Armitage III -- Poly-Matrix

A promotional poster for the movie edition of ARMITAGE III.

by Orin Starchaser

For all those who have lamented about the problems with English dubbing of anime, Pioneer has taken a step in the right direction. With the release of ARMITAGE III -- POLY-MATRIX, we get to see real, accredited actors playing the parts of Armitage and Ross Syllabus. To this add backround music from Pretty Hate Machine and you have a film that sets new benchmarks in dubbing quality. It does have its problems, but overall it's a film worth seeing at least once.
Released in Japan 25 June, 1996, POLY-MATRIX is a movie version of the original Armitage OVA's, much like the MACROSS PLUS movie. Because of this, there has been considerable chopping and cutting, which gives the story line a rough quality. For all intents and purposes, the main theme is intact, but there are times when key elements to the story appear at the last possible minute. While not leaving any plot gaps, this leaves the viewers wondering the hows and whys way too long. There is a mystery to this, but there are times when adding a few minutes for the sake of presenting those clues just wasn't done.
Still, the performances of Elizabeth Berkley and Keifer Sutherland (Armitage and Ross, respectively) were excellent in comparison to other actors of previous dubs. Ms. Berkley (formerly of SHOWGIRLS) played Armitage rather well, although some of the lines she had to do were a little ragged at times. In comparison, Keifer Sutherland (do we really need previous credits for this guy?) did about as well, although this reviewer feels that his performance was a touch emotionless and could have been better. Despite those problems (which will still take a bit to iron out), I think American fans overall will enjoy the performance.
Next on the list is the animation. Not having the chance to see the OVA as of yet, I really can't compare the two. Still, in comparison to recent animated movies (including GHOST IN THE SHELL and MACROSS PLUS), this one kept good quality right up until the end. There was one scene that bothered me a bit in the final fight, with images overlapping, but that's more of an artistic quibble.
The soundtrack fit the tone of the movie as a whole and the action of the movie like a glove. While I can't say that it would work well on a CD, it was made specifically for the movie, whereby the wild synthesizer sounds and the seemingly random direction at times (sort of like the GUNNM sound collages in the GUNNM Image Album) made for a very good presentation. When it gets in contact with high-quality stereo sound, you won't be dissapointed.
Finally, in looking at all the positives and negatives, I give a moderately cautious nod to this one. English dubs still have a boatload of problems both on- and off-script, but I think that Pioneer and AIC have gone a solid step in the right direction. Now, if we could only get other companies to follow and improve upon Pioneer's lead...