Dec 28, 2008
I’m going to have to diverge my opinion from the consensus here. Though I had been a long time fan of the series, the movie was a dull, disconnected effort to recapture the quality of the former.
Story 7/10
This is where things fall apart. The general premise of the story was high quality yet the execution in relation to its source material was poor, largely because the end of the series left so many plot threads to be explained. Unfortunately, the movie spends less time attempting to address these numerous plot threads and more time creating larger questions of its own. This is fine by itself
...
but Shambhala is inherently a continuation of the series rather than a stand-alone piece. It begins with an unanswered series of questions, brings forth a new series of questions, and in the end, doesn’t conclude in answering any of them.
Art 9/10
Beautiful and fluid as always: even more so since this is a feature length film.
Sound 8/10
Far above average. The film is lacking in truly memorable pieces in the vain of its predecessor series (Brothers, Heavenly Spirit) but it manages to capture the viewer into the world it creates. It melds well into the background and there’s little to be said otherwise. A notable exception is the movie opening, Link, which easily ranks among the best of the franchise.
Character 7/10
And this is where the story comments arrive into effect. The returning characters are handled well; the newcomers on the other hand fall victim to the films limited length. So much time is spent on the original characters that Noah and Dietlinde appear as cardboard cutouts. The villain becomes prominent towards the second half, acts in the stereotypically evil manner, espouses a tacked on, clichéd motivation for its actions, and proceeds to be literally dehumanized thereafter. Other new characters are treated in a similar manner with two sentence reasons for what motivates them.
Enjoyment 8/10
Interesting enough. If you take it as a continuation of the series, it often fails to reach a conclusion for plot threads espoused within it, while if you view it as a stand-alone work it still has some glaring problems in the character department. Still, its imaginations should manage to capture any viewer’s attention and many of its other qualities are top notch.
Conclusion 7.5/10
The overall presentation was gorgeous but the story and character flaws were often to glaring to ignore. An above average score but not that of a masterpiece.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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