My attitude to this film has changed over time - when it was announced, I was very happy, a year before the premiere I was skeptical, and during the screening it was similar - I liked the first half a lot, the second less. I do not consider this production weak, I would rather describe it as a moderate disappointment. I missed some strong punch at the end, I was a bit bothered by too much similarity in terms of drawing style to "Gundam Unicorn", which is far from my favorite series from this universe. I don't think Unicorn is bad - it just bored me too much and I didn't see anything in it that interested me. Before I go to the review itself, a few words about the chronology of events. According to MyAnimeList, "Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash" is a sequel to "Mobile Suit Gundam NT", but in my opinion you can ignore it like the earlier series and consider it a sequel to "Char's Counterattack". However, if you want to watch in chronological order, watch Gundam Origin -> Mobile Suit Gundam -> Gundam Zeta -> Char's Counterattack -> Gundam NT.
The plot tells about the events that take place 12 years after the Char Aznable rebellion. I don't remember the details exactly, but if I'm not mistaken, this one wanted to drop a meteorite on Earth (or rather, redirect the meteorite towards Earth) so that humans would eventually leave it for thousands of years and let the planet reset. His plan failed, and heirs appeared in its place. One of them is Hathaway Noa, son of Bright Noa, the hero of the One Year War (the fight between the conglomerate of space colonies and the Earth and their subordinate colonies). He wants to continue the work of Char and throw all Earthlings into space. Of course, people like this are stubborn, short-sighted, generally reluctant to change their place of residence or habits. That's why Hathaway decides to act like terrorists and wants to kick everyone out by force. He murders ministers, breaks into the media, attacks governments, etc. In fact, I am not surprised at all, apart from the lack of stabilization, subsequent wars, drastically increasing pollution and the deteriorating condition of our planet (e.g. fishing was banned), politicians have become even more cynical, willingly take bribes, thanks to which they arrange a permanent residence card the inhabitants of our planet. Generally, their fucking has entered a cosmic scale.
As for the characters, I was a bit bothered by the fact that there weren't any Amuro Ray or any other characters we knew, but with each scene I became more and more convinced of the three characters. Especially when at some stage they indulged in a short but quite direct "romantic plot". Or rather, Gigi, who tried several ways to invite Hathaway to naughty situations in her bed, and Sleg who wanted an invitation to her bedroom and stripped her panties. Maybe I watch too rarely anime with flirting and erotic elements, but I haven't seen anything like this many times. The last time I saw something similar (although it's also something else, I mean the directness of dialogues or some scenes) in "Rainbow", when an older MILF made love to one of the heroes. I liked it, I like such direct, sincere dialogues or scenes in which the director and animators do not have to be polite about the content. And apart from this segment, I found nothing that I liked about them. At some point in the story, I felt sympathy for them, but they were unable to maintain it. At the end of the movie and right after it, I completely give a shit about them as characters because they haven't shown anything interesting so far. Or otherwise, I liked a few things, but there weren't enough of them for me to praise them.
Lest I complain, I really liked the soundtrack. It's not my favorite "Gundam" in this regard, but apart from 2 or 3 titles, no Gundam has had a soundtrack that I liked that much! More to say, the soundtrack was one of the two elements that made me watch a movie in one sitting, and not watch it in 2 installments. It is a pleasure to listen to when writing this text, and during the screening it created an atmosphere that bought my attention. The second aspect is the action scenes, and more specifically two - the introduction of the film and the skirmish between the Big Robots in the city. The blood streaming down the wall after the human's head was shot was surprisingly positive to me. It is true that there weren't any really sharp scenes, but blood, injured bodies are enough for me, especially when you add good direction and dynamics of action to it. This scene and the fight in the city gave me hope that it would be a really effective movie ... Unfortunately, it was not a show that I could rate at 9/10 per action, etc. but also far from a tragedy. It's the perfect movie for Sunday, but I wouldn't be watching it with someone who doesn't like Japanese cartoons. I know better suggestions, but for fans? In my opinion, just in time, you will relax for the evening. As I said, I don't like the line, but I have nothing to complain about. The CGI looks okay, but it didn't impress me, but on this point, please note that I don't know anything about it.
All in all, I expected this movie to be better, but on the other hand it's not bad. It's actually a good show that is pretty good for relaxing in the evening. The action is quite ok, there is something to look at, and the plot, despite my complaints, is also ok. Nevertheless, I recommend watching the several-episode "Gundam the Origin", because it will introduce you to this world better (and is better in every respect). As for my rating, I give 7/10.
