Story: 3
SAO never had the strongest of plots and this movie is no different. Kirito and friends are once again thrown into a new game which ends up another fight for their lives only this time, it takes place in the real world using augmented reality. Besides from being generic and predictable, most of it barely made any sense. SAO never fails to impress me on how far I should suspend my disbelief but this movie takes the cake on how often I questioned the choice in writing for some parts especially towards the end. It's lazy writing at its best where things just conveniently work out.
There's also a romantic side plot between Kirito and Asuna if you're into that but it barely goes anywhere. But at least it wasn't a harem.
Art: 9
It's A1 Pictures and their most popular series. Of course it's going to look good for a movie. The animation team really went all out for the fight scenes making them as flashy as possible while making it easy to follow. Definitely one of the few things that is good in SAO. This would have been a 10 if they didn't use some really cheap CGI for some of the minor monsters but the main fights are beautifully animated.
Sound: 7
SAO is also pretty decent when it comes to sound design and music. The fights sounded pretty good and voice acting suited the characters. They were able to incorporate some of the music through a new character who acts as the game's mascot/idol. It did get kinda old after the second time she appeared and sung but it's a part of the generic plot.
Characters: 2
It's the same old cast of Kirito and his friends which are all generally shallow and one-dimensional. The movie does do a good job at showing who these characters were for people who aren't too familiar with the series. Fans will appreciate these familiar faces appearing again as they tried to cram as many as they could into the movie.
The new characters are fairly generic but my biggest gripe is with the main villain. They tried to make him seem justified in his actions but he just comes off as dick for no reason. Yet at the same time, there isn't enough to hate or love the character and ends up feeling completely useless to the plot.
All of the characters had very weak to no motive in their actions. The writers were trying to go the emotional route to connect to the audience more but I'm left feeling disconnected because the characters barely act human at all.
Enjoyment: 4
I enjoyed the action scenes in the movie and how ridiculous the writing got but the fact that there are more holes than swiss cheese in the plot just made it frustrating to watch. I sat there asking myself "why?" throughout the film and got to the point where I wasn't even amazed anymore with its lackluster writing. The actions scenes have been the main selling point of SAO so at least those are good.
There is a lot of small details that fans of SAO will appreciate and enjoy but fanservice can't hide these plot holes.
Overall: 5
Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale suffers the same faults as the series with its badly written story and poorly developed characters. I do think the movie is better since it's only like two hours long and they weren't able to drag things out forever. I wasn't expecting this movie to "fix" what was wrong with the series but I can't fault what makes SAO so popular. Fans will love this movie, even though it technically isn't the best. It checks out every box on how a SAO movie was suppose to be and I'd be surprised if they broke away from this.
