Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? If you like the “Initial D” franchise.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 65 minutes (~1 hour)
“New Initial D The Movie: Legend 2 – Racer” is an animated movie based on the “Initial D” franchise. It is the second movie out of three movies in this remake. It chronicles the rise of tofu delivery boy Takumi Fujiwara as a race car driver on Japan’s curved, narrow roads. It features the voice talents of Hiroaki Hirata (Bunta Fujiwara), Hiroshi Tsuchida (Kōichirō Iketani), Maaya Uchida (Natsuki Mogi), Mamoru Miyano (Takumi Fujiwara), Minoru Shiraishi (Itsuki Takeuchi), and Yūichi Nakamura (Keisuke Takahashi).
Yay! It’s a new Initial D movie, and of course everyone’s going to attempt to drift again. The movie starts off with a disclaimer about safe driving, and not to try out any of the stunts in the film. In any case, it’s fun to see Takumi and gang on the roads again. Or rather, it’s fun to see the AE86 drifting past newer, sleeker cars as it proves that speed and power can’t beat a true racer’s prowess. Underdogs FTW!
Highlights
Sleek 3D animation of cars
Improvements to cel-shaded 3D animation have borne fruit in the latest incarnation of the “Initial D” franchise. Here, the cars look gorgeous and realistic, while still maintaining the same stylisation and design of the anime itself, thanks to the quality of animation. While the AE86 looks the same, which is to say, a hatchback style Toyota Sprinter Trueno, it’s the other cars which look pretty sweet rendered in 3D. Makes you want to head out and get a car to race (assuming you have the budget to splash on a car on a whim in Singapore, that is).
Bunta and Yuichi’s rapport
The two old men are fast friends, and entertainingly so. It’s fun to see how Yuichi later manipulates Takumi the same way he claims he used to trick Bunta into races, and it’s evidence of how close the two men are as friends. It’s this level of comfort and camaraderie that leads us to greater respect for the racers in the film. Also, it’s because their interaction is fun to watch, which helps with the exposition in the film.
Interesting expository technique
Face it – exposition is boring. To the layman, it’s not always clear why Takumi can win a race that a regular guy can’t. That’s where Bunta and Yuichi’s scenes come in. The races are intercut with exposition from the two old men, as they reveal what they’ve done behind the scenes to win, and Bunta’s assessment of Takumi’s abilities as a racecar driver. It also provides character development as we see the different approaches they take to racing. But ultimately, it serves its function by explaining the mechanics of racing in an interesting fashion.
Letdowns
Takumi is expressionless
While this is a function of character, since Takumi isn’t outwardly expressive, the problem is that all the other characters in the film are larger than life. This makes Takumi seem expressionless, rather than introverted. Perhaps a little more life to Takumi’s expressions would have helped, or toning down the other character’s emotions?
An anti-climatic second race
The second race is… anti-climatic, to say the least. The problem is that the first race was full of excitement and tension, and set the bar high for the races in the film. If the races had been flipped around, it would have resulted int a stronger narrative, since the first race is much more engaging by far. It’s not like you have any doubt that Taumi would win the last race of the film.
Abrupt ending
Although this is the second movie in a trilogy, the fact is that the ending comes out of nowhere. There’s no slowing down of the action, no signposting to indicate that the conclusion is coming, no indication that Takumi has completed a significant milestone. While it whets your appetite for the next film, as a standalone movie it doesn’t work too well.
“New Initial D The Movie: Legend 2 – Racer” is fun retelling through the “Initial D” universe, with the cars stealing the show with the awesome animation. Also, it makes old men look cool.
“New Initial D The Movie: Legend 2 – Racer” opens in cinemas 27 August, 2015 (Thursday).
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