Every year, scores of CGI-animated films debut in theaters. While 2D animation still dominates on television, box office powerhouses like Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks rely almost exclusively on 3D. Ironically, most early CGI in animation was in 2D films and cartoons, dating back to 1983. That year, Golgo 13: The Professional, based on Takao Saito’s manga series, premiered in Japan. This anime film from director Osamu Dezaki contains the first CGI sequences in animation, particularly a scene where helicopters approach a skyscraper.
Since the vast majority of the film is 2D, the 3D sequence feels incongruous, and the dated CG doesn’t help. But the 2D animation looks decent, especially the coloring. In one motorcycle scene, the light reflects off of the biker like a rainbow, and it’s gorgeous. The jazzy soundtrack helps, too. Golgo 13 is an aesthetically pleasing movie. It is also generic, boring, and far less sexy than it seems to think.
The problems begin with the main character. Golgo 13 (real name Duke) is a notorious hitman for hire. Most people wouldn’t dare to touch him. But after he assassinates Robert Dawson, son of rich oil baron Leonard Dawson and would-be heir to his business, Leonard vows revenge. He hires the CIA to find Golgo 13 and kill him, and Leonard is willing to stoop increasingly low in his quest for vengeance.
Duke is a pallid protagonist, the least animated person in this animated film. He’s like John Wick with no backstory, personality, or emotion — even during sex. Only rare moments suggest that he has a conscience and a heart. Frankly, the movie would have been far better if told from Leonard’s perspective as his situation is easier to relate to. The film’s ridiculous ending wouldn’t change, but focusing on the Dawsons could open the film to deeper themes and creative ideas.
But Golgo 13 clearly cares more about showing violence and sex than telling a compelling story. Windows shatter, vehicles and buildings explode, bullets fly — basic action movie fare. Though not gory, it contains many bloody injuries and deaths: beatings, stabbings, headshots, even suicides. Without engaging characters and a strong narrative, it’s all low-impact and unexciting.
Basically all the adult women in the film have nude scenes or sex scenes. While not particularly graphic, it borders on pornography: bare breasts, buttocks, silhouettes, and moaning sounds. They happen frequently, yet serve almost no narrative purpose. In one sex scene with Duke and a girl, a man in the same room gives him his next assignment. Later, Duke copulates with a woman who knows he is there to kill her. Why? Who knows. And in one scene, a man rips a woman’s clothes off and rapes her. He’s a villain, yes, but presenting the rape like every other sex scene is tasteless and unnecessary.
Golgo 13: The Professional is a film straight 14-year-old boys might enjoy, but for everyone else, it’s a historical curiosity at best. For a movie full of bare breasts, it sure is a boner.
