Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!: Trigun: Badlands Rumble
Howdy, y’all! My Autism Awareness Month kicked off this
past Friday, and continues on with a bang on a movie review that I’ve wanted to
do for a long time now. Many of you may
remember a show called Trigun. Back in November of 2014, I reviewed this
show. Not long after that, I heard that
nearly ten years later after the series’ release, a movie was made. So I bought the movie and watched it. What did I think of it? Well you’ll have to find out in this review,
now won’t you? So let’s saddle up and
get on with this long awaited review of Trigun:
Badlands Rumble.
The film opens up in the middle of
a bank robbery led by the infamous and ruthless robber Gasback. In the process
of this robbery, he is suddenly betrayed by his henchmen, who claim to take the
money stolen and leave him for dead.
This is interrupted by a distraught Vash the Stampede, who in his
comical antics allows the henchmen and later Gasback to escape. Twenty years later, the story takes us to Macca
City, where the mayor, and one of Gasback’s former henchmen, Cain Kepler fears
for his safety when he is threatened by Gasback. Fearing that he will be killed and lose everything
he gained in the past twenty years, from his town to his glorified golden
statue, he calls thousands the bounty hunters available to the city. That and Bernardelli insurance agents Meryl
Stryfe and Milly Thompson to protect his assets. Meanwhile, Vash rides on a sand steamer to
the city. He breaks up a fight between
two rowdy bounty hunters and a female bounty hunter named Amelia. Amelia, like every other bounty hunter in
Macca City, is after the $$300,000,000 reward on Gasback’s head. Once the steamer lands, in typical Vash
fashion, he becomes infatuated with her and follows her everywhere. Amelia, however, brushes off his antics. Later on, Gasback attacks and robs a factory owned
by one of the other henchmen involved in the betrayal. When word of this gets out the following
morning, the bounty hunters begin to leave believing the attack on Macca City
was a hoax. However, Gasback makes an
explosive entrance and catches the drunken bounty hunters off guard. After a series of failed captures by the
numerous bounty hunters, Gasback makes it to where Cain is hiding. He is stopped by Vash. Soon, a duel ensues between Vash and Nicholas
D. Wolfwood-Gasback’s hired body guard after saving his life-, allowing Gasback
to slip through to find Cain. Vash and
later Amelia follow him in attempts to stop him. When they find Gasback, conflict ensues
between the two, allowing him and Cain to escape. As Cain tries to make his escape, Gasback
tells him that he has no intention of killing him, but plans to take everything
of value to him. Cain believes he plans
to steal the statue. But after a series
of explosions causing the city’s plant to roll downhill, Cain realizes that
Gasback is after the Plant used to power the town. After securing the Plant in one of the trucks
stolen from the destroyed factory, Gasback makes his escape. Angry at Vash for letting him escape, Amelia
pursues Gasback, with Vash and Wolfwood not too far behind. However, as Amelia tries to take Gasback
down, Vash is shot and falls in a quicksand bed during the fight. She and Wolfwood return to a darkened Macca
City to tell Meryle and Milly the news. The
next morning, Amelia and Wolfwood team up to go after Gasback.
The two track down and attack
Gasback’s caravan, but are soon outmaneuvered.
Then, out of nowhere, Vash appears and explains how he survived. According to him, a piece of tough meat
caught the bullet and Milly and Meryl managed to find him when they were
leaving Macca City. Gasback then challenges
Vash to a duel. Gasback loses after he
is shot in the arm and leg. However,
refusing to go down without a fight, he activate his mechanic arm which
releases a burst of electricity. Amelia
counters this attack using a mysterious mechanical glove given to her by her
mother. Gasback immediately recognizes
the glove, claiming he gave it to his wife, Amelia’s mother. Amelia reveals that she was born not long
after Gasback had left her mother to continue being a robber. And although he left his wife and unborn
daughter with enough money to sustain themselves, robbers attacked them and
took everything, with no support from the neighbors who feared the two. This fear even caused local doctors to
neglect Amelia’s dying mother, which later led to her death. Although Amelia had planned to kill Gasback
in the beginning, she decides to spare him, feeling that Vash had influenced
her to show him mercy. As the credits
roll, Gasback, his henchmen, and the three henchmen involved in the robbery twenty
years ago-including a disheveled Cain-are arrested. Amelia follows the police caravan as both
Vash and Wolfwood discuss how not saving Gasback twenty years ago would have
not led Amelia to be born. In the movie’s
final moments, a newspaper flies into Vash’s face with the news that a pair of
robbers have escaped from prison.
Wolfwood then begins to question Vash on whether or not he was involved.
Watching this movie again made me
remember just how fun a show Trigun was. However, for a show like that, I would have
expected a neater job in the movie.
Still, I give Trigun: Badlands
Rumble a four out of five star rating.
As quoted from a review from a critic, this movie definitely has everything
a Trigun fan would love. I kid you not, this film reminded me why Vash
is one of my favorite anime characters of all time. The movie is energetic and action packed with
fights and explosions happening almost everywhere. The plot for the movie was also fun and
refreshing for the series and pays great homage to the show that came before
it. In some ways, the movie reminds me
of another series-based movie that was equally tribute-paying worthy. Cowboy
Bebop: the Movie was another successful film that added another great story
to the Cowboy Bebop franchise. While this aspect of Badlands Rumble is not necessarily a perk to the film, it is
something well noted. And let’s not
forget the fantastic job done by Johnny Yong Bosch who reprised his role as
Vash for the film, something that I especially enjoyed seeing.
Despite what a thrill ride this
movie is, there was one concern of mine.
While the film has a lot of action scenes going on, its dialogue is
almost too much at times. I felt that
some of the dialogue in the film was too long and made the film’s plot drag
just a little. Oh, and back to the thing about Cowboy Bebop: the Movie. While that film received some pretty great
feedback, it can’t hold a candle to the original Cowboy Bebop series. And
guess what? The same thing can be said
of Trigun: Badlands Rumble; it can’t
hold a candle to the original. Still, it’s
one fun adventure that you can’t miss, especially if you’re a fan of Trigun!
This film was one rip-roaring good
time that reminded me what fun the orginal series was! Plus, I remembered how much I love Vash! If you’re interested in watching the movie,
you can buy it on DVD and Blu-ray wherever anime is sold. You can also watch it online at Hulu or on
YouTube. And with that, that wraps up
this week’s review. Be sure to stay
tuned this Friday for my first Hanime on Autism post as well as another overdue
review next Sunday!
-Hanime
on Anime
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