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Set during the final days of the original series and continuing the storyline, this film unfortunately just felt a lot like an overlong episode of the show to me.

I haven’t followed any of the subsequent sequels to the original Robotech television shows in many years, but since this was a sequel to those original storylines, I was hoping to be able to step back into the fandom fold with little or no refreshers needed. This was only partially successful, as there’s a lot of history glossed over in The Shadow Chronicles, referencing past events and drawing connections to current ones, but I still felt a little lost here and there, as if I’d walked into the middle of a television show towards the season finale.

In the year 2044, Earth has been abandoned to an occupying force, the alien Invid warriors, and humanity has turned to another seemingly benevolent race for help, happily accepting their ‘Shadow Technology’ in an effort to reclaim their homeworld.  Marcus (Yuri Lowenthal) and his buddy Alex (Arthur Santiago) recon Earth for signs of human life as well as Invid activity in preparation for an all out attack from the Robotech Expeditionary Force, which is operating out of Moon Base Aluce (an acronym of some kind, not a typo, I assure you). 

A much needed Protoculture Matrix (a fuel source) is lost with the SDF-3, helmed by Admiral Rick Hunter, (one of the main characters of the first series of cartoons, seen here much older), and Vince Grant (Richard Epcar) and his ship the Icarus are dispatched to rescue the missing ship and return the Protoculture Matrix to Earth for the attack.

Running out of time to launch their attack once the Icarus finds itself under fire when it locates the SDF-3, the Earth attack is launched anyway, and the Invid forces abandon Earth when the recognize the technology of their old enemies in the hands of the humans, but they exhaust all Protoculture supplies in their retreat.  With a sympathetic Invid woman named Ariel (Kari Wahlgren) and her human lover Scott Bernard (Gregory Snegoff) trying to warn them of the dangers of their alliance to the Haydonites and their Shadow Technology, can humanity find a way to ward off the new alien threat?

Directors Dong-Wook Lee and Tommy Yune have created a nice jumping off point for new fans, in that the film gives enough history to make the casual viewer curious about what has gone before, but there’s enough stand alone material here to welcome someone unfamiliar, they may just be left a little confused from time to time.  The animation is good, though the mix of cel animation and CGI for the mecha looks a bit clunky, I just didn’t care for how the two looked together, it didn’t mesh very well for me.

The Blu-Ray DVD of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is loaded with extras, including a commentary track featuring director Tommy Yune, writer Ford Riley, and composer Scott Glasgow, a 44 minute Birth Of A Sequel featurette, deleted scenes and outtakes, previews produced for the aborted Robotech 3000 sequel, a music video using pieces of the film’s score and a handful of other short trailers and marketing materials created for the film.

All in all, I think this is worth a look to any Anime fans, but might be a tad too self-referential for the casual fan, unless of course they are looking for a jumping on point for the series, in which case this would be a good a place as any to check out the Robotech universe.

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