{"id":1287,"date":"2007-02-07T08:31:40","date_gmt":"2007-02-07T08:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/2007\/02\/07\/robotech-the-shadow-chronicles\/"},"modified":"2008-10-30T00:50:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-30T00:50:00","slug":"robotech-the-shadow-chronicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/?p=1287","title":{"rendered":"Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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REVIEW: After\u00a0One Viewing<\/p>\n

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I cracked open my DVD of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles (RT:TSC) with more than a little trepidation.\u00a0 I don\u2019t envy the person asked to write the sequel to the original Robotech series (okay, maybe I do a little).\u00a0 This is a show many people who frequent my blog have thoroughly enjoyed since decades ago.\u00a0 After the years our tastes have all changed significantly and if Robotech aired today there\u2019s a very good likelihood many of us wouldn\u2019t care for it at all.\u00a0 Seriously, have you watched Robotech lately?\u00a0 The writing is downright horrendous at times.\u00a0 So, now, as adults, we need a sequel that has changed with our tastes.\u00a0 Honestly, that just makes it entirely impossible to create a sequel that EVERY Robotech fan will like.\u00a0 Regardless of what I say here, good or bad, there are some that will vehemently disagree.\u00a0 That\u2019s not necessarily because I\u2019m right or wrong, it\u2019s just that as we\u2019ve aged our tastes have changed differently.\u00a0 Let\u2019s also not forget that this show was made to hopefully appeal to a brand new audience.\u00a0 So, with that disclaimer made, let\u2019s jump into it.<\/p>\n

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The BAD:<\/strong>
\n1) Re-writes.\u00a0 First, there\u2019s the re-writing of the battle at Reflex Point.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 In the original there was an ensemble cast there, events transpired that we\u2019re all familiar with, it ended as it did.\u00a0 A simple reanimation of a few scenes to get them fresh in my head would have been fine but there are points where the folks who know it well will definitely feel jarred.\u00a0 \u201cWait\u2026 this didn\u2019t happen.\u201d\u00a0 There might be a case to be made that the events shown did happen off-screen (note that Scott says “She’s going BACK into the hive?”) from the original but it seems a little hard to believe.\u00a0 Scott\u2019s exit with Ariel was definitely changed to soften Scott\u2019s image.\u00a0 Also, the Neutron-S Missiles were planet killers and everyone was okay with that in the original Robotech\u2026 now they\u2019re just \u201chalf-planet\u201d killers.\u00a0 You may find more ticky-tack re-write issues on your own.
\n2) I can\u2019t exactly place it but the opening credits feel like they\u2019re stolen from another sci-fi flick.\u00a0 If any of you know of a similar opening feel free to post a comment.\u00a0 It\u2019s not quite as blatant as Robotech: The Movie\u2019s ripping off of Star Wars but I think you\u2019ll know what I mean.<\/p>\n

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3) Spandex and boobies.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love boobies, and a girl in skin-tight anything is usually cool by me, but it does get gratuitous here.\u00a0 In particular, there\u2019s a girl on Vince\u2019s bridge and Maia who seem to be overly-endowed and the camera constantly wants to reinforce it.\u00a0 The spandex on the guys tends to be underneath large capes or body armor so that helped keep things decent.
\n4) There is a PERFECT scene for showing off old school Robotech mechs as a little fanboy service for all the old-timers and they COMPLETELY ignore it.\u00a0 Oh man, if I was a Southern Cross fan (a nod to you dirty dozen) I would have been pulling my hair out.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the scenario, Maia Sterling goes looking for a vehicle without Shadow Technology onboard a giant space station with a huge warehouse.\u00a0 Does it show her walking by AGACs or Hovertanks, maybe a Logan?\u00a0 Heck, are there any Conbats from the original New Generation?\u00a0 No, she goes straight to a new Alpha!\u00a0 Hey, that\u2019s fine, take the new Alpha, but that doesn\u2019t mean we couldn\u2019t have her walking by and choosing not to go with some of the older mechs (and a simple sentence of dialogue would explain away the reason they are there and not being chosen by Maia).
\n5) The animation is ULTRA stiff.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s worse in the beginning of the movie or if you just get used to it by the end.\u00a0 The character\/2D stuff tends to be decent but the 3D stuff seemed rough.\u00a0 Part of me tried to accept this as everything happens in space and I kind of think the choice in animation was a ploy at realism but you should definitely expect to be a bit put off by it at first.<\/p>\n

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6) Cheese in the dialogue and some of the events.\u00a0 First off, I do want to relate that the cheesiest line in the preview actually is quite funny.\u00a0 Do you remember the preview where Vince Grant says \u201cIf I survive my wife\u2019s going to kill me!\u201d\u00a0 Scott delivers the next line and I felt it totally redeemed that cheesy of a line being in the film at all.\u00a0 Also, Janice\u2019s stiff odd delivery seems almost like it was intentional.\u00a0 They gave her room to grow.\u00a0 She starts purely as an android, adopts her disguise, and seems to be trying to become more human.\u00a0 I imagine if this becomes a series by the end she\u2019ll act entirely human.\u00a0 Now, all that said, some of the other lines are just BAAAD.\u00a0 You might want to see my disclaimer earlier about the writing in the original show though.<\/p>\n

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7)\u00a0 The Haydonites.\u00a0 Their design on every level is\u2026 meh.\u00a0 That said, Robotech hasn\u2019t had a single alien design that was good or original yet.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see, Zentraedi are big humans, Masters are humans, Invid are\u2026 only seen as humans.\u00a0 What we did see were some cool mechs though and the Haydonites do not have cool mechs or capital ships.\u00a0 Their capital ships reminded me a little of the Earth ships in VanDread.<\/p>\n

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8) BETAS!!!\u00a0 In the first episode of New Gen I think every Alpha had a Beta.\u00a0 Where\u2019d they all go?\u00a0 The cooler Invid mechs all appear to be missing also.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think we see a single Beta in battloid mode.\u00a0 Boo.<\/p>\n

The Good:<\/strong>
\n1) The pacing of the film is good.\u00a0 The slowest part to me seemed to be the very beginning which was obviously a bit slow as an introduction to the characters.\u00a0 After I watch it a few times I might find other areas that lag but on my first sitting, I was pretty entertained throughout.<\/p>\n

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2) I actually think the fact that every RT character we ever met wasn\u2019t mentioned was a good thing.\u00a0 The cast here was a bit large and scattered without too many fanboy winks and I didn\u2019t feel like they were going out of their way to force more names.\u00a0 The references to Minmay songs were silly but they didn\u2019t seem all that wildly out of place.\u00a0 Plus, if this does become a series, more fanboy winks via cameo will keep future pieces interesting.\u00a0 The only exception here was the obvious avoidance of the New Gen gang in a few scenes.\u00a0 We do get to see Lunk\u2019s jeep though\u2026<\/p>\n

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3) A big friggin\u2019 space brawl.\u00a0 I don\u2019t get to see big friggin\u2019 space brawls enough.\u00a0 It could have been better but there were a few cool scenes and even one gory death.\u00a0 Too bad we didn\u2019t see any Royal Command Units.
\n4) Humor.\u00a0 The original show occasionally made me chuckle.\u00a0 The new movie caught me unexpectedly cracking a smile a few times too.\u00a0 RT has always been good with absolutely subdued sexual tension leading to awkward humor and that keeps going here.\u00a0 Most the more humorous moments are just kind of random bits though which I was glad to see.
\n5) The premise opens a LOT of doors.\u00a0 If the series continues they can take it in any direction still.\u00a0 They can steer completely clear of the book End of the Circle or they can head toward it.\u00a0 Really, I think they tried to execute one movie that would tie up a ton of loose ends and grant the show the ability to head in whatever direction they wanted to and I think they accomplished that.\u00a0 Most everything that was established at the end of Robotech has now been obliterated.\u00a0 New mechs could be designed, new technologies harnessed, new alliances formed, there\u2019s just really no telling where it would go next (hopefully not The End of the Circle).<\/p>\n

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In summary, there\u2019s a lot here for diehard Robotech fans to NOT like.\u00a0 I, for one, could care less what Rick Hunter looks like.\u00a0 He kinda had some Rick Hunter mannerisms, that\u2019s good enough for me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care that Rick Hunter wasn\u2019t on screen much, he wasn\u2019t on screen at all after the first third (uh\u2026 4\/9ths?) of Robotech anyway.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care that Maia says she\u2019s half \u201calien\u201d instead of Zentraedi.\u00a0 If \u201calien\u201d becomes code for Zentraedi from this point on I seriously wouldn\u2019t care.\u00a0 If you care a lot about any of those first items, you might do well to remember that anyone new to Robotech probably would feel more similarly to myself since they’re not already attached to any of that.\u00a0 I also don\u2019t really care that Vince has big muscles or that the uniforms are tight.\u00a0 I did care about the music though and I found it had a learning curve for me.\u00a0 I liked it at times and at other times it seemed iffy.\u00a0 Honestly, what\u00a0I felt mattered most was the fact that, while watching it, I didn\u2019t find myself thinking about things I\u2019d rather be doing, work I needed to get done, or ways I would totally re-write the whole thing (although I may do that the next time I watch it).\u00a0 When it ended I definitely felt that if it had an immediate sequel I\u2019d want to watch that also.\u00a0 So, that said, I do recommend people give The Shadow Chronicles a shot.<\/strong>\u00a0 At the very least, if you\u2019re familiar with Robotech, put it in your Netflix queue.<\/strong>\u00a0 I will probably edit this post a bunch after I watch it a second time but for now, I’m just happy I can say I don’t dread watching it a second time (unlike the last RT movie I reviewed).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 REVIEW: After\u00a0One Viewing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dvd"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}