Sin: The Movie

I'm not going to waste any time with this review. If you are thinking of watching this movie, don't. It might be free on multiple video streaming sites but you won't be able to replace the wasted hour of your life. You might think that I'm overreacting but I can't think of any worse way to spend your time. The movie is based on some 90's shooter that I'd never heard of. Since Sin: The Movie is based on a video game, it's not a big surprise that the plot is totally weak. It had something to do with people getting turned into zombie-mutants and then the protagonists had to storm the antagonist's base to save some girl. It's the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a Saturday morning kids' cartoon. In fact, I might recommend it for young boys if it weren't for all the graphic violence. I generally don't have a problem with violence (considering I'm a big Fist of the North Star fan) but this would have made a decent kids' show if it wasn't for all the gore. You may not be convinced that this show is TOTALLY bad. Not until I tell you how atrocious the animation is. I know Sin was made about a decade ago so they were still working out the kinks of digital animation but that doesn't change the fact that this movie looks really bad. The term "limited animation" was created for this cartoon. There are even shots that are pixelated. I summed things up best at the beginning of this review; this is just a bad cartoon, don't even waste your time on it.

Helpful

read more

Pretty good action and violence. Story is interesting and they manage to make you care about these characters, even though it's a short OVA. Premise for plot os almost typical of some cyberpunk animes, although I don't think I would consider this one. Villians are well drawn and not the generic type found in Devil May Cry or Guyver. Animation and sound are big movie type quality. Rewatchability is good too due to good action and short run time. You can find it cheap and easy on dvd.

As a fan of the original game, I was curious about Sin: The Movie. The original PC game was no masterpiece but it had fun level design, good FPS action and a kick-ass wisecracking hero in John Blade. Reading some of the reviews and ratings, I was cautious about watching this one. The series has been dead in the water since 2006 when the sequel series ‘Sin: Episodes’ was cancelled. Other than those two games (and a planned remaster), this is the only other piece of media in the series available to fans. So, I decided to check it out regardless and see what the hubbub (hate) was about.

This only resembles the original game in three departments: the character designs, names and the fact that Sinclair is the main villain. As a result, it’d be easy to constantly scrutinize the differences and compare it negatively with the source material. I decided to just see it as its own ‘thing’ and try to appreciate it based on its own merits. Well based on what I watched, Sin: The Movie has nothing particularly awful about it. At the same time, there’s nothing particularly good about it either. The plot, characters, animation etc. are all painfully average. ‘Forgettable’ is the word I’d use to describe it all.

Beginning with the plot, we have an evil corporation that wants to mess with human DNA and create monsters, so a badass cop with a personal vendetta has to take them down. Its been done too many times before to count, and nothing new is brought to the table. The plot at least makes sense and the character intentions are made clear to us. John Blade is your usual silent (badass) character, and sadly the other characters are stock too. Elexis Sinclaire, the main villain, is somewhat interesting at the start (mainly due to her viciousness) but quickly becomes boring. The art and animation aren’t awful, but for a 2000’s OVA they’re barely average.

The one thing I do want to praise is the soundtrack which is shockingly good. It was performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, who’ve also been on the soundtracks for series such as Cowboy Bebop and Hellsing Ultimate. That’s quite the resumé. It’s the highlight of the OVA, and often I would zone out and focus on the music instead of what was happening on the screen because it was more interesting. The soundtrack made every scene better.

Give the soundtrack a listen, but fans of the game can skip this one and Cyberpunk fans are better off watching one of the many better OVA’s available such as Cyber City Oedo 808.

Helpful

read more

Ah, my favourite anime to loathe.

Sin was a fun game, IMO. Even this movie might have made a playable game, if an intensely generic one. But it wasn't a game – it was a movie, and a bad one. From the very start canon is thrown right out the window, closely followed by the splattered brains of the protagonist's fan-beloved partner and friend, JC. If you think that was a spoiler, you're right – it pretty much spoils the entire movie by turning it into a body-horror splatterhouse with an unspeakably awkward sexual tension twist as JC's where-the-hell-did-she-come-from sister, also named JC, joins forces with the guy who killed her brother essentially to act as a living decoration. This flinchworthy cliche-hugging 'edgy' weirdness is the only memorable thing about the entire movie. If you like the game Sin, don't watch this movie. If you like movies, don't watch this movie. If you like Sin: The Movie, don't watch this movie. This is blatantly the exploitation of an almost-successful franchise by someone who saw a cool-looking character on a game box, skim-read the back, bought a license to the property, and fed it to a bunch of hacks.

Helpful

read more