Dawnrunner

V (Rare Flavours) and Cagle (the Catwoman series) combine their formidable talents in this dazzling science-fiction psychodrama. In a technologically advanced future, battle mechas fight the Tetza, giant monsters that emerge from a portal over Guatemala. Anita Marr, a single mom with a sickly daughter, is a top pilot selected to test Dawnrunner, an experimental new mecha operated by direct neural link. When she jacks in, Anita experiences the memories of Ichiro Takeda, a soldier who lost his wife in an early Tetza attack. In battle, Anita and Ichiro’s identities become confused and Anita physically meshes with Dawnrunner. “There’s no way to tell where she ends and the machine begins,” her engineer/handler warns, though the corporate and media interests running the program claim it’s all good for business. The script wears its influences on its sleeve, borrowing elements from Guillermo del Toro’s film Pacific Rim and the anime series Attack on Titan and, above all, Neon Genesis Evangelion. But it’s easy to forgive the familiarity when it all looks so gorgeous. Cagle draws sprawling cities, looming monsters, biomechanical gore, and human characters with enough personality to keep the action emotionally grounded. The color team expertly differentiates Anita’s saturated tropical city with Ichiro’s dark, smoggy battlefield. Sci-fi fans who long for more beauty in rock-’em sock-’em robot battles will be amply rewarded. (Dec.)