What They Say:
It’s been three years since WIT Studio captivated the world with the dizzying tricks and ingenious scenarios that emerged from the “GREAT PRETENDER” series. Now, this all-new action-adventure film follows Dorothy, the self-proclaimed genius con artist who recruited the infamous Laurent Thierry to the life of crime. This time around, she has been defeated at her own game by the Shanghai Longu Bang and is thought to be dead, but she soon reemerges in a small seaside village. Pursued by the underworld of Taipei, she heads to Kyoto, but what will she find waiting for her there…?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers
The Great Pretender is a great and accessible anime to watch. It’s intriguing with the cast of con artists, stylistic animation, and character design, with an overall good soundtrack to boot. So of course people got excited when a particular character of note from the series was getting their own movie, in this case, Dorothy. There’s a lot to be excited about from this movie, if you are not really, aware of the franchise. However, it will be very contentious to fans who are wanting more exploration when watching GREAT PRETENDER razbliuto.
In Taipei, a grandma has a great opportunity to travel to Kyoto. She needs to pay the package in full and she can travel. At least until a woman named Dorothy, exposes the con. Little would Dorothy know that the con would set off a chain of events within the underworld of Taiwan involving power struggle of different factions and herself.
A lot of what makes Great Pretender great is also in razbliuto. Great comedy with heart are aplenty with the hijinks that come through each act. Of course, scams come into play in the movie, but also chase scenes and normal comedic moments in various serious moments weave themselves in the movie. The action of course is on point, with many exciting scenes that range from chases to small but effective fights within the room.
Interesting characters like Jay help move the plot point. Part of the underworld as the potential heir to the throne, Jay comes off as a womanizer only to be captivated by Dorothy. His quirks from his food choices lead to a hilarious moment within the movie. However, his larger motivations focus on the organization come into slight conflict because he also cares about Dorothy. This creates an endearing dynamic between him and Dorothy throughout the movie.
razbliuto at times teases a lot about the background about Dorothy and even the relationships around Dorothy. The problem is that as many times when you would hope that there’s a resolution it doesn’t come. Points of memory, triggering events, should give us more clues about Dorothy but it leads to what we already know. There may be one point in razbliuto where it doesn’t hold, but it just barely qualifies. For fans, they would hope that at least we get some more information rather than something that could be summed up within five minutes, and more importantly, the expectations may be to see the true side of Dorothy, and how the overall integration in the plot.
The Dorothy we get is a very different character aligned to the movie. Adopted by foster parents, she knows how to spot a con is able to keep up, and in fact, get more out of other con artists. Cunning and tactical, she’s able to work with Jay and his partner to find out what is causing the commotion within his underground organization and how he can put a stop to it. This works as the stakes get higher, she becomes more attentive to her surroundings and logical sequence of events, demonstrating her training as a former con artist. All of this will track well for a general audience, but at best is a treat for fans.
In Summary:
I never thought I would say this about a movie this early in the year, but GREAT PRETENDER razbliuto is more geared toward novices than the actual fans. The action witty dialogue interesting characters will all feel great for those who are new to the franchise. Fans who really hoped that they could learn more about Dorothy will end up disappointed. The lack of resolution up until the last point won’t do much at all for fans. If they like the other components of Great Pretender, which many of them are, they will enjoy it. This is a good watch overall but fans temper your expectations.
Grade: B
Released By: Crunchyroll
