Armitage - Dual Matrix (Special Edition)

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This sequel offers little of the Blade Runner-influenced vision of a despotic future that made the original OAV and previous feature so popular. After living peacefully under assumed names on Mars, Naomi Armitage and her husband Ross Sylibus are drawn into a standard anime plot involving a sinister corporation's efforts to create artificial humans. The curvaceous Naomi is actually a "Third," the most formidable type of cyborg. (She's even borne a child, which suggests just how sophisticated her circuitry is.) Naomi takes on the duplicates of her that the evil Demetrius Mardini has created, in a series of gunfights, fistfights, knife fights, and explosions. Despite the film's promising origins, clumsy storytelling and director Katsuhito Akiyama's tendency to stage many of the battles in dim dramatic lighting hurt its impact, as it's difficult to follow what's happening. Rated 16 Up: Graphic violence, violence against women, nudity, profanity. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews:

Could be better........2007-06-24

As with the OVAs, I feel that there is not a whole lot to this anime. I feel that is could have been much better with more antagonists to be delt with and the ones already there not so easily delt with. I still think that some people could enjoy it thus the three-star rating.

Not bad for a sequel.......2007-06-21

While not as gritty as the original series, Dual Matrix makes for a good follow up. The animation is crisp and very good. The story was great as well. What got me was some of the extended and drawn out sequences at the end with the evil robots. They just felt too long.

Naomi still knows how to dish it out!

Favorite Anime Ever.......2007-05-12

I am not a real big fan of Anime but my best friend one day showed it to me and i was amazed at how awesome it was. Great story line and stuff. my only true complaint is that they have a different voice actor for the main character in both movies

Not like the OVA series, but not bad either........2005-12-23

This doesn't deserve a 3.5 star average, it deserves at least four. Dual Matrix continues the Armitage story after the OVA series. Armitage is back in Chicago with Ross...but she has a child. An evil scientist wants to find out how Armitage can reproduce so he can build robots exactly like her. In the meantime, he builds two inferior copies that are designed to fight Armitage. The antagonist captures Armitage's daughter and holds her hostage in hopes to get Armitage to comply...guess NOT.

Like the OVA series, there's plenty of action and violence, but what sorta turned me off was the change in animation; it was animated by a computer instead, and you don't feel as emotinally charged for the characters. But other than that, its a solid anime flick, much better than the s*** that the "otakus" drool all over like InuYasha and FLCL. If you were a fan of the OVA series, I suggest you give this a spin in your DVD player.

Armitage rules!!

Not as good...but growing on me........2003-04-29

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.

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Could be better........2007-06-24

Not bad for a sequel.......2007-06-21

Favorite Anime Ever.......2007-05-12

Not like the OVA series, but not bad either........2005-12-23

Not as good...but growing on me........2003-04-29

Description

Naomi Armitage and Ross Sylibus have changed their names and live with their daughter Yoko as a normal happy family on Mars - until a robot riot breaks out at an anti-matter plant on Earth. Armitage learns that the riot is a plot to suppress evidence of illegal research and development of "Third Robots." Armitage decides to go to Earth alone to find out who is behind this plot, but what she discovers are the most powerful enemies she has yet encountered…replicas of herself! Featuring the voice of Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers, Cape Fear, Kalifornia) as Armitage in Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio for English and Japanese! The feature length sequel to Armitage III- Polymatrix!

Average customer rating:

Could be better.
Not bad for a sequel
Favorite Anime Ever
Not like the OVA series, but not bad either.
Not as good...but growing on me.

Armitage - Dual Matrix
Starring: Ryôka Yuzuki , Hikaru Hanada , Yuka Imai , Kazuhiro Yamaji , and Jôji Nakata
Director: Katsuhito Akiyama
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006674S
Release Date: 2002-06-25

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Could be better........2007-06-24

Not bad for a sequel.......2007-06-21

Favorite Anime Ever.......2007-05-12

Not like the OVA series, but not bad either........2005-12-23

Not as good...but growing on me........2003-04-29

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Could be better........2007-06-24

Not bad for a sequel.......2007-06-21

Favorite Anime Ever.......2007-05-12

Not like the OVA series, but not bad either........2005-12-23

Not as good...but growing on me........2003-04-29

DVD:

DVD

DVD