It's a good cheeseburger of a blockbuster, but if I had to rate from 1-10 the amount of Macross lore you need to fully understand it, it's a hard 9. Not only is it an epilogue of Macross Delta the series, it follows the CONTINUITY of the first movie that cut out things like THE war crime and the stereotype Middle Eastern character. But even if you're an American who's watched everything Hulu has to offer, you'd still be missing the Wrath of Khan aspect to the villain. The film feels like it added all of the things Kawamori missed out on in the 90sdoing Macross 7 that felt like a children's show from the 80s and Plus which was well ahead of its time. It features stuff like the sick Ghost Valkyrie designs that are like the Miami skyline got squished into a jet, Dark Walkure that feels like they're out of a Sailor Moon series, and the android that explodes its human skin to reveal it has a cannon for a head which seems right out of a tail-end bubble economy anime Manga Entertainment would license... without the copious amounts of blood, tits, and swearing.

All of this isn't fully baked and I'm disappointed the music producers didn't go hard into Dark Walkure instead of simply serviceable Daft Punk beats and pop punk lyrics. I'm thinking Jacqli's songs from Ar Tonelico 2 have the right feel of apocalyptic sound with electronic-tinged female vocals. Look up "EXEC_DESPEDIA/." if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Sexual vampire goddess Sheryl Nome would wipe the floor with this group.

Overall however, it's a fun movie that feels like Macross is back to setting the standard for spectacle instead of struggling to live in it, which has been one of Delta's big drawbacks. It's the most Macross of all of Delta, and if you want this story with melodrama written for the stars and gigantic, slick action sequences, this has it. The music features a bit too much repeating of what's in the series, but the big songs from the series are still pretty damn good.