I think I was a little spoiled by Life is Short, Walk On Girl which took everything that the show did and amped it up to ten, rewarding (but not mandating) your understanding of the show's context and visual language. This was fun — the set pieces were delightful, especially for the time — but the core of the drama revolved around Char and Amuro who I have never seen before. That's on me, not on the film — but so much of the context felt prerequisite for the emotional arcs.

★★