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The Butterfly
This review may contain spoilers
"Our power is justice!"
Based on two television shows from the 1970’s, Bravestorm combined the Silver Mask and the Super Robot Red Baron to try and save the Earth from an alien invasion. The film used a combination of time travel and mecha suits and while it resembled a television episode more than a film, for fans of the genre it might be enough to entertain them.
In 2050 after an alien invasion that resulted in the Earth being terraformed for the aliens’ benefit, the human population is next to extinct with 96% of the population eradicated and a small portion enslaved. Siblings Koji, Haruka, and Kozo are sent back to their grandfather, Kenichiro, in 2013 to prevent the invasion. In 2018, Kenichiro’s ne’er do well brother, Ken, is recruited after an alien confrontation at an underground fight ring. Kenichiro has built a giant mecha suit for Ken to control in order to combat Black Baron, the aliens’ giant terraforming robot. Ken is less than enthused about joining the gang but is finally convinced to help.
The siblings’ abilities were varied. Koji was the brave brother who wore the silver suit of armor capable of 500% of a human’s strength. Haruka, had one expression throughout the film and few lines. She was gifted with second sight, perception, psychic ability, any power they needed her to have in a pinch, and swordswomanship. Poor Kozo had little to do and was stuck being the techie. He had a special pair of glasses that could determine whether a person was human or not. Ken was a boxer who earned money in illegal fights and was quite angry with the brother who disappeared a few years earlier. This character came across as an idiotic jerk for much of the film until he was given what he considered a better reason than humankind’s imminent demise to finally suit up. Kenichiro was the most interesting of the characters as the robot and AI specialist and surrogate father to the group.
The CGI ranged from cheap television effects to proper film CGI. Red Baron and Black Baron for the most part were well done. There were also alien robots in human suits, such as the fearsome Bald Borg. The creepy Chigrises, which I could swear I’ve seen in another movie, could also take human form. The Killgis CGI was uneven, terrible in one scene but better in another. Interestingly, the Killgis chose our planet because of humanity's warlike nature and destiny to self-destruct. Might as well move the timetable up. Harsh.
The music was drawn from a variety of films. There were times I expected to see Christopher Reeve’s Superman fly in, or Luke Skywalker, or the Rebel Alliance. It was like a patchwork quilt of famous action movie scores.
At just over 80 minutes the movie sped by and there wasn’t much time for character development. When dealing with giant mechas all can be forgiven if the battle is spectacular. Disappointingly, the final battle was short and definitely not epic and the heroic actions felt rushed particularly in the villain’s lair. The movie also ended on a cliffhanger apparently in the hopes of a sequel. For fans of the old tv shows or the genre in general, it is one to check out. For everyone else, if you keep your expectations quite low, you might find parts of it entertaining.
10/17/23
In 2050 after an alien invasion that resulted in the Earth being terraformed for the aliens’ benefit, the human population is next to extinct with 96% of the population eradicated and a small portion enslaved. Siblings Koji, Haruka, and Kozo are sent back to their grandfather, Kenichiro, in 2013 to prevent the invasion. In 2018, Kenichiro’s ne’er do well brother, Ken, is recruited after an alien confrontation at an underground fight ring. Kenichiro has built a giant mecha suit for Ken to control in order to combat Black Baron, the aliens’ giant terraforming robot. Ken is less than enthused about joining the gang but is finally convinced to help.
The siblings’ abilities were varied. Koji was the brave brother who wore the silver suit of armor capable of 500% of a human’s strength. Haruka, had one expression throughout the film and few lines. She was gifted with second sight, perception, psychic ability, any power they needed her to have in a pinch, and swordswomanship. Poor Kozo had little to do and was stuck being the techie. He had a special pair of glasses that could determine whether a person was human or not. Ken was a boxer who earned money in illegal fights and was quite angry with the brother who disappeared a few years earlier. This character came across as an idiotic jerk for much of the film until he was given what he considered a better reason than humankind’s imminent demise to finally suit up. Kenichiro was the most interesting of the characters as the robot and AI specialist and surrogate father to the group.
The CGI ranged from cheap television effects to proper film CGI. Red Baron and Black Baron for the most part were well done. There were also alien robots in human suits, such as the fearsome Bald Borg. The creepy Chigrises, which I could swear I’ve seen in another movie, could also take human form. The Killgis CGI was uneven, terrible in one scene but better in another. Interestingly, the Killgis chose our planet because of humanity's warlike nature and destiny to self-destruct. Might as well move the timetable up. Harsh.
The music was drawn from a variety of films. There were times I expected to see Christopher Reeve’s Superman fly in, or Luke Skywalker, or the Rebel Alliance. It was like a patchwork quilt of famous action movie scores.
At just over 80 minutes the movie sped by and there wasn’t much time for character development. When dealing with giant mechas all can be forgiven if the battle is spectacular. Disappointingly, the final battle was short and definitely not epic and the heroic actions felt rushed particularly in the villain’s lair. The movie also ended on a cliffhanger apparently in the hopes of a sequel. For fans of the old tv shows or the genre in general, it is one to check out. For everyone else, if you keep your expectations quite low, you might find parts of it entertaining.
10/17/23
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