Anime Review: Trigun Badlands Rumble

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Another day, another movie is finished. As I mentioned last post, I used two $5 certificates that I received recently to purchase two movies. Today, I will be reviewing the last of the two, which is called Trigun Badlands Rumble.

Vash the Stampede is a wanted man with a price for his head in the billions’ range. In his time, he has stopped many conflicts, but it still does not put the rumors to rest of everyone he met dying in a certain incident. Even though trouble follows him, he has an oath not to use his gun to kill and to keep the peace. Now, he just travels around, desiring to keep that oath.

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In this movie, Vash comes across a bank robbery in progress where three men betray Gasback, their leader throughout many different heists. Gasback wants to kill the traitorous men and the men want to kill him, but Vash prevent both parties from carrying out that desire. Twenty years later, Gasback goes on a rampage to kill off the last remaining traitor, who is also hiding his two cohorts. Like the last time, Vash finds himself in the middle of more trouble.

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Honestly, I am not huge fan of gunfights, but I did enjoy this title. The reason is because guns are not really stealth-type weapons. It is next to impossible to dodge a bullet, but the victim can hear the hammer or whatever it is called and silencers do not really do much. Bladed weapons, such as knives, are much more stealth-type. However, back on topic, the fights were great and the comedy that fans of the Trigun series are familiar with is still there. For example, almost nobody, except for the people in the beginning of the movie, recognized him as Vash the Stampede. Of course, that was mainly due to the fact that his image was on the wanted poster. When I last watched Trigun, I do not remember his face being on wanted posters, otherwise the two insurance employees would not have questioned his identity. Of course, the reason almost nobody thinks that Vash is the Vash is mainly due to his build. That is what is funny about it. The other thing that I mentioned earlier that I enjoyed were the fights shown. When I watch Vash in action, I am made to see him as the Kenshin of marksmanship. Kenshin is a wandering swordsman, but when he is in a fight, he never misses his targets and seemingly dodges almost all of his opponent’s attacks. Vash is no different in a gunfight. The fights and comedy are really great.

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There is not really much to say that is bad about this movie. In fact, the only bad thing that I can come up with is that this is not entirely friendly for newcomers. Vash is introduced pretty well, as well as Gasback, who seems to only exist in the movie. However, people like the insurance workers and Wolfwood are just glanced over a bit, although the latter does participate in the final fight. They all seem to know Vash and that he truly is the man legend, but newcomers do not know much about them. Like I stated in the previous review, I had troubles giving the reader enough details to draw things in their mind, thus I was the only one that was able to understand what was going on. Likewise, as I already stated there, it is a matter of good storytelling. However, this movie was not intended for newcomers to the franchise to begin with. The lack of introduction to characters makes this a film for fans of the Trigun franchise, but does not really hurt the movie too much.

Even though this movie is not meant for newcomers, not that I am one, I still enjoyed it. I would certainly recommend this to fans of the Trigun franchise. I may also recommend this to those who enjoy good gunfights, but I strongly encourage those people to watch the television series or read the manga first, in order to be familiar with most of characters. For everyone else, I do not think this would be enjoyable, since many people in my country all think cartoons are for kids, not realizing the limits of the live-action medium.

What are your thoughts on Trigun Badlands Rumble? Do you agree or disagree with my views? Do you have anything to add? Feel free to comment.

Copyright © 2012 Bryce Campbell. All Rights Reserved.