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R2 DVD Reviews
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Wednesday, 02 March 2011 15:11 |
 I can see why Manga UK went with Eureka Seven: the Movie for this one. The full title - Psalm of Planets Eureka Seven: Pocket Full of Rainbows (Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers) - is a tad on the long side. An alternate world retelling of the TV series, this one's had at best a mixed response, but personally, I reckon it's pretty damned good...
For almost half a century, mankind has been at war with a mysterious entity known as the EIZO. It is the year 2054 and, with humankind on the brink of destruction, a select few are evacuated to colonization spaceships and the government is about to fire their doomsday device, the Hammer of God. In the middle of this war are two teenagers, Renton and Eureka; two childhood friends who were separated when Eureka was kidnapped by government forces eight years ago. Renton is now a soldier, piloting the Nirvash, aboard the cruiser GEKKO captained by Holland Novak. However, the crew of the GEKKO are actually rebels with their own mission, spearate from the government's aims. Renton and Eureka are now reunited, and fate will test the young lovers as they fight the EIZO, government forces, and even Holland. Their love will be the key to mankind's future and fulfilling their dreams...
Right. Officially, you don't need to have seen the Eureka Seven TV series to get the most out of the movie, although to be honest a) you should really see it anyway - once it finds its feet, it's a damned good show; and b) there's quite a bit of fun to be had picking out the little references to the TV show that still exist, and in comparing and contrasting where the two stories are similar and where they diverge. It's made very, very clear in one scene that the world we see in the movie isn't the world of the TV show, but both worlds are facing similar problems, with Eureka of course filling a key role in how the world is responding to the threat caused by the EIZO (or, if you prefer that TV show terminology, the Coralians).
In trying to cover the same territory, though, the movie runs into its one real problem: a lack of time. It's two hours long, but it's trying to pack in a hell of a lot of information in between its set-piece scenes, and it struggles to do it. The result is a little disjointed, and occasionally leaves you scratching your head a little at events that feel as though they needed a little more explanation to really make sense. I also have to question the motives behind turning Nirvash and The End into cute, cuddly, "ukyuuu!!"-crying mascot characters that wouldn't look out of place in a CLAMP story.
The broad sweep of the story, though, comes together well: the impending use of the Hammer of God, which will destroy the EIZO but leave Earth uninhabitable; the need that Holland and his group feel to recreate an event from their past that they hope will bring them immortality; and Eureka, fighting with the competing demands of following her "destiny", in that she has a role that she knows she was created to complete, and her desire to stay with Renton and live a normal life - or as close to one as she's able to. In each of these plot threads, it's the people who are involved, and their hopes, dreams, doubts and uncertainties, that are at the core of what the movie is trying to do. The movie wants you to connect with these characters, feel their pain, and ride the emotional rollercoaster with them as the story unfolds and their aims are either realised or rendered impossible.
At that, it succeeds admirably, but I have to say that it does help to have seen at least some of the TV series in advance, if for nothing else than to get a feel for who the characters are - while there are some differences in how they're realised in the movie, the broad feel of who they are remains the same, and a little background knowledge is a wonderful thing. Even if you don't have that advantage, though, the characters are well-enough realised in this new universe that you can still warm to them quickly and understand enough of what's going through their minds to be carried along for the ride.
Doing a little research ahead of watching the movie, I couldn't help but notice that the general reaction to Pocket Full of Rainbows wasn't very positive - that the movie was a mess, all style and no content. That's not what I see when I watch it. Yes, a lot of TLC has been put into the animation, and I'm seriously considering springing for the Blu-ray version when it's released (I was watching the DVD version for this review), but it's ultimately a character movie, and the characters work, despite some issues with squeezing all that they're trying to do into a 2-hour movie. Engrossing stuff from beginning to end, and well worth picking up.
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