperialism; Shogo was fighting against something that was at least superficially good, a thing which ultimately convinced Akane of its necessity. There's nothing that ambiguous in the Kogami vs. imperialists conflict.

I didn't realize it was playing in my city though! I guess I'll go watch it again in theaters on the 16th.


Last edited by 鏡 on Fri Mar 04, 2016 4:09 pm; edited 8 times in total
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 3:15 pm Reply with quote
JesuOtaku wrote:
tintor2 wrote:
I didn't watch season 2 so should I understand what's going in this movie?


Yup. As stated in the review, there's a new Inspector from season 2 named Mika who has a few lines, but that's the only thing that might be unfamiliar to you.

And if I remember correctly Mika spoiler[is actually introduced in one case from season 1 and later becomes an inspector at the end of the same season].
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vonPeterhof



Joined: 10 Nov 2014
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 3:31 pm Reply with quote
killjoy_the wrote:
Considering how bad the Engrish was in the Japanese audio, I'd take flat conversations any day.
I actually thought it was pretty comprehensible and easy to listen to, at least by anime standards. Plus, a lot of the characters speaking English weren't supposed to be native speakers anyway, so it didn't really take me out of the experience. The only character whose "English" was almost completely unintelligible was the mercenary leader, which is rather unfortunate as he probably had the highest English-lines-to-Japanese-lines ratio among the named cast. Speaking of which:

Quote:
Its opening moments are underscored by Kogami reading passages from the work of Frantz Fanon, while the ten minutes to follow are an exercise in exploding-guts excess.
I thought that it was actually the mercenary leader monologuing those passages, since Kougami's English was way better in his other lines. Having re-listened to the intro it actually kinda sounds like at least two people speaking simultaneously, aside from the words "grows thick from fertile works" at the end, where it's definitely Kougami alone.

Quote:
At the same time, it's impossible not to notice that all the people in power are a mix of American, Vietnamese, and Chinese (with names like Nicholas Wong and a tendency toward English over any indigenous languages), while throngs of Khmer people struggle to enter the utopia.
My default assumption was that he was meant to be from Singapore, where the naming pattern of "Anglo first name + Chinese surname" is very common; it's also widespread among the Chinese communities of Malaysia and the Philippines. But yeah, the fact that languages other than English are relegated to the lower rungs was quite noticeable and we were clearly meant to see that "some South East Asians are more equal than others", with or without Americans in the picture.

Quote:
On the positive side, it's so brazen in its breakdown of the immorality of colonizing underdeveloped countries, and the hypocrisy inherent to "bringing democracy" to anyone against their will, it's hard to suppress a righteous fist pump in the movie's highest moments.
Going into the movie I was a bit worried about how this subject would be dealt with. One of the things that rubbed me the wrong way about the original series was the implication that the world outside the Japanese archipelago is a dark and scary place filled with war, famine, racial and sectarian strife, corruption and rampant crime, all of which the Land of the Rising Sun has managed to "grow out of". Not so much for it being offensive to us restoftheworldians, but more for the fact that this view of the world isn't uncommon in real life Japan (or at least among 2ch dwellers and Yahoo News commenters). At least in the original this could be written off as another critique of Japanese society and its self-image, but the film was going to actually feature the "rest of the world". While I can't say that the movie's portrayal satisfied me completely (Kougami as essentially a Yamato version of the Great White Hunter in particular made me roll my eyes at least once), I did like how it completely discredited the "altruistic" mission of exporting the Sybil system. Due to the current discussions about Japan taking up a more "proactive" foreign policy, as well as renewed efforts by the revisionists to frame Imperial Japan's actions in WWII as an attempt to "liberate" the rest of Asia, this is a very timely and relevant film.

Oh, and I do apologize for yet another nitpick, but
Quote:
...in the abandoned ruins of Phnom Penh...

Wasn't that Angkor what? [Edit: nice word-filter Smile ]
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