Cheap Armitage - Dual Matrix (DVD) (Katsuhito Akiyama) Price

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Customer Reviews of Armitage - Dual Matrix

Poly Matrix:
Our first movie to this double feature takes place on Mars. A detective from Earth named Ross Sylabus comes to Mars to help out with the police force and gets his first assignment the moment he gets off the plane. He also meets his partner, a sexy punk-girl named Armitage. The story centers around the war between human and robot rights for specific robots called seconds or thirds. However, Ross and Armitage have no idea what they're getting into.

The movie is pretty good considering it was condensed from 4 OAV episodes and made into a movie for an American release. Elizabeth Berkley (Showgirls) and Kiefer Sutherland (24 TV series) do a good job, but they sound more depressed and robotic, for better or worse. Extras include two text interviews and a trailer. Overall, the animation is great, the action solid, the music smooth and the story is stellar. Recommended.

Dual Matrix:
Years after Armitage and Ross get married, they have a child and name her Yoko. But all is still not right in the universe. A new law is being past for robot laws, but an edgy scientist doesn't want to risk anything on this law so he kidnaps Ross's daughter. And with two Thirds under his belt, he won't be taken lightly.

The animation, when compared to the last movie, is incredible. Most of the CG reminds me of Sol Bianica. In fact, the shuttle at the end of the movie looks almost exactly like the ship from Sol Bianica. The new voice actor for Armitage (Juliette Lewis) does a good job and maintains Armitage's attitude. However, Ross sounds a bit too upbeat in this film. Another thing worth noting is that the actor of Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars does the voice of Mouse. He tends to go into Jar Jar mode a few times, but he speaks way less babble than he did in Star Wars.

The music has been also been beefed up as well. There is some real nice guitar for the action scenes which I beleive does more justice to the film. The extras include a behind the scenes look at the making of Dual Matrix, three clean songs, trailer, production designs and Pioneer previews.

Overall, I enjoyed Dual Matrix. It's an action movie with soul. And if thats what you like, by all means, buy this now.

Not as good...but growing on me.
The first time I saw this DVD sequel to one of the best animes of the '90's on the shelves, I was skeptical. When I saw that Juliette Lewis was doing the voice for super-sexy robot ...Naomi Armitage, my feelings were mixed, knowing her to be a competent actress with a sexier voice than Elizabeth Berkeley (and certainly sexier on screen). When I finally watched it...I was disappointed. And yet...I watched it again, and I liked it a little more, despite the flaws.

As a sequel, it's pretty standard. It acknowledges the events of the first movie (except of course for the funny plot hole of why nobody on Mars recognizes Ross or Armitage when they figured to be such prominent characters in a government conspiracy in the original). The sequel expands (not answers, but expands) on certain questions from the first, like how does a robot have the ability to conceive human children? The action is pretty good, almost as good as the original, and it wrap things up nicely in the end.

The major flaws with this sequel are inherent in the animation. It's just not nearly as good. The animators went a little overboard with the use of CGI for some of the vehicular chase scenes (which were pretty cool, but obviously out of place with the rest of the animation). The panning is far less smooth than in the original, probably another result of CGI...it just doesn't look the same. The character design is updated slightly to give a sense that the characters have matured slightly. The backgrounds and setting aren't all that great either, but...it is mostly on Earth, not Mars. Maybe they just didn't want to go too far with it. There's also a problem in the plot, which is almost a direct rehash of the original, only instead of the government being behind it, it's the big robot-producing corporations that have a lot to lose if robots are allowed to be treated as human. Politics come into play a little more this time around, but that hardly helps the case the plot is pretty much the same. Also, the cliched plot devices of taking the child hostage and of a mother protecting her child is played out in perfect form here. Armitage could take out an entire army to protect her child...and she pretty much does (well...two ultra violent clones of herself, which is pretty much the equivalent of an army...and those clones laugh way too much, you just wanna bash their heads in).

The pros of this movie are that in spite of these little details, it's still a far better sequel than most Hollywood sequels attempt to be. As I said, the action is really good. The extended fight between Armitage and Ross and her two clones is pretty good, especially considering that the clones are more than just programmed soldiers...they seem to have a sadistic side, laughing almost every time they think they're about to kill someone...which was annoying, but it does helping you to hate them. The additional characters like the daughter Yoko and Mouse the Repairman are pretty enjoyable too. Yoko plays out like a typical kid in anime movies, but she's far less annoying than you'd expect. The little twist near the end when we see what makes her more than just an ordinary human is well integrated, especially after the villian made a big deal about not finding anything special about her. Mouse is just funny. The music by Julian Mack is different...still electronic-based, but more orchestral elements are introduced, and the presence of a female voice in the theme is rather interesting.

All-in-all, the sequel did what it sought out to do, and while it's certainly not as good as the original, it does at least hold a candle. I hated it at first, but the more I watch it, the more I enjoy it, and the more I feel it's actually a pretty good sequel. This is just my opinion, so feel free to disagree, but I think "Armitage: Dual-Matrix" is pretty good.

Not Bad, but not as good as the original.
Let's face it, the story, animation and character development was better in the first Armitage film. BUT, this film is a decent sequel. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being anything related to Pokepuke, I give this film a 6.5.