Space Pirate Captain Harlock | 2.5/5

SINGAPORE — Based on a manga series of the same name, Space Pirate Captain Harlock is a vast production that took five years to complete. The result is a brilliantly animated feature film with only one problem: Its plot got lost in all the action and it ended up in a tangled web of meaningless dialogue and a conclusion that dragged.

The ambitious storyline is set in the year 2977. Mankind has achieved space exploration and conquered new planets, prompting the powerful Gaia Coalition to declare the Earth — now devoid of people — an uninhabited Sanctuary. We follow undercover officer Logan — sent by his brother, Fleet Leader Ezra — as he infiltrates the rebel ship The Arcadia, helmed by Captain Harlock. Logan is eager to prove himself trustworthy of the mission as an attempt to settle his debt to his older brother, whom he had rendered crippled after an accident.

However, the story’s message morphs from the theme of redemption into one with a quasi-environmental/spiritual tone. Where at first the story is about Logan’s internal struggle to accomplish his assignment, it shifts to something that parallels the dying Earth and Harlock’s soul. Add to that a love triangle involving the two brothers, Captain Harlock’s questionable leadership, and the race to turn back the Genesis Clock and it all becomes a confusing mixture of twisted moral obligations and space lingo which culminates in the final showdown between Gaia and The Arcadia in a long, drawn out battle.

The movie could have been salvaged if they had cut away the many layers of fat. Even with the impressively realistic CG effects, such as the epic galactic fight scenes and the sprawling capital city of the Gaia Coalition, the script did not draw enough from the hugely popular source material to produce something with both substance and style.

(PG13, 110 mins)