[7.9/10] Samurai Jack has genre-hopped its way through so many familiar setups by this point, but giant mecha battle is not one of them! It’s cool to see the show try that one on for size. I mostly know that sort of thing through Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Pacific Rim, but I know it has a longer, prouder tradition in anime.
This one follows what’s become something of a standard Samurai Jack format. The first half of the episode is mysticism and setup, and the second half is, more or less, one big fight. As usual, both work in this one.
I particularly like the setup in the first half. Most of the robots we’ve seen on the series are baddies, so I like the idea of a group of sad, living-in-the-sewers robots who need Jack’s help. There’s something that feels very much like a fable about a group of people who built a giant machine to protect them, but found themselves cowering in fear when it turned on them. There’s also something epic and generational and mythic about the way Jack ventures into the ruins of an underwater giant graveyard and communes with one of the vessels there. (It just so happens to look like a robotic Samurai.)
I’ll admit that the second half didn’t work quite as well for me. It was still cool, but slower and a little more predictable than some of the show’s fight. Granted, slow can be good, especially as a change of pace. But a lot of the early part of the fight was just “Mondo Bot gradually throws everything it has at the Robo-Samurai, and the Robo-Samurai is unfazed.”
Business picks up a little once the Mondo Bot is out of missiles and laser blasts and whatnot. There’s something viscerally cool about giant creatures crossing swords, and Jack karate chopping the opposing mecha’s joints out of whack. The Mondo Bot’s last ditch effort to take out the Robo-Samurai, replete with creepy tendrils and a giant chest cannon blast, was particularly cool.
Overall, this one definitely worked as something different than Jack’s usual fights, and I appreciated it for that. The giants rumbling through a city vibe is cool, and the uniqueness of this skirmish for Samurai Jack’s usual M.O. helps make it work.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-03-28T00:07:22Z
[7.9/10] Samurai Jack has genre-hopped its way through so many familiar setups by this point, but giant mecha battle is not one of them! It’s cool to see the show try that one on for size. I mostly know that sort of thing through Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Pacific Rim, but I know it has a longer, prouder tradition in anime.
This one follows what’s become something of a standard Samurai Jack format. The first half of the episode is mysticism and setup, and the second half is, more or less, one big fight. As usual, both work in this one.
I particularly like the setup in the first half. Most of the robots we’ve seen on the series are baddies, so I like the idea of a group of sad, living-in-the-sewers robots who need Jack’s help. There’s something that feels very much like a fable about a group of people who built a giant machine to protect them, but found themselves cowering in fear when it turned on them. There’s also something epic and generational and mythic about the way Jack ventures into the ruins of an underwater giant graveyard and communes with one of the vessels there. (It just so happens to look like a robotic Samurai.)
I’ll admit that the second half didn’t work quite as well for me. It was still cool, but slower and a little more predictable than some of the show’s fight. Granted, slow can be good, especially as a change of pace. But a lot of the early part of the fight was just “Mondo Bot gradually throws everything it has at the Robo-Samurai, and the Robo-Samurai is unfazed.”
Business picks up a little once the Mondo Bot is out of missiles and laser blasts and whatnot. There’s something viscerally cool about giant creatures crossing swords, and Jack karate chopping the opposing mecha’s joints out of whack. The Mondo Bot’s last ditch effort to take out the Robo-Samurai, replete with creepy tendrils and a giant chest cannon blast, was particularly cool.
Overall, this one definitely worked as something different than Jack’s usual fights, and I appreciated it for that. The giants rumbling through a city vibe is cool, and the uniqueness of this skirmish for Samurai Jack’s usual M.O. helps make it work.