Review of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale
Sword Art Online is a divisive topic in the anime community. Some love it, some hate it. As you can probably tell from the score I have it, I fall in the latter category. The two seasons of SAO (that are out as of this writing) are garbage and I hate them, however we're not here to talk about the two seasons. Does the Sword Art Online Movie redeem the series, or is it just as shit as the previous two seasons? Let's find out! Story: The story of Ordinal Scale is just like the previous two seasons, meaning that its full of plotholes and nonsensicalstuff. I can't say too much without spoiling the entire movie, however I will just give one thing as an example. One of the bad guys in the movie physically assaults several people in the real world, including breaking one of their arms and pushing a little girl down in the street in front of a large group of people. This person is never punished for assaulting people nor is this ever brought up again after the scenes in which these happens. Also, there is a completely pointless scene in which Silica just sings karaoke for a few seconds. That's it. It's not funny. It's not important to the plot. It's just "hey, we got this loli. Let's make her sing". And the movie is full of this type of stuff. I'm only bringing up the bare minimum. As for what is actually in the movie, the villains are boring, barely motivated and the little motivation they do have is spouted out through forced in exposition. There is a scene in which the main villain plainly states his motives and his entire plan to a person who I will not spoil, but is completely irrelevant to the entire movie. The movie's pacing is awful. Things happen way too fast, and the things the characters do never feel earned. The climax to the movie is also very unsatisfying, but I won't spoil that. 2/10.
Art: Okay, I'll admit it, the art in this movie is good. The new-ish character outfits for everyone look better than their old ones, the new bosses they introduce also look really interesting (would've loved to see them back in the actual SAO, but this is not the place for that rant), and I wish we got to see more of them in greater detail. The character designs don't really say what the character is about from a glance like some other really great character designs do, however I won't count that against this movie too much. 7/10.
Sound: Also, pretty good. There was a lot of music in this movie, and not all of them were great, but I did find myself enjoying a few of the songs from this movie. I'd even say that I might listen to a couple of these songs outside of the movie. Pretty solid, 6/10.
Characters: Oh boy, back on the hate train. God, the characters in this movie are awful. As I've already said, the villains are boring and their motivations is spelled out through exposition dumps (although, these are sadly the best villains this series has to offer, which is not saying much). Kirito is just as he is in SAO, unrealistic and OP. I will say that I hate him less in this movie that I do in the two actual seasons of SAO, though that might just be because I don't have to listen Bryce Papenbrook's voice. Most of the other characters are one-dimensional and/or don't have enough screen time to even matter. There is Asuna and Yui, who are both featured prominently. Asuna is....passable in this movie, but Yui is as awful and annoying as she is in the main series. I'll give this a 2/10.
Enjoyment: As strange as it is to say it, I actually enjoyed watching this movie. Not because it's good, not at all. I watched this with some friends and we had a great time laughing at it. So, if you hate SAO and got some friends who hate it just like you, you'll find a movie that is so bad that is fun to laugh at. So, I'll give this a 4 for enjoyment.
Overall: No matter the fun I had laughing at Ordinal Scale, I would not recommend this for anything other than a laughing stock. I suppose that if you are a fan of the original SAO series, this movie will appeal to you, but as someone who has hated the first two seasons, I cannot legitimately recommend this movie. Since I watched the first season, I kept thinking that maybe this show could one day use its great concept to make an actually good show, and I've kept that hope for two seasons and now a movie. However, after this, I've given up hope. I will not be sticking around hoping that SAO can get better. Ordinal Scale is a mess and is the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Unless by some miracle, season 3 is actually good, this will be the last time I watch SAO. 3/10. Terrible movie.