Patlabor TV series is one of my favourite animation of all time. And this applys to the 3 movies as well. However, out of all 3 movies, the 2nd movie is still the best in my opinion. *Contain spoiler, read it at your own risk ;)
Animation:
This movie is done in 1993, so the use of colours and computer graphics obviously cannot compete with current design. But nevertheless, the design is extremely well done. The overall grey/white pale filters added an extra dimension for the film and make the story more mysterious and rather cold and distanced. This I think suited all the main players in this film perfectly. For example Shinobu is a rather cold, methodological and competent captain, who because of an affair with a married man send her stuck in SV 2 with no promotion prospect. The use of the white filter just make it seems sadder and feel sorry for her situation, it makes all the characters alive, even though it is sad and grey.
The mecha design is very good. Although the Ingram is still the same, but this time they have spent so much time in detail, that it gives a refreshing feel to the design. Furthermore, it did uses many elements from the TV series and the 1st movie. For example, in the TV series, Noa and SV2 is constantly worrying about the introduction of the mass production labor, and the retirement of Ingram, although the TV series never get to scrap Ingram, but in movie 2, they did, and then introduced a very nice designed mass production patlabor that never saw action.
Sound:
The soundtracks of both patlabor 1 and 2 was composed by Kenji Kawai (the guy who also composed Ghost in the shell movie 1 & 2). I think the music in patlabor 2 is much deeper, unique and better than patlabor 1 (patlabor 1 music is actually really good as well, but pat 2 is just so perfect). The opening drum bit and that rather cold mechanical keyboard sound suited so well with the opening scene graphic (where Noa is testing out a new labor), it makes me feel that they are trying to make the robot seems like the 2 main characters, Goto and Shinobu, who are cold and intelligent, also, make the robot seems alive which leads to the rebirth of the 3 Ingrams. The other soundtrack musics are also very well done and as the story intensify, so is the use of music. This is especially true when the military are moving into the city, which the graphical element is very busy, dark and heavy, while the music tries to create a sense of false calms, and make the story seems even more illusional and twisted.
Story:
The storyline is extremely well done. It looks into the lives of the former members of the SV2. Instead of having them remain close to the same age, the story has jumped forward to a next milestone for all the young member, with Noa being a test pilot in Shinohara, Asuma seems to comes to terms with his father and working in his company and Ota being a patlabor instructor. However, they are not the main focus here, the story focused on how Goto deal with the defence spook and the "terror" case, as well as his relationship with Shinobu. The criminal was known at the very early stage, so this leave room for many character developments. The story involved many political issues which I think are still extremely relevant today. One of the most memorable scene was when Goto talking to the defence spook about our society, the degrading factories and polluted harbours at the backdrop make the speech more meaningful and make us understand where the director is going, and create a sense that who is really right, who is catching who as 1 man is trying to change the ways people see things by showing them what they have done in the past is wrong, and 1 man is trying to protect the past because there are many innocent people will be hurt, even though he know what they have done in the past is wrong.
Together with the relationship between Shinobu and the criminal mastermind, this has make the story even more bitter and delusional at the end.
Character:
Again, the characters are ver well developed. Goto's character especially. We have seen how sharp he was during movie 1 and the TV series, but we finallY seen why he got sent to this dump hill AT sv2 because his mind is back-stabbingly sharp. However, his care for Shinobu is shown through the movie, while at the same time, able to out smart his commander and ignore orders. Furthermore, we learned more about Shinobu that was not seen from the TV series, the Shinobu in movie 2, although seems distance at first, but was actually quite warm and not as harsh as she seems. There are also reintroduction of former members of the SV2, but I have already mentioned at the "STORY" section. The reintroduction on how all former members are coping with lives is actually very interesting and add an extra dimension to the characters as well, although I think you will only feel as refreshing as I do if you did watched the TV series and movie 1 though.
Value:
I strongly recommended anyone to buy this film, and if possible to locate, the movie promotion poster (the graphic works are brilliant). It have very high rewatch value, as thrill of the storyline and actions scene still reminds after watching many times, but please don't watch it with English Audio, I know it is a pain to read subtitle, but the english audio was badly done, and a lot of the back-stabbing, political details are missing.
Enjoyment:
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, the story is very involving and rather dark. But it has many reflections of the world that is intellectually challenging to answer and are still relevant today. Although there are few action scenes, but they are done in high quality and extremely detailed. Furthermore, the soundtrack is a treat that worth listening to and it makes your emotion twist and turn. There are rarely any animation that has achieve such a high level of perfection, and I am not a new kid on the block in terms of watching japanese animation either, so I am giving it a high score.