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I don't know about this one. I *liked* it, but it sure as hell was not the best anime movie I've seen. FAR from it in fact...
For one, the dourness is typical in a Mamoru Oshii is there, but it sort of seems misplaced. Characters angsting out over cigarettes (I don't trust anyone who doesn't smoke! Give me a smoke. Got a smoke? Can I smoke? SMOKE-PLEASE?) was not only weird, but seemed just unnecessary.
A lot of the dialogue was just there to make an 'adult' mood about things instead of focusing more about the theme of the story it seemed.
And of course, the main plot.... oh where do I even begin.... it's like the entire reasoning for the pilots is like a deus ex machina. For one, we are magically supposed to assume that they're immortal due to medicines or something. Then we have two companies engaging in an OPEN HOSTILE WARFARE and the rest of the populace just sits around with this, all fine and dandy. And finally, they're in a Western European nation (let's just say.... The UK), and the pilots are all Japanese? HUH?
It had some moments of good moments, but this movie just felt overlong and the plotdevices are either pointless or just came out of the thin air. Oshii wasted too much time with idle and mindless chatter and unnecessary moments (10 minutes of BOWLING? come on..) took away from what could have been more respectable as a film. TWO HOURS for such little substance as far as the plot and even characterizations? It could've been 1 hour and do everything the main plot set out to do.
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