mobile suit gundam movie review

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Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway Reviews

“Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway” is a great introduction to the three-movies arc, and one of the best mecha anime movies we have seen during the last few years.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5 | Jan 3, 2023

Hathaway features stunning animation, with gorgeous visuals that bring Earth to a far, far away future, a great use of CG that is never distracting, and the thrilling sounds of Hiroyuki Sawano to make the action and emotions hit ten times harder.

Full Review | Apr 1, 2022

Hathaway may be one of the best Gundam movies ever made. It's intelligent without being meandering in ideals and thrilling without being bombastic or incoherent.

Full Review | Aug 28, 2021

Hathaway is a solid Gundam entry, but it's smack in the FFO (For Fans Only) range.

Full Review | Jul 28, 2021

This isn't a stand-alone sequel, one in which the viewer can truly enjoy if they're not immersed in the long-term story arc of these characters, arcs that go way beyond this movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 14, 2021

It's a thrilling, well-performed science fiction film with a welcome variety of excellently crafted and strikingly animated action scenes.

Full Review | Jul 6, 2021

Hathaway is a genuinely interesting protagonist operating in some very questionable grey areas, though the big climactic fight between the two Gundams was a bit of a let down.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 5, 2021

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Parents' guide to, mobile suit gundam: hathaway.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 1 Review
• Kids Say 1 Review

Common Sense Media Review

Graphic violence, peril, sex in hard-to-follow sequel.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Mobile Suit Gundam : Hathaway is a 2021 sci-fi anime in which a rebel fighting the Earth Federation is sidetracked by a mysterious woman and a tenacious rival officer. Expect some graphic violence, including a terrorist hijacking of a spaceship resulting in killings…

Why Age 13+?

Hostage situation on a hijacked spaceship, resulting in passengers getting shot

Talk of lead female character spending the night and sleeping with the lead char

Some profanity, including "a--holes," "bastards," "damn," "hell."

Based on manga series.

Wine and cocktail drinking.

Any Positive Content?

No real positive messages in dystopian sci-fi anime.

Characters resort to questionable means to achieve what they want. Lead female c

Parents need to know that Mobile Suit Gundam : Hathaway is a 2021 sci-fi anime in which a rebel fighting the Earth Federation is sidetracked by a mysterious woman and a tenacious rival officer. Expect some graphic violence, including a terrorist hijacking of a spaceship resulting in killings by machine gun, with blood and expressions of trauma from other passengers. Attacks from a giant flying "mobile suit" result in bombings and fire in a large city, causing explosions and general panic. Sci-fi battle violence between the giant mobile suits while in space. During a police interrogation, an officer smashes a suspect's head into the table. Some sexual content, including a scene in which the lead character walks into the living room to find the woman he's staying with in a bra before dropping the bra and barely covering her breasts with her hands. Talk of sleeping together and spending the night. Some drinking. Occasional profanity including "a--holes," "bastards," "damn," and "hell." The movie is a sequel, and may be confusing for those unfamiliar with the previous movie or the novels on which these characters are based.

To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Violence & Scariness

Hostage situation on a hijacked spaceship, resulting in passengers getting shot and killed at close range with machine guns -- blood, screaming. Sci-fi battle violence, as characters in giant mobile suits do battle, and attack cities, leading to civilians fleeing for their lives. During an interrogation, an officer smashes the head of a suspect into a table.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Talk of lead female character spending the night and sleeping with the lead character, as she has him stay in her hotel suite, even though he has his own suite next door. Lead character walks into main room of suite, and lead female character has just removed her bra, and she barely covers her breasts with her hands. Two lead male characters talk of their desire (or lack of) for lead female character.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

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Drinking, drugs & smoking.

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Positive Messages

Positive role models.

Characters resort to questionable means to achieve what they want. Lead female character, while shown to be intelligent and perceptive, seems to exist primarily to be a love interest between the two rival lead characters.

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (1)
• Kids say (1)

Based on 1 parent review

A modern day anime masterpiece

What's the story.

In MOBILE SUIT GUNDHAM: HATHAWAY, it's twelve years since Char's Rebellion, and the Earth Federation has become increasingly oppressive while the planet faces environmental catastrophe. Mobile Suits do the Federation's bidding and work to exile unworthy civilians while the Federation leaders live in opulence. Leading the resistance to the Earth Federation is "Mafty," an organization that carries out terrorist attacks in the interests of fighting back against the Federation's corruption and saving the Earth from humanity. Mafty is led by the mysterious "Mafty Navue Erin," who believes that humans should leave Earth to colonize space for the Earth to heal. While hiding in plain sight during a hijacking of a spaceship filled with high-ranking government officials, Mafty Navue Erin is discovered to be Hathaway Noa, sussed out by the pretty Gigi Andalucia ( Reina Ueda ). While Gigi tries to pursue Hathaway, Gigi is pursued by the suave police officer Kenneth Sleg, who is trying to capture the elusive Mafty Navue Erin. But Kenneth is hot on the trail of Mafty/Hathaway, and when Kenneth pursues Hathaway and discovers the rebel base, a battle between Federation forces and Mafty forces fighting in giant mobile suits ensues.

Is It Any Good?

This is an anime sequel that's best enjoyed by fans of the universe depicted therein. Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway is an anime based on a series as well as a trilogy of novels. While superfans will have much to enjoy about this story, so much depends on context, and for those unfamiliar, much of the story is difficult to follow. It can be downright confusing at times, and all the conversations and reflections of the characters don't really help matters. Part of the problem is that while there's some complexity and depth to the lead characters, it's difficult to feel any sense of sympathy for them based solely on what's happening in this movie. The bad guys are either decadent and corrupt government officials or their loyal stooges, and the slightly-better guys employ terrorist actions to try and quicken humanity's exile from Earth for the planet to heal from humankind's devastation of the environment.

While the animation is of a high quality, and a sense of what's at stake for these characters does emerge despite all the confusing side stories and references to past events, what lingers is a feeling of being left out. This isn't a stand-alone sequel, one in which the viewer can truly enjoy if they're not immersed in the long-term story arc of these characters, arcs that go way beyond this movie. It gets frustrating for those not versed in the Life and Times of Hathaway Noa. However, for those who do know this world and these characters, there should be much to enjoy, despite the occasional slow pace between action sequences. For everybody else, the lack of context is alienating.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about anime like Mobile Suit Gundam : Hathaway . How does this compare to other anime you've seen?

What did you think about the violence? Was it necessary? Why or why not?

Did the sexual content seem necessary? Why do you think it was included? In general, how were women portrayed?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : July 1, 2021
• Cast : Kensho Ono , Reina Ueda , Jun'ichi Suwabe
• Director : Shuko Marese
• Inclusion Information : Asian actors, Female actors
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Adventures
• Run time : 95 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : February 17, 2023

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Home » Movies » Movie Reviews

Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway review – big-robot action on a human scale

This review of Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway is spoiler-free.

Based on a series of novels nearly three decades old, which were themselves sequels to the climactic Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack from 1988, which was itself the ostensible culmination of the densely convoluted and longstanding Gundam franchise, Shûkô Murase’s Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway , now streaming on Netflix, is not what you’d call accessible. Which isn’t as much of a problem as you might think. Anyone who is checking out a Gundam film at this point, on a streaming platform or anywhere else, will likely have at least a cursory knowledge of the lore and worldbuilding that informs the first part of this planned trilogy. Anyone who stumbles in unawares will likely find themselves too lost and confused to continue and won’t be looking up a review anyway.

Set 12-or-so years after Char’s Counterattack , this latest film finds the Federation having become a complacent entity allowing poor people to shipped off to the colonies and the wealthy elites to buy up property and resources on Earth. That massive wealth disparity has incensed the populace and led to the emergence of a terrorist organization known as Mafty, whose primary MO is assassinating high-ranking, supposedly corrupt Federation officials.

This all feels oddly topical given the age of the source material. The titular Hathaway Noa, son of Bright Noa , is introduced while thwarting one of Mafty’s attacks on a flight from space to Hong Kong and being gussied up by the Federation in thanks. But Hathaway is dealing with a complicated past and a more complex relationship with Mafty than it first appears, so he’s drawn into an escalating conflict between the organization and the Federation, who’re determined to find its leader, Mafty Erin.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway keeps a surprisingly human scale in its approach. In its early going, the overlooked civilian population are all but trampled by the activated mobile suits, and it’s from that ground-level-looking-up perspective that a lot of this action takes place. It’s a smart idea, that, and works towards getting across how utterly gargantuan and deadly these machines are supposed to be. Of course, this being a Gundam story, there is a battle between towering mobile suits, this time the experimental prototype Penelope and Mafty’s Xi Gundam, but it comes late enough that it really feels earned.

Naturally, visual and sound design are both top-notch. The action has obvious weight and kineticism, and nothing seems to have been lost after several delays. Nothing looks or sounds dated, and even the plot retains a nice topicality, despite the first part adhering closely to the source material. Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway will be a treat for fans, no doubt, and it’s highly likely that fans will be the only people watching it.

Article by Jonathon Wilson

Jonathon is one of the co-founders of Ready Steady Cut and has been an instrumental part of the team since its inception in 2017. Jonathon has remained involved in all aspects of the site’s operation, mainly dedicated to its content output, remaining one of its primary Entertainment writers while also functioning as our dedicated Commissioning Editor, publishing over 6,500 articles.

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway

Hathaway Noa, still haunted by his past actions, joins a terrorist organization called Mufti and adopts the alias "Mufti Nabiyy Erin". Mufti is fighting a terrorist campaign against the Eart... Read all Hathaway Noa, still haunted by his past actions, joins a terrorist organization called Mufti and adopts the alias "Mufti Nabiyy Erin". Mufti is fighting a terrorist campaign against the Earth Federation government. Hathaway Noa, still haunted by his past actions, joins a terrorist organization called Mufti and adopts the alias "Mufti Nabiyy Erin". Mufti is fighting a terrorist campaign against the Earth Federation government.

• Hidekazu Hara
• Shûkô Murase
• Yoshiyuki Tomino
• Yasuyuki Muto
• Hajime Yatate
• Jun'ichi Suwabe
• 30 User reviews
• 6 Critic reviews
• 1 nomination

Top cast 43

• Hathaway Noa

• Gigi Andalucia

• Kenneth Sleg

• Gawman Nobile

• Emerelda Zubin
• Raymond Cain

• Mihessia Hence
• Kenji Mitsuda
• Civet Anhern
• Fencer Mayne
• Hendrix Hiyo
• Maximilian Nikolai
• Mace Flower
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Netflix's Anime Series and Movies, Ranked

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Did you know

• Trivia The film takes place 12 years after Char's Counterattack
• Connections Featured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Geeked Week for Freaks (2021)
• Soundtracks Senkô (Flash) (main theme song) Performed by Alexandros Lyrics & Music by Yôhei Kawakami Arranged by Alexandros & Takashi Saze Courtesy of Universal J / RX-Records

User reviews 30

I am an anime purest and i loved it.

• Jul 30, 2022
• How long is Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway? Powered by Alexa
• July 1, 2021 (United States)
• Official Netflix
• Official site (Japan)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway
• Tokyo, Japan (Studio)
• Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Bandai Spirits
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $18,731,309
• Runtime 1 hour 35 minutes
• Dolby Atmos
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Surround 7.1

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