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Psycho-Pass: Providence (2023)
As someone who's been a fan of Psycho-Pass for several years, I was eager to give Providence a watch. It doesn't disappoint, fitting right in with the first two seasons and the first film. Naoyoshi Shiotani certainly hasn't lost his touch after being part of the franchise for over a decade. The story, told via a screenplay penned by Makoto Fukami and Tow Ubukata, is a compelling one, providing plenty of action while the thought-provoking questions Psycho-Pass poses about the human condition, the nature of law and crime, and how ethical a system like the Sibyl System really is—this question an especially timely one that plays into ethical concerns about the use of AI—aren't lost here. As I sat in the dark theater and watched the film with my parents (interestingly, the only other members of the audience), faced with several morally ambiguous characters, I couldn't help recalling what Arkady Renko, portrayed by the late great William Hurt in Gorky Park, calls "the gulf between what is said and what is done." I guess it's fitting since like the Soviet Union seen in Michael Apted's film, the future Japan of Psycho-Pass is a nation where the government isn't all that trustworthy and the official version of events is often merely a façade to cover up that government's misdeeds. As a result, nothing can be taken at face value and, like Renko, the protagonists of Psycho-Pass have to question that government at every other turn out of necessity and as another result, doing what's right oftentimes isn't taken kindly to by the powers that be, lest people discover the brood of vipers they really are. The villains of the piece, a guerrilla movement calling themselves the Peacebreakers, are just as bad as the KGB and the Sibyl System, even going so far as using the word of God to justify their crimes against humanity. Overall, it's about as Psycho-Pass as they come, and apparently, the film's story also provides some context for season three, which should be interesting to see when that season finally gets a dub. The animation is stunning, in true Psycho-Pass fashion, with the action and violence as vivid as ever, though interestingly, despite the film's R rating, and despite having arguably the deadliest villains in the history of the franchise, it has less gore (only one of the franchise's infamous explosions where a baddie's body swells before popping like a balloon in a geyser of blood and guts after being fired on with a Dominator) than previous incarnations of the franchise, with several violent deaths actually occurring off-screen and only showing the aftermath. With that being said, Psycho-Pass has always taken an approach similar to Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira and John Carpenter's The Thing, where the gore is story-appropriate rather than gore for the sake of gore, thus the lack of focus on gore doesn't detract from the film. Aside from that, characters, objects and backgrounds are well-rendered, enhancing the overall quality of the animation and, yes, the realism of the aforementioned violence. Yugo Kanno returns to musical scoring duties with excellent results as Ling Tosite Sigure and Egoist return to perform theme songs for the film, Alexithymia Spare and The One Concerned (Tōjisha), respectively. Crunchyroll's English dub, directed by the legendary Caitlin Glass, is also excellent, bringing back the major players from previous dubs of the franchise. Kate Oxley is once again excellent as Inspector Akane Tsunemori, who questions the Sibyl System at every turn as Japan's politicians question the need for laws even after Sibyl allowed Shogo Makishima to commit one murder after another. Robert McCollum is equally impressive as ex-Enforcer Shinya Kogami, who took Makishima out into a field and capped him in the head and is now a special investigator for the Suppressing Action Department (SAD) of Foreign Affairs. Josh Grelle also does solid work as Nobuchika Ginoza, a one-armed Enforcer with some animosity toward Kogami. Cherami Leigh is rock-solid as Mika Shimotsuki, a firecracker of an Inspector who has the guts to try to run Foreign Affairs off from a crime scene. Erin Kelly Noble is also more than adequate as SAD Agent Frederica Hanashiro. Bruce DuBose is also excellent as Atsushi Shindo, a calculating politician who knows more about what's happening than he lets on. John Gremillion is appropriately menacing as Tsugumasa Tonami, the Peacebreakers' deranged leader who quotes the Bible to justify the guerilla group's crimes against humanity and is deadly enough to give Makishima a run for his money. All the rest, including Lindsay Seidel as Enforcer Yayoi Kunizuka, Lydia Mackay as Analyst Shion Karanomaori, Z. Charles Bolton as Enforcer Sho Hinakawa, Mike McFarland as Enforcer Teppei Sugo, and Dallas Reid as Arata Shindo, are also up to par and the dub script is completely natural, though interestingly, the dub contains a lot less swearing than previous installments—which, like the reduced gore, doesn't diminish one's enjoyment of the film. Overall, Providence is an exciting and thought-provoking film and a great addition to the franchise, and no fan of Psycho-Pass should skip it. As for this fan, definitely buying it on Blu-ray and/or UHD down the road.