Review of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale

Given its massive popularity, Sword Art Online has its fair share of haters. It's interesting to see how people who didn't like the anime carry that into this film. While the anime had a number of issues, pretty much every major complaint isn't present in this movie. I wrote in a review about Sword Art Online: Progressive that we've really seen the author of the SAO books evolve as a writer from a very uneven and disjointed set of early stories into a much more consistent and satisfying later set of stories (once you get into the Alicization arc of the novels, and the SAO:Progressive side stories). I think this continues here, with a well-written, contained piece. But there will still be people who say this movie is terrible, because they're unable to unattach it from their previous bias about the anime.

STORY - 8/10:

The story is solid. Given that it's a two hour movie, instead of a 25-episode anime season, you need a fairly straight-forward plot. Augmented Reality is the new in thing, which combines a virtual world with the real world - so you're still awake and using your real senses, rather than in a full dive environment. Someone's created a game, called Ordinal Scale (think Google Eye + Pokemon Go on steroids), and are using the old Aincrad bosses as the main event monsters. It's all fun at first, but when things start to go bad it's left to Kirito to figure out what's going on. While maybe not the most original plot, it's a tightly-written piece that moves along at a good pace, slipping in the boss fights (which are really fun to watch) and slower moments (developing Kirito and Asuna's relationship quite nicely) while trying to solve the mystery.

Pretty much every major complaint about SAO is gone in this story. It's not a disjointed set of unattached short stories like the Aincrad arc originally - it's a tight, continuous story from start to finish. It doesn't rush through things. It doesn't involve a bunch of girls throwing themselves at an obtuse Kirito - the story focuses squarely on Kirito and Asuna, as it should be, and the other girls present are there in a strictly platonic sense. There's barely any interaction between them and Kirito, they're mostly hanging with Asuna. Even Suguha seems to be over her incestuous desires (or has at least shoved them deep inside so they're not present on the screen). While glimpses of OP Kirito are present, he spends most of the movie as a low-ranked player in Ordinal Scale, who can't seem to master the AR environment - he's constantly tripping or falling or moving too slow. Once he's on a mission to save Asuna, he goes a little crazy, but even then he can't overcome the final boss on his own - he needs lots of help. There's even a bit of a tongue-in-cheek reference to Kirito's OPness at the very end, after defeating the final boss and acquiring some super sword, but the story's basically complete at that point. I think they tossed in that final scene in as an in-joke.

People are still going to say that the story is shit, because they just can't get past their hatred of the anime and its intense hype. They'll complain about plot holes, but then be unable to give concrete examples (or misuse the term). That's fine. People are entitled to their opinions. But this story is far improved on the original story. It corrects old mistakes, while doing an excellent job of tying the Aincrad history into the plot. That leads to one of the major detractions - I don't think this movie could stand on its own. You really have to be familiar with the anime/books to follow everything. And even then, there's a lot of exposition dumping early on to explain the whole AR phenomenon. Otherwise, it's very well done.

ART - 10/10:

This is a movie, so obviously the emphasis on the art and animation is going to be top-notch. It's really a beautiful film. The fight scenes look amazing, the character models are great, the animation is smooth and constant. SAO was already a pretty nice looking anime, if nothing else, and this just takes it up a level.

SOUND - 9/10:

The OST is great, the voice acting is solid. I got chills when the old SAO music started playing during the last boss right. Sound is something I generally score pretty high unless the OST or voices are noticeably bad, and they certainly aren't here.

CHARACTER - 8/10:

SAO is really a story about Kirito and Asuna. All of the other stuff is just window dressing. So, needless to say, in the first SAO feature film, that relationship is front and centre. Everything happening in the plot is there to create a conflict this relationship needs to overcome. We get to see a deeper bond between the two protagonists, and it doesn't feel nearly as rushed as it did in the anime. Kirito is becoming more comfortable is his place as Asuna's boyfriend, while Asuna continues to be the more confident and competent partner.

I've already seen complaints that Asuna is just a damsel in distress in this film, which makes me wonder if people even know what that term means. The damsel in distress trope generally implies that the female character is helpless and requires her male hero to come and save her. Sure, Kirito is working hard to help Asuna once he realizes what's going on. But Asuna is never helpless at any point (which Kirito discovers when he reads her diary), she's constantly fighting and leading the charge, and in the end she's the one who rides in the save the day when the others are struggling against the final boss. Asuna is a complex and highly competent character in her own right, and implying that she is simply a plot device to show off Kirito's badassery is a very sophomoric reading of the story. There's a lot more going on than that, and all of the memory stuff is really just a nuanced way to look at Kirito and Asuna's relationship.

The minor characters are generally the weakness in SAO. They can be fun and likeable, but they don't get much depth or development. There's usually one character that gets a little more attention each arc (Suguha in Alfheim, Sinon in GGO, Yuuki in Mother's Rosario, and now Eiji in Ordinal Scale), but this has really always been a two-person show. A lot of fan favourites, like Klein and Agil, are almost just caricatures at this point.

ENJOYMENT - 10/10:

I had a lot of fun watching this. The theatre was packed. People were cheering and clapping and everything (which usually annoys me, but seemed appropriate here). I'm not sure if watching it on the big screen influenced my enjoyment or not. It was my first non-Ghibli theatre experience for an anime. The boss fights are great, there are some decent funny moments, and there are some legitimately touching scenes between the two lovebirds.

OVERALL - 9/10:

If you like SAO, you'll like this movie, since it basically improves on everything about SAO. If you hate SAO, you'll probably hate this movie, and talk yourself into lots of "objective" reasons why it's bad. If you're indifferent towards SAO, but have seen the backstory (the Aincrad arc at minimum), then I think you'll find something to enjoy here. It's a pleasant viewing experience with good action and good romance. There's never really any doubt that the good guys will prevail, but you can make that claim for 99% of movies anyway.