The war of the Geasses.
What They Say:
He gave up his life to save the world and protect the ones he loved. The day Lelouch vi Brittannia fell was the day this war-torn world found peace. Now, as his friends work to keep the peace, a terrorist attack could risk everything. Can the brilliant tactician outwit death and save them all? Or will Lelouch’s legacy fall here?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The film begins after Lelouch has died and the United Federation of Nations is at peace. The world is happy, and all is good in the world. Suzaku is now Zero and Nunnally is an ambassador. However, not everyone is happy with this new found peace. Zilkhstan, a country whose biggest asset is its soldiers, is at risk since it no longer has an export available to the world. Princess Shamna and Prince Shalio kidnap Nunnally and Suzaku in order to use them for their and their country’s benefit.
Meanwhile, CC is constantly moving about, keeping a scared and empty Lelouch at her side. When CC runs into Kallen, Sayako and Dr. Lloyd, she reveals Lelouch to them. With their help, CC and Lelouch break into a prison searching for the Aramu Gate, which will lead CC and Lelouch to C’s World, where CC hopes she can restore Lelouch’s mind, since she was only able to restore his body before. They are successful and escape with a newly reunited Suzaku, who spares no punches at his reunion with Lelouch.
With Nunnally still in enemy hands, Lelouch dons his Zero gear once again and humbly asks for help from many that previously despised him. He gathers a force of old friends and foes and plans the perfect plan to save Nunnally. His plan is thwarted again and again, and his forces are failing at every turn. He realizes he is up against another Geass user, which is Princess Shamna, who dies and can go back 6 hours in time and continues to set up roadblock after roadblock for Lelouch’s company. He is frustrated that his great strategy is failing, but CC gives him encouragement to continue.
When Lelouch finally outwits Princess Shamna and rescues Nunally, he doesn’t kill her, but uses his own Geass to put her in eternal sleep. Both CC and Lelouch need to renter C’s World as Nunally’s conscious has been trapped there as Princess Shamna was using her as a vehicle to get C’s World for her own benefit. Princess Shamna is in C’s World, where she is now trapped, but when her little brother, Prince Shalio dies, she is overloaded with grief, and shards from Shamna rain down on the Earth.
Nunally wants nothing more than to remain with her big brother. Suzaku is willing to give the role back to Lelouch but he tells everyone, he isn’t meant to stay with everyone and gives it all up head out with CC, who feels her place has been lost. Hand in hand, they head out to collect the shards that have scattered.
In Summary:
I’ll be honest. I’m a huge fan of this series and I was more than a little happy to see Lelouch make a comeback, so I was chomping at the bit to do this review. I do want to preface that I did watch the film in the provided 720p, which was the highest quality available for the review. I do feel my experience would have been enhanced greatly if I was able to watch it in higher definition. So, do yourself a favor and buy the Blu-ray.
What’s good about this is film is that it nicely combines thirteen years of history from the Code Geass franchise and delivers everything good about it. Lelouch comes back to life and still is loved by all sorts of girls, continues his bromance with Suzaku and remains faithful in his adoration to his little sister, Nunnally, and willing to save her at any cost. It also brings back a now unified cast of characters from the original anime and demonstrates that Lelouch’s efforts to unite all sides for the sake of peace worked. It’s also always a pleasure to see Lelouch brilliantly strategize over and over to checkmate his enemy.
The film continues to stay true to the original Clamp artwork, but of course, the animation has improved over the years. The classic mechs from the series also make a comeback, which brought a grin to my face from ear to ear. The fight and action scenes were fast passed and multifaceted, making the story seem to move quickly despite the 112 minutes the movie clocked in at.
The only major complaint I really have is that too much happened in such a short period of time. It seemed slightly rushed to accommodate all the elements in the story, so the time for those to process Lelouch’s return was brushed over. I wanted to see the struggle people faced with the reality he was back. The end was a bit bittersweet for me as well. Though I do feel it was fine for him to disappear with CC, whether it was romantic or platonic, it also seemed abrupt to a point.
Bottom line is – go see this film! If you are a fan of any component of this series, it will be worth your time. It will probably be a lot more fun to see it in a theater filled with other fans, than just watching it in your living room like I did.
Grade: A-
Presented By: Funimation
