Review of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale
Just finished watching the movie at the cinema, TWICE, so I think my review will be well analysed. The "Too Long, I didn't read" (TL;DR) version: Sword Art Online : Ordinal Scale is an installment that sets out to please it's fans, and I must say, it certainly has succeeded in doing so. The action, romance, and nostalgic moments will certainly have SAO fans screaming in joy. However, for a non-SAO fan, beware. You will struggle to understand the plot, recognize characters, and enjoy the movie as a whole. I don't see any possible way for a non-SAO fan to enjoy this movie since it's plot isvery dependent on your knowledge on the original SAO plot. Not to mention, it's action is honestly not exciting at all for an average watcher and the romance will not be moving if you didn't know Kirito and Asuna's past.
Before we go on with the analysis of the movie, some FAQs.
"Before I watch the movie, should...
... I watch season 1?"
YES. Definitely. You should only watch this movie if you finished season 1, and liked it.
... I watch season 2?"
NO. No difference at all, apart from the fact that you may not recognize one or two faces.
... expect it to be like SAO season 1?"
No. I would say season 1 was better. It had more emotions, suspense, and action.
... expect it to be like SAO season 2"
No. This movie is INFINITELY better than season 2. Watch season 2 and you'll understand.
Now, onto the analysis. I assume you are a SAO fan from this point on. if not, don't bother reading anymore.
STORY - 7/10
If SAO season 1 had an intensely exciting and thrilling plot that keeps you on the edge of the seat, this movie, unfortunately, doesn't. However, this doesn't mean that the movie had a bad plot. In fact, I thought the plot was good given the fact that it developed nicely, doesn't feel too rushed, and didn't have any obvious plot holes.
The plot was simple, which is good and all, but maybe in a way, it was too simple. I personally could see what the ending is going to be about and what the motives of the villains are only 45 mins into the movie.
Given that, since the plot is developed well, wasn't stagnant and had no obvious holes, the story is definitely above average. However, the predictable and less exciting story made it difficult for the story to be given a score more than 7.
ART - 9/10
Not much to talk about here. The art has same quality as SAO. I know that art is subjective and it depends on your preference, however, I will generally describe the artistic value of this piece as neutral as I may.
The characters are drawn well enough to draw out emotions and feelings from the viewers. For example, the girls in the Anime are drawn good enough for anyone to believe that this is what a 'beautiful' girl and 'cool hero looks like.
The animation panels were consistence and the style didn't seem to deviate as the movie progressed. The fluidity of each passing scene felt natural and worked well in telling the story.
The colours in the movie are also not a problem. There were no blinding colours as observed in some bad Animation out there, (ahem, Pokemon) but were vibrant enough to keep the story alive, exciting, and action-packed.
The backgrounds were good and brought back lots of nostalgia from the original series.
One point I must say that made the ART SCORE drop to 9 instead of 10 is the final battle. I understand the producer's intention of making it exciting, but I thought that it was too fast that half the time, you can't really see what's going on. You can't really pick out whose sword is landing where.
SOUND - 10/10
The sound is great too. The OST were very good, (YUNA's songs are really good) and brought out all the emotions in every scene without necessarily overpowering the scene. The background music resonated with the emotions of the viewers, drawing them closer to loving the movie.
The Voice acting was impeccable too. There was no hint of inconsistency in the execution of the voice acting. Each voice fitted the role they were acting perfectly, making anyone, even non-Naruto fans, be able to tell apart who's voice belongs to who.
CHARACTER - 9/10
The characters were great, well developed, and not forced into the plot. It felt natural having everyone be where they were. The exchange between the main protagonists and villains were also great to the extent that it felt natural enough for anyone to develop empathy for the hero and develop anger against the villains.
The reason I'd say I give 9 instead of 10 was personally because of how the main character's powers are exaggerated too much to the point that he looked like god swinging around swords. I know that most people enjoy Kirito being OP, and I did too, but I thought it just became too OP for it to be enjoyable.
ENJOYMENT - 8/10
Overall, the action, adventure, suspense and emotions blended together perfectly into a movie that was very enjoyable. However, this movie is made to only tailor to it's fans, therefore it will definitely be difficult for a non-SAO fan to enjoy. I can bet any non-SAO fan that watch this movie will end up rating this movie with a score of 4 or lower.
Well, to sum up everything, this movie has every ingredient to make a SAO fan enjoy him or herself, and anyone watching it wouldn't realise 2 hours of their time passing by.