Hey, remember that announcement between Bandai and Lionsgate films?
I was getting lost in my thoughts and I contemplated what I think a great Gundam film would look like from both the perspective of a Gundam fan and also from the perspective of a person who couldn't care less about what Gundam is.
Ultimately, it's the person who doesn't know what Gundam is that will ultimately pay for this movie, not us.
How can we get them into this amazing universe?
Here's what I think, which will affect like, nothing.
1) Let us know we are in imminent danger
Those people down there on Earth are about to get it I guess, because red is bad
The person watching needs to know that something major will happen - and that the universe the movie is drawing an image of is in impending danger as we speak.
So you better pay attention, otherwise you'll not know why everything being blown up here in a second and that's nobody's fault but your own, mom!
Good examples of this might be Operation Meteor from Gundam Wing. The first episode spends a just short spell showing that there is trouble brewing in paradise - and that maybe a -SURPRISE MF- is in the forecast for today. Just maybe.
2) Get to the choppa
We could have Amuro Ray sneaking into the base to find out once and for all if his dad really works for Best Buy or not, only to discover the base he's sneaking into is under attack.
Then perhaps a soldier (who could be a Daguza Mackle like recurring character) might recognize Amuro as Tem Ray's son and decide rush Amuro to the safest place in the facility so he doesn't get shot up, which is of course where Tem Ray and the Gundam are.
Perhaps when Amuro gets there, we see his father still working frantically to finish the Gundam, ignoring Amuro even while the base is clearly under attack.
I don't work for Best Buy. I'm building the ultimate WAR MACHINE!
We could set up the backstory of tension between Amuro and his father right here. We could even add in Unicorn flavor and have it revealed that Amuro's mother didn't want Amuro to end up in the Gundam and that's why she's not there, adding to the daddy issues, perhaps a resentment for the Gundam itself.
Then, perhaps the enemies are getting closer, or some explosion happens and perhaps his father decides to link Amuro's biometrics to the Gundam, which could give Amuro something to be both confused and angry about while simultaneously locking in his fate as the main character, for instance.
Speaking of...
3) Do anything special, or Newtype related during the first battle
OK, so some people have the force or spider-sense I guess? Interesting.. OK!
It doesn't have to be a big deal or a full blown Newtype shroom-trip, just a hint, a moment.
A pinch of salt to let us know that if we keep watching, there's something growing within our main character that might be bigger than the show itself.
In this way, the main character could show a profound flash of having some 'power' under the surface for just a moment and then leave it to the viewer so they can quickly perceive that this show is actually about Skywalker, or Rey, or destiny itself, not these robots, not these lightsabers.
We could see Amuro struggle to bring out the full capabilities of the Gundam as a novice, while Char recognizes the pilot to be a novice and is simply testing what the Federation has made before he blows it up (or takes it for himself).
And then Amuro could perhaps go into this 'slow motion psychic mode' for just a few seconds and have a visually intense battle scene like in Ready Player One that really pushes Char back, before the colony pops open and sucks Char out, for instance.
OR, perhaps the same situation but instead of the above, the Gundam's onboard learning activates and saves Amuro revealing that it's learning ability makes it sentient and self aware, while Amuro in turn hates the Gundam, setting up the narrative for Amuro to accept the Gundam and fight with it while it tries to defend Amuro and understand humanity, for instance.
Unicorn, Extraordinary Gundam and even Wing Zero Custom have shown some form sentience, so I don't wanna hear it, GN fans!
We need to get some glimpse of the show's future potential, even if we don't explore it right now.
3) Gundam pilots are whiners
Gundam characters need to whine to build character. OK, stop watching the gif now.
Stop watching the gif.
Piloting a Gundam is intense responsibility. More often than not the pilot was not meant to be there. Additionally, the pilot is rarely even in the military at all. And they kinda y'know, always have to save everyone. Oh, and probably somebody died right before they got the keys.
No pressure, right?
At some point in the movie, we need to see the pilot really struggle with this reality.
It doesn't need to be for a long time, maybe a slap doesn't need to happen (I don't mean that) but we do need to see our main character get built up to be torn down, so that he may grow into his role like Simba.
4) Never half-ass, always use your full ass for everything
Do this. Push the limit, LIONSGATE!
Whether you liked Pacific Rim or not, you have to give Lionsgate credit for one thing: Pacific Rim looked good. Great!!
They had an grotesque, obnoxious ad-campaign that I still remember: WARRRRRR READYYYYYY, anyone? That's what I thought. And uh......sorry for that memory.
Also, you just lost the game.
While Gundam doesn't need to be "War Ready," it needs to have a memorable ad-campaign, soundtrack as well as bonkers visuals.
It needs amazing things to look at if you still can't care about Zeon's ideology.
If you can't keep my attention, give me dopamine.
It also needs to follow the trend of kinda-halfway-taking-this-seriously by having an amazing soundtrack, from well known and familiar US artists that cost real money.
GEARS of WAR 5: Evanescence
KINGDOM HEARTS III: Skrillex, Hikaru Utada
Final Fantasy XV: Florence + The Machine
And finally, you can't have an epic without....
5) THIS. IS. SPARTAAAAAAAAAA!
Yay, go team!! ALL OUT HOT BLOODED ACTION WORTH TELLING OUR FRIENDS ABOUT!
There needs to be at least one memorable scene full of all out, hell-yeah awesome energy, where we get to see some awesome cuts right when everyone gets their *BEEP* together.
Simba returns to Pride Rock and it's on.
Maverick returns to the sky to fly again after Goose's death and it's on.
The Avengers begin to beat back Thanos and it's on.
Power Rangers get a new Megazord and it's on.
Well, there you go.
That's what my thoughts are about how they should like, not mess this up. What do you think the new Gundam movie should have, do or avoid?
Drop it in the comments wherever in GN. It's still fun to dream.
Maybe they'll see it?
GN Gene
