Wow! As far as movie sequels go, Armitage III: Dual Matrix is easily one of the best movie sequels I've ever seen. Make no mistake, it has some problems, but the overall experience was so much better than the Armitage III OVA that I couldn't help but be impressed with nearly everything in it. It's a rarity to even have a good sequel to a series, but to have the sequel excel where the original fell short is something that only appears once in a blue moon.

With the exception of the CG, all of the technical aspects of Dual Matrix are just superb. The art is beautiful, animations are fluid, and the sound is so vivid. I don't usually like techno music, but the music in Dual Matrix fit the mood of the story just perfectly. The sound effects were equally impressive because so much detail was put into the sound effects. A tip to anybody watching Dual Matrix: turn up your speakers!

The story in Dual Matrix, though rather unoriginal in some aspects, was a head and shoulders above the story of the series. Though it's still simple and linear, with nary a plot twist in sight after the first 20 minutes, it was still very enjoyable to watch. I was absorbed into it right from the beginning, and the excellent use of pacing only raised my enjoyment. Whenever it seems to drag on a bit, BAM! It speeds things up with a hefty dosage of action. And man, those were some action sequences!

For a movie, the action sequences were surprisingly long. Normally, I'd expect them to be over in a flash (Ninja Scroll) or scattered about and played infrequently (Ghost in the Shell), but neither is the case here. The scenes are shown to us frequently, and each one is just long enough to satisfy us and give us a craving for more... MORE! The pacing of the action was also pretty good, and almost the entire movie was action, but it still managed to develop the story very well. That's something that most movies can't seem to accomplish.

The one thing that I really disliked in Armitage III: Dual Matrix would have to be the CG scenes. For a movie made in 2001, the CG is very badly done and it's so bland looking that even the graphics from Vandread beat it out. Fortunately, there aren't that many scenes that use this "technique" in the movie, but you'll know when you see them. Heck, even Initial D beats 'em out in the graphics department!