BraveStorm (2017) [บรรยายไทยแปล]

This here was quite the fun and enjoyable effort. By combining two Tokusatsu shows from the 70s, the Kasuga family and biomechanical suits from the show ‘Silver Mask’ and the giant robots from ‘Super Robot Red Baron,’ this crossover creates an appealing and familiar setup for their adventures. The sight of the familiar machine, with an obviously updated sheen that makes it look realistic, signals quite a familiar story that prepares us for the main story. Armed with familiar stories of redemption, courage and family strife that is usually apparent in such Japanese fantasy fare, the movie offers some rather fun times to witness the two sides coming together.

It’s quite obvious this is part 1 of this journey, detailing the backstory of how the time-traveling family comes back to the present to prepare for the initial stages of the war to come. As this comes about through the very beginning with the aliens arriving at the boxing match to the struggle to get Ken onboard with their mission, the film one provides a lot of fine action, offering even more in the second half. With some laser gunfights, a smattering of kung-fu and swordplay dashed across the pace is kept nicely upbeat and uptempo for the main robot smackdown at the end, which is a nice full-on fight between the two machines in downtown Tokyo. While ending somewhat anticlimactically, remembering this is part 1 cancels out this feeling.

Seeing as how we’re dropped into this story from the beginning, it’s surprising that we’re able to keep everyone straight as we can. The main brother, Koji Kasuga, played by Shunsuke Daitô, is pretty much the prototypical courage-first hero found in these movies. His basic point in this one is to offer encouraging speeches and perform as many heroic actions as he can, which is a fine point if certainly somewhat cliched of a character. The other main male member, Kozo played by Soran Tamoto, doesn’t come off as well. Typically appearing as the electronics wiz that doesn’t really do much beyond that, you rarely see him without some form of technological device or machine that needs to be repaired. The lone female member on the journey, Haruka played by Chihiro Yamamoto has even less to do. The quiet, demure Asian woman who doesn’t have a lot of dialog or important moments, we really don’t get much about her at all. Her background in other Tokusatsu shows is obvious with the swordplay she exhibits but that’s all we get from her  The other two members of the family, Koichi and Hitomi, stay behind and might have more to do in Part 2 since they’re useless as they are.

It’s when we get to the two Kurenai brothers, which is where the film really gets the most out of it’s acting. Ken the younger brother, played by Shu Watanabe, comes off rather nicely. Initially appearing as the hard-nosed, stubborn street fighter who is quite irritating being so, he comes around eventually into being a likable figure. Being the main pilot of Red Baron, he has plenty of screen-time in the later half moving it around, but a solid subplot about being guilty for attacking the Black Baron adds a nice dimension to the fight and it resonates nicely. This is due to his older brother Kenichiro played by Hisashi Yoshizawa who is one of the best characters in the film. A father figure to the younger Ken, he is more of a protector who is doing research into robotics that comes in handy for the time-travelers that conflicts with his family duties. It’s a nice relationship and comes into play later in the film, during the final battle, as there are several emotional pieces included due to this setup.

Even with all these positives, it does have a few minor issues. The biggest is the film’s reliance on CGI that’s not all that well integrated into. It’s always patently obvious whenever it goes for the computer-generated images as it’s the robots and their battles at the end. Despite being in the tradition of the original Tokusatsu shows which were all based on practical effects, it’s disheartening to see the two giant machines battling it out through CGI, which, admittedly, is nicely animated by visual effects directors Hajime Koyasu and Takashi Kuwabara. However, it’s the principle of the matter and that’s where it falls here. Likewise, the other problem is the film’s real lack of reasoning with the aliens’ plan of invasion. It’s brought up numerous times about how they went about conquering the planet, but it’s a throwaway line at the end which puts it all together. This causes the whole point to feel like an afterthought, so it might get explained further in the next installment.

Despite having a few small issues in place, there’s some great stuff to be had with this one. It does feel a little like a part 1 at times with some unanswered questions that might be brought up in a future installment, yet this is a definite recommend to any fan of the original Tokusatsu shows or the giant mech movement at the moment.