I only recently saw the Gundam 00 movie, A wakening of the Trailblazer, and I gotta be honest: I wasn't all that impressed. Not too many people were satisfied with it either, so I'm not alone. I think the main issue was that it involved aliens, which is a first for the Gundam series. These aliens were just soulless parasites and we really don't get any explanation for their existence. But besides that, the new Gundam designs were really, really bad. I thought the second season designs were a total downgrade, but these new designs are even worse. None of them appealed to me at all. The Qan't was slightly interesting, but still too plain. The ending was especially unsatisfying. The Qan't, which seemed to have some pretty incredible power, barely got any screen time. Then, the ending comes out of nowhere and it ends. No real explanation is given for what happens.
Still, one thing shined during the movie, and that was the Brave mobile suit. Graham Aker and his Over Flag was a true underdog and badass during the first season of Gundam 00, and the flag has come back to bring that same charm to the movie. The Brave is a successor to the flag unit, and totally kicks ass. As soon as it came out, the Soul Braves elite team saved Celestial Being's ass, showing off some incredible mobility, teamwork, and powerful weaponry. It was so entertaining watching them zip around and kicking alien ass, and they never really degrade to cannon fodder like the other GNX mobile suits. The Braves were the one thing that had a lasting impression on me.
I might even go ahead and buy the HG 1/144 model; its been so long since I've bought a model kit anyway. I bought the Over Flag after watching Graham kick the Gundam Thrones' ass, and the Braves have done the same thing to me!
