Golgo 13:
Queen Bee
After 15 years, one of the stars of anime from the 1980's returns! He hasn't been in an anime since 1983, but a new sequel to the classic The Professional has brought Golgo 13 back out into the spotlight.
The Professional was one of the animes that started the violence in anime trend, for better and for worse. Anime before the 1980's was still mostly charactirized by Speed Racer and Astro Boy,(which was still a step above some American cartoons as far as level of action). Then along came Golgo 13 and his buddies Vampire Hunter D(1985) and the Fist of the North Star(1986) who helped bring about the anime trend towards extreme violence we know today. Not that the trend is bad. It did help to show that animation could be for more then just kids, but there has been an over abundence of super violent animes since then.
That anime was also known for being one of the first animes to use computer animation in it,(even though it was poor quality compared to what we have today).
And now we have a sequel after all these years. A lot of things are the same. Queen Bee is directed by the same director (Osamu Dezuki). Golgo 13 is still the worlds most deadly assasin. Perhaps his most amazing accomplishment is that he hasn't aged since 1983! Ah, the wonders of animation...
Picture a cross between James Bond and The Jackal(from the movie of the same name), and you get an idea of Golgo 13. He is definently not as honorable as Bond, but he is still a step above evil assasins like the Jackel. He doesn't fight for the cause of good, like Vampire Hunter D or The Fist of the North Star. He doesn't kill for sport, but does for money. He walks the line in that shadowy gray area, where there is no right or wrong. The one redeeming quality is that the people he kills are worse then he is.
And he always finishes a job.
Which brings us to the sequel, Queen Bee. In it, a member of a South American liberation army is out to assasinate a U.S. Presidential canidate, and Golgo 13 is hired by the Vice Presidential canidate to kill Queen Bee.
It turns out that Queen Bee is the long lost daughter of Robert Hardy,the Presidential Canidate, and someone he was not married to. When he started to run for Senator, he needed to get rid of the daughter and the woman whom he had the affair with, and so the Vice Presidential Canidate,(Thomas Waltham) kills the mother and puts the daughter out on the streets. Now, years later, she returns to kill her father.
What is interesting about this film is that everyone in it is being manipulated by one person or another, except for Golgo 13. He takes the job to assasinate Queen Bee but time and again he puts off killing her, to let the drama unfold. Waltham is manipulating the drug addicted Hardy for his own ends. The Drug Lord is manipulating Queen Bee,(while she in turn manipulates him). And Waltham's partner, the General, is manipulating the poor psychotic soilder, who is hired as a backup plan to kill Queen Bee should Golgo 13 fail. But Golgo 13 refuses to be manipulated.
And finally, you should make sure to watch the credits too this film. I won't give anything away here, but it is during the credits that all the final pieces of the film fall into place, which helps make the film all the more enjoyable.
The film does have a few flaws though. The constant stop animation and blurring was a nice artistic affect, but one that distracted from the film. Also, the plot bounced back and forth at to rapid a pace, making it hard to keep up at times. And finally, the person who voiced Golgo 13 gave him too much of a deep, monotone voice. It can be argued that that is the personality of Golgo 13, a strong, silent type. But I much prefered the voice of Golgo 13 in The Professional.
*** stars
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