- There will be SPOILERS. If you haven't seen the movie yet, don't read this review if you don't want to be spoiled. Definitely do come back after to share your opinions. I would love to hear what you guys thought of the movie. Am I in the minority?
- I am perfectly fine with nostalgia bait. The problem is when producers think that a show can succeed based on nostalgia alone.
- I am aware that this is a sequel to the manga and not the anime, accounting for some of the discrepancies. Yet, some of the characters actions were just bizarre, in my opinion.
- Finally, please do not let my opinion of the film ruin your experience with it. This is my personal opinion and my opinion alone.
Alright... Here we go. I do apologize for the stream-of-consciousness ranting. It's like my mind is actively trying to erase the movie from my memories.
First off, it started off well enough, with the reintroduction of the characters and what they were up to after all the time. I particularly liked how they framed the story with Anzu's dream of going to New York. However, that's when things started to go South.
Essentially, to sum all of the problems up into one word, it was contrived... and rushed. Sorry, that was two words. In my opinion, everything that happened in this movie happened because they needed it to happen. They needed new monsters - insert a hundred different variations of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon that had no build-up, reason for existing or proper differentiation (more on this later). They needed a new enemy that had to be related to the cast somehow to make him relevant - shoehorn in some subplot was never hinted at or talked about in the original series so it felt like it came out of nowhere. They needed Atem to appear again and appear he did EVEN THOUGH IT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE!
Urgh... the plot. Don't even get me started. I've already talked about the shoehorned-in villain, but boy does it get better. The plot was unnecessarily convoluted and yet still managed to be contrived and seem like it came out of nowhere. What in the world was with this collective consciousness nonsense? Why is it important and how does it relate to anything? Why was Kaiba's Duel Disk perfectly equipped to combat his powers? Seriously, it could have been anything else and have been much better explained and understandable. How could Kaiba pull out a God Card from the ground and play it with his virtual system?
Speaking of Kaiba, that subplot with his obsession was really at odds with Aigami's plot. There was hardly any correlation. Not to mention, sure he was obsessed with Yugi, but they really pushed his obsession a little too far in this one. Though, I have to admit, that would have been a compelling enough story in and of itself if they had taken their time to expand on it. At the end of the movie, people were actually LAUGHING at his hyperbolic obsession with Atem. Going back in time to duel Atem? Yeah, that's not obsessive at all. Seriously, Javert he is not. Also, Kaiba removing the Millennium Puzzle from the crypt and actually solving it with technology was kinda cool, but it completely ruined the mystique of the items. Wouldn't it have been even cooler if his high-tech machines failed to solve the puzzle?
That climax... Oh God. Remember how I was talking about them introducing new monsters for the sake of it? Well, screw duel tactics and anything of the sort, the ending was just a monster spam that got boring after the 100th "HERE'S A MORE POWERFUL MONSTER THAN YOURS". Seriously, if I have to sit though another Cubic monster and Blue-Eyes iteration that has zero differentiation from one another... This was obviously because they were rushed for time. They had a quota of monsters to push and there was no way they could dedicate 30 minutes to build up a single monster.
Also, the GOD DAMN CG. Why are some monsters like the Black Magician and the Black Magician Girl in normal 2D, simulated-cel animation while many of the other monsters were rendered in 3DCG? Seriously, STICK TO ONE. It's horrendous enough that they used CG, but if they had made ALL the monsters CG, there would have been at least a point! You know, creating a disconnect between the real and the virtual? But no, we can't have our Black Magician Girl be polygons, can we?
This is a perfect example of an unnecessary sequel that was made for the sake of being made. Regardless of what the creator said, I felt zero passion from this project and everything was paint-by-numbers and forced. For a fan, I really don't think I would have missed out if I hadn't seen it. Personally speaking, the ONLY good thing that came out of this was seeing Anzu actually fulfilling her dream. Anzu is adorable. Oh, and the bonus card and goodybag as well. That was pretty good.
Maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe I just need to calm down and watch it again. And watch it again I will, because as a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan, I'm willing to give it another chance. But at this moment, while I'm a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan, I am not a fan of this movie.
