Ah! My Goddess: The Movie

Submarined by clunky dialogue (example: "this is an expression of my will against the present establishment in Heaven") and a s-l-o-o-w-w-w and rather confusing (even by anime standards) set-up, Ah! My Goddess: The Movie picks up three years after the events of the original five-part 1993-1994 TV series. University student Keiichi Morisato's relationship with his girlfriend Belldandy (who happens to be a goddess in the literal as well as figurative sense) is sorely tested when her disgruntled former mentor Celestin--long banished to the moon by the Gods' Council, as we learn in flashback--returns to meet Belldandy, promptly wipes all trace of Keiichi from her memory while also infecting the computer at Goddess Central (where other goddesses hang out), and tries to enlist her in his plot to reduce pain and suffering in the world by speeding up evolution through some mystical means involving a giant tree. Got that? Admittedly good animation, a rocking soundtrack, and some solid goddess fights (whose ethereal shadow angels hang over them like the daemons in Philip Pullman's YA fantasy The Golden Compass) can't quite compensate for a muddled storyline and underdeveloped characters. Optional. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)