TRIGUN BADLANDS RUMBLE
January 10th 2012 21:51
Based on the Trigun & Trigun Maximum manga by Yasuhiro Nightow
Director: Satoshi Nishimura
Written by: Yasuhiro Nightow, Satoshi Nishimura & Yasuko Kobyashi
Producer: Shigeru Kitayama, Tsuneo Takechi, Yoshiyuki Fudetani & Yukiko Koike
Starring: Johnny Yong Bosch (Vash), Brad Hawkins (Nicholas D Wolfwood), Luci Christian (Meryl Strife), Trina Nishimura (Milly Thompson), Colleen Clinkenbeard (Amelia), John Swasey (Gasback), Kent Williams (Cain/Kepler), Newton Pittman (Mechio) & Sonny Strait (Dorino)
Produced by: TRIGUN Partners & Flying Dog
English Language Version by: FUNimation Entertainment
Running Time: 90 minutes Rating: M
Strangely enough my encounters with Vash the Stampede initially started out with this DVD, purely as a matter of chance rather than any real design or intent. I saw this DVD in the shop and decided to pick it up out of curiosity, it was only when I got it home that it clicked – there was a series before this movie and maybe it would be a good idea for me to get my hands on that before reviewing this work. Tracking down Trigun the series wasn’t too much of a problem so when I watched that then I watched Badlands Rumble I was able to get a better grasp of things.
Let me say that after having watched both the anime series and this movie my feeling is that the movie somehow has a little bit more oomph to it than the series. Not that I’m saying the series was bad, in fact I felt it was a well crafted work enjoyable on so many different levels. But for my money Badlands Rumble seems to have taken what was achieved in Trigun the series and just raised the bar, it’s built upon what has gone before in terms of back story and character development and used it as the foundation for this features drama and story, a story that is complete and leaves no real loose ends.
About the only original member of the cast from the anime series to appear in this film is Johnny Yong Bosch who once again reprises his role as Vash the Stampede, the Humanoid Typhoon. Character wise though all the old favourites are there; Nicholas D Wolfwood, Meryl Strife and Milly Thompson although in this film they are voiced by different actors from those who played the parts in the series. Sometimes this can be off-putting if you’re a fan of the original show, something I can understand having experienced something similar with the Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig but frankly here in this film I feel that the cast changes work quite well and still maintain the feel of the film.
It all starts off with a bank robbery that whilst initially immaculately executed by the most feared bank robber around; Gasback, goes horribly pear shaped. This last fact is due to treachery from Gasback’s three henchmen who are lead in the betrayal of their boss by Cain. Naturally as something of a perfectionist as well as a fearsome figure Gasback isn’t too happy about this sudden turn of events, he deems it to be a mockery of his robbery and is royally ticked off. Still at three against one with his left eye shot you’d think that Gasback doesn’t stand much of a chance to recoup things…until someone intervenes, someone who has an even far more fiercer and frightening reputation than Gasback; Vash the Stampede…
This particular little incident will have repercussions, granted Vash manages to prevent further bloodshed and the death of people but it doesn’t stop the betrayal and the fact that Gasback’s former henchmen manage to escape with all the loot leaving their ex boss to try and make his getaway before the authorities arrive. From this we flash forward to twenty years later on down the track, where Gasback is still alive and at large and the reward on his head has grown considerably. Three hundred million double dollars, pretty substantial but nowhere near the price on Vash’s head. No one knows what Gasback is up to…though Mr Kepler the mayor of Macca City has some idea. He is no other than Gasback’s former henchman Cain and he has caught onto the fact that his former boss is seeking out his disloyal underlings and taking them for all they’re worth.
Cain aka Mr Kepler is naturally worried, already one of the trio has had his livelihood shattered by Gasback and his new gang. And Cain has had a huge rotating bronze statue located in the heart of the city, a symbol of his ‘good’ deeds for the city. He believes that this particular item is what Gasback is after and he’s insured it for five billion double dollars with the Bernardelli Insurance Society, resulting in that esteemed organisation dispatching two of its most capable field agents; Meryl Strife and Milly Thompson. And if things couldn’t get any worse the arrival of the regular sand steamer into Macca City brings with it Vash the Stampede and the mysterious young woman Amelia, a solitary bounty hunter who like so many others is after the bounty on Gasback although there seems to be something else behind her desire to catch the villainous bank robber.
What makes this a really enjoyable flick is that the moral aspects of this whole story, the fact that one’s actions can have repercussions that even though not felt immediately can occur years later on down the track, like the ripples from a stone tossed into a pond, works well with the particular cast of characters. Gasback serves as the perfect protagonist, he’s a rouge, a scoundrel and not someone you’d want to piss off but he does have a redeemable side to him unlike say Knives Millions or Legato Bluesummers. He enhances the ideals of Vash in his own unique way and thus gives Vash’s character that little bit more impetus in his efforts and stance. So in the end what we have in Trigun Badlands Rumble is a fantastic, tight, taut storyline and enjoyable film well worth tracking down and watching.
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