by David Lobato, Reporter

A Mass Effect movie??? Oh yeah, I’m all over that like a fat ki- well, me on cake! OK, so it doesn’t have the Hollywood budget of the billions of dollars it deserves, but the team at Funimation did a damn good job of this anime.

Here’s the overall nitty gritty of the storyline. Taking place between the second and third installments of the game series, this film provides the back-story of Lieutenant Vega, Brute the Krogan and Treeya the Asari. Being a theme that is perhaps the greatest aspect of the Mass Effect game series, the film primarily revolves around the choices a character makes and the repercussions of those decisions. Mass Effect: Paragon Lost follows the exploits of Leutenant Vega (voiced by Freddie Prince Jr – I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scooby-Doo), with great emphasis on the various decisions he makes, and how those choices reverberate through time and ultimately affect the future of his squad and the civilians his team is sent to protect. Taking place after the conclusion of Mass Effect II,  the film also deals with Shepherd’s supposed demise, although toward the end of the movie there are allusions to his survival.

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost opens with the deployment of Vega and his marines on Fehl Prime to defend a suite of colonists from certain eradication by the Krogan mercenaries known as Death Squad. Vega proves himself in this battle by putting his life on the line and facing the Krogan leader, known as Brute, in open battle. Vega spares Brute’s life and wins the day. The Alliance leaders determine that after Vega’s actions in the field his squad has proven that they are a more than capable force, and order for them to remain on Fehl Prime as a security detail.

Two years later, the colony is under attack by a Collector ship, with all of the colonists being paralyzed by the Swarm and only Vega and his team remaining. Vega prematurely fires a massive defense canon that the colonists had spent the past two years building prior to the invasion, but the shot is unsuccessful due to being insufficiently charged and merely bounces off of the ship’s defenses.

Drawn to their presence by the failed attack, the Collectors pursue the marines into an underground research facility where Brute is still being held. In a dramatic escape, Vega releases Brute, who repays him by offering him access to a hidden escape shuttle to show appreciation for Vega previously sparing his life. Smashing their way onto the Collector’s vessel, Vega and his squad desperately search for the colonists in the hopes of rescuing them.

An unfortunate turn of events results in one of Vega’s squad being captured by the Collectors, and it is here that we learn that the Collectors are in fact an ancient race of the Protheans, and are using the civilians they have captured to create the Reapers by liquifying their bodies and building the Reapers out of their DNA. Without spoiling too much of the ending, Vega ends up being faced with the impossible choice of having to choose between one of his own squad who hold invaluable intel that could change the shape of their war, or to save the civilians whom he has spent the last two years living alongside. He cannot do both…. so you can be assured that his ultimate decision is going to be highly impactful, to say the least.

The script is of high quality, and comes off as very natural. I didn’t feel like it was forced at any point, as the dialogue felt quite clean and organic. I could not help but question Vega’s motivations for his choice. Was it a tactical decision or one that was emotionally driven? Either way, this ambiguity was obviously intentional and resulted in a film that I actively engaged with and questioned, as opposed to just being strapped in and taken along for a ride.

Overall the art design was of an excellent standard, with high levels of detail where it is needed and less where it isn’t as necessary. The battle scenes have just enough flash effecrts and not too much blood for it to get over the top. One gripe I do have is that the animation itself seemed a little inconsistent. At times it looked very smooth and fluid and came together superbly, while at other times it was a little jittery and felt slightly disjointed. However as a whole it was well presented and a very visually pleasing movie to watch.

With regards to the DVD itself, I felt that the title menu left a little to be desired. I was expecting a sweet animated menu, but alas, all we get is a still image much the same as the cover art.
The extra features, on the other hand, contain some really interesting snippets of the production involved in Mass Effect 3, taking a look into what’s involved with the animation, character design, audio design and gameplay design. There is also a short tour inside the Electronic Arts studios, which looks like one of the greatest places to work ever!

This probably goes without saying, but fans of the Mass Effect game series must watch this film. It is a fantastic edition to the franchise and perfectly expands upon the Mass Effect universe.

ComicsOnline strongly recommends purchasing your copy of Mass Effect: Paragon Lost directly from the Madman Entertainment website by following this link.

Rating:

ComicsOnline gives Mass Effect: Paragon Lost  4 out of 5 juiced civilians.

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