Psycho-Pass the Movie Review

Psycho-Pass the Movie has a lot to live up to as, and you’ll likely agree if you’ve seen it, the first season of Psycho-Pass is undeniably phenomenal. The sequel isn’t nearly as good but the film got much of the original team and Production I.G. back on animating duties, so how does it fare?
 
The movie falls in-between – it feels nearly as pointless as the second season does in the way that it doesn’t really further our knowledge on the things we already know, but it makes for a better watch. If you’re expecting any form of development on the current state of the Sybil System then set your expectations low because, since the end of season 1, I’ve been wanting a true continuation of that story and have yet to get it. What we do get is the return of Kogami, my favourite character in the series, some top-tier animation and a fresh take on the series which sees the characters fighting in a war away from crowded cities in an attempt to free Japan from the clutches of the Sibyl System – yes, Kogami has been keeping himself busy!
 
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A fresh take on the series.

I can’t say I was enamoured with it and felt that it was slow-paced and didn’t tell a story that needed telling, but I think that this will go down well with hardcore fans in a way that the second season failed to, and it’s worth watching if you’re itching for more of the runaway hit. Psycho-Pass has an easily recognisable art style which was lost a little in the second season, although it was well replicated, but it might be at its best in the movie. More variety in locales, bigger, more explosive firefights and fluid, detailed animation make for an engaging watch in a way that the plot itself doesn’t provide. The lighting in particular is fantastic, and the use of CGI blends in very well with the 2D art.
 
Psycho-Pass has one of the strongest English voice-over casts around and I loved being able to hear Robert McCollum reprise his role as Kogami again! Other than that the English talent reprise their roles and there are a few new voices too including Jason Liebrecht as Nicholas Wong and Major Attaway as Desmond Rutaganda, and it really is one of the best dubs around – you can watch it in Japanese too, if you’d prefer! There aren’t any memorable tracks like ‘Monster’ here and the soundtrack works as a great accompaniment to what’s happening on-screen, but there isn’t anything here that really stuck with me.
 
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Psycho-Pass has one of the strongest English voice-over casts.

Psycho-Pass the Movie is fan-service that brings Kogami back into a leading role, but other than that there isn’t a lot to see here. The new characters aren’t engaging, the pacing is rather sluggish and it struggles to keep my attention. Big fans of the series will likely enjoy this more than I do but, as someone who feels the first season is absolutely brilliant, I’ve struggled to find anything in the series that has come after it to do anything new or tell a story that neatly fits into the on-going story. I’m bored of hearing about the Sybil System at this point – the writers need to decide what to do with it because they’re going about in circles for an entire season and a film now, and all it’s doing is hurting the series. I can’t fault Anime Limited’s handling of this release, but I can’t say I’m a fan of Psycho-Pass the Movie.

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