Review of Psycho-Pass: The Movie

Sequels are a very efficient way to promote a series that the audience seems to have in a special part of their hearts. However, when one must undertake the role of creating a sequel, he has to reconsider what made the series popular, capitalize on that and try to bring more depth into the universe. Unfortunately, the vast majority seem to fall into the trap of Michaelbayanism. That is to take your first movie and create a sequel that lacks the shine of the original or is thematically weak and terrible in almost all categories except production most of the times. Nonetheless, there are somecases where the sequels are better than the originals ever wish to be. Such a case is Captain America: Winter Soldier which was superior to its typical, generic prequel. Another case is Terminator 2 which grabbed the charm of the original and multiplied the badassery and cool factor by 5 while having a pretty solid story to hold it from being like schlock action films such as the ones that followed it.

But to my disappointment, Psycho-Pass the Movie is closer to the former than the latter one.

The story and characters are just average. The setting is your typical futuristic dystopia but in another country in which a villain for selfish purposes tries to bypass the system and get recognition. Sounds familiar? Akane is the main protagonist again and thankfully she is closer to how she was during season 1 but more mature and far from the way she was portrayed in Season 2 which was a huge mess. But, still, Mika is the condescending ignorant fool that she was in Season 2 and she makes me want to shoot her face with a machine gun remorselessly. Thankfully, she only has 2 minutes of screen time, praise the Lord, Production IG did right. But to my dismay, the plot plays so typically and by the numbers that you feel this movie is overall not something to ponder a lot about. It does not also help that all the interesting theme exploration from season 1 is not quite there. Thus, the content of the movie can be nothing more than mediocre and that affected also the characters. And do not get me started with Kogami Shinya who does absolutely nothing in the movie than say quotes and boring talk and fights. If he was not in the movie nothing would have changed.

Production-wise, it is Production IG. Almost all the works they have done have great audiovisuals to accompany them (some exception on my list are the abunai sisters and eden of the east). EGOIST is one of my favorite groups in anime music and their music is eargasm to the core and they have Guilty Crown to prove how good their songs are, which were too good for the show itself.

Overall, this movie is like cheap ice-cream you will find in the fridges at your local supermarket. You know they are decent but they cannot beat the deliciousness and smoothness of fresh italian gelato. In terms of standing, it is less good than the original but far better than the mess the second season was which makes it a decent but otherwise forgettable watch.

Overall: 6.66/10 (I wish this score was not true).

Alternative Recommendations:
Ghost in the Shell (1995) for its great thematic information and its well-choreographed fight scenes.
Ghost in the Shell SAC which shows how re-adaptations or re-imaginations of original material should be done.