Mar 31, 2014
The short: I wanted to love it. After a confused first view, I decided to watch it a second time, still excited after watching the first two movies again. However, the successes of the first two films and series do not carry over to the third. In fact, every strong point is lost. Except the sound!
Story: 6
Taken at face value, 6 is Fair, which describes the movie very well. Not terrible, not great. The first half of the story is told very well, with the introduction by Akemi Homura, then the slow reveal of more important plot points.
...
This is also how the first two movies revealed their plot points.
The second half of the movie changes this formula, dampening the effect. The story shifts to being told through exposition and sudden revelations. I don't like being "told" what the story is. Let it evolve from the characters. Show their motivations. As is, the story left quite a few plot "openings" left to our interpretations. I can fill them quite nice in my own mind, but it would have been exceptionally valuable to have those openings closed in the context of the film.
Art: 7
Don't get me wrong at all, I am a huge fan of the art style presented. It does well in depicting the insane labyrinths of witches. However, the first two movies knew where that part began and ended. In the third movie, the overuse of the artistic style smells of hubris, or art for the sake of art and not contributing to anything else.
Of course you can argue the major plot point which would explain why the third movie does this. And I would agree. There's one part I don't agree with, and that is that very small part in the middle when the major revelation occurs. Its all super-staged in a desolate-looking world with super-duper Madoka 2.0 being completely out-of-character. It was art for the sake of art, and took away the one point of the movie where things could possibly appear normal. A Normal art style at that point would have struck very hard.
Oh, the production values on the animation is general would be a 9.
Sound: 8
The only part that still shines the same! The OST for all the films is amazing, and this one is no different. The music plays to the scenes and characters extremely well.
Character: 6
This one hurt for me. Similar to the overall story, I like the characters to drive the story. The only character I would say really benefited from this movie was... Tomoe Mami. In the first two movies we really never had time to get to know her, except in the tragic sense. Here we learn she's a badass, and rightfully the leader of the group.
Akemi Homura gets a facelift that isn't bad what-so-ever. I liked those plot points, just not the way they were revealed. Getting to see her and Mami do the stuff they did was amazing as well.
Miki Sayaka had an unwelcome change to her character, at least for me. The thing with her and Octavia and the role with Madoka was just plain weak. No explanation, no purpose.
Sakura Kyouko isn't even Sakura Kyouko anymore. Except for food.
Then there's the new girl Momoe Nagisa. What we get to see of her is great, but it could have been so much more. It was nice to see a face behind one of the elements of the first movies. However, she also suffers from a weak role concerning Madoka.
Finally there's Kaname Madoka herself. The movie took what little development she got in the movies and shat on it. She became something great. Then they gave her a crazy, over-elaborate costume and entrance before flushing the toilet on her. She started out weak (as in the little, confused, pushed-around, meek one) in the show, and that's exactly how they decided to end with her.
I almost hope for another movie just to see her make up for all of it.
Enjoyment: 8
Absolutely did! Like I mentioned, its easy to fill in the holes with all sorts of fun ideas that make it fully explainable. Shoot, even my dislike of some of the character changes doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. For better or worse, the production is complete, and we have canon. I can live with it, and hope another movie gives me resolution!
Overall: 7 (35/50)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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