Hailing from the Texan Rooster Teeth studio gen: LOCK is the latest Western animation that imitates the Japanese anime style. Like RWBY before it, the show has a distinctive CGI look, boosted by a fabulous voice cast; David Tenant (Doctor Who), Michael B Jordan (Black Panther), Masie Williams (Game of Thrones) Dakota Fanning (Twilight) and Asia Kate Dillon (Billions, my favourite show by the way). It's a stellar voice cast, ably aided by veteran anime VA's like Monica Rial (everything) and Lindsay Jones (RWBY). Safe to say the voice cast are set to deliver.
The pilot is free to air on the Rooster Teeth website, and as ever I'll be looking at this initial episode to discuss whether it sells itself for further viewing.
Set in "the future", the series kicks off with ace-pilot Julian Chase (Jordan) introducing his girlfriend Miranda Worth (Fanning) to his family via a sort of virtual presence. Essentially the two are holograms and are in fact back at the base containing their Vanguard squadron.
These domestic scenes have a floating quality as the movement of the characters seems ever-so-slightly off, as is the way of most CGI animation of this type. However once I adjusted to the uncanny valley, it became less of an issue going forward. This is helped by the distraction of a sudden invasion of New York by a faceless army using biotech weapons to subdue the population and take out the local forces. Enter Vanguard, with Chase flying into battle while Worth drops down in a walker-mech reminiscent of many an anime.
The influences are writ large on the screen - the walking battle platform that demolishes the Statue of Liberty could have been lifted directly from Appleseed, while the VTOL jets have a very Macross vibe in terms of their quick, darting movements. The whiplash must be a killer!
All of this is simply background however, and the real star of this show is whip-fast direction and electrifying battle scenes. This is clearly the series' strong suit, and it makes sense that the show would open with an extended invasion sequence. The decision to split the action between ground engagements and aerial support is a smart one, allowing for two distinctly paced battle situations which the show flips between with energy and verve. It's nothing particularly original, especially Chase's apparent suicide run that saves the day, but there's a reason this kind of storyline is a trope, and it works perfectly well here.
Honestly it reminded me a lot of Macross Frontier's opening episode, but that's no bad thing considering the quality of that show.
Skip to 4 years later, and Worth is still fighting with Vanguard against the Union forces. Unfortunately, nothing is ever really revealed about The Union, and while the surprise battle against New York allowed them to be faceless, I had thought that this time-skip might also lead into some more information about exactly who the enemy is. It could be that the writers are saving the details for later episodes and running with a slow burn, but there's not a lot of context for the struggle and if that isn't resolved at some point, the whole thing could start to fall flat. The show needs an engaging villain, and there's no sign of one.
Anyway, back to the story - during a routine refugee pickup, the team are attacked in force, and are saved once again by an unfamiliar mech with a familiar voice - it's only ace-pilot Julian Chase, back from the dead! Somebody smoke this man a kipper!
There's a hint that Chase may not be entirely the man he once was at the end of the first episode, and I expect that Doctor Rufus Weller (Tenant) will have a lively explanation in the next episode.
So on one hand, we have some excellent action set-pieces, a genuinely terrifying threat (there's a lot of death even if it lacks blood) and a star-studded cast, which gives the show a lot of gloss. What it really needs to round-out the package is an equally gripping storyline, and we don't have it yet. That's not to say it isn't coming, and there's certainly some strong elements to build on. The show knows how to pick its peers, and if it's smart enough to recognise the masters of the genre, then it should be smart enough to understand why those stories worked - depth.
I can't unequivocally recommend the show as anything more than eye-candy with a strong cast at this stage. I want this to develop, and I'm even starting to like the computer-game cut-scene style of the thing (as a one off) but it needs more. The dangling thread of Chase's situation at the end of this pilot is a strong hook, and I'll probably return to it, but I'm not sure I'm willing to breach the paywall at this stage to find out more.
However, there's already fan-art doing the rounds, and at this early stage that's an encouraging sign that the fans are giving it some love.
Have an oggle at the trailer:
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