First impressions, so I guess I am back again to review my favorite trainwreck series but now in movie format yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Let's just get this shit show rolling.
Story: 4/10
The film starts with our Lord and savior Kirito-sama joyfully reaping the benefits of his labors after the defeat of Death Gun, the reclaiming of the sword Excalibur and getting family permission to fuck asuna in real life. While kirito has been busy enjoying his day to day life. a new game has taken the world by a storm named Ordinal Scale a game that mergers the real-life world with virtual reality technology. Kirito who been living under a rock lately knows nothing about this new game until asuna and the harem club tell him about it and convince him to join in on the fun. As kirito and friends join in on this new fad they soon learn that things are not as they appear with odd accidents are happening to Sao players and an even more mysterious ghost-like girl who is appearing in front of kirito. Now the scales of destiny have started tipping and it time for Kirito to do what he does best solve video game related mysteries.
So sword art online ordinal was hyped to be sword art online redemption to the mainstream crowd who have been arguably cynical about this franchise.
By fixing the problems that I myself and quite a few people have about the series as a whole and with the added bonus apparently focusing more on kirito and asuna relationship. And I be honest when I first heard that's what they were Promising I didn't really have high hopes because Star Wars online pretty much destroyed any sense of hope in me that sword art online would be considered quote-unquote good. But despite my cynicism life seems to still surprise me because this movie by in large actually delivered on what it actually promised people. Like for example kirito not being overpowered and actually focusing on kirito and Asuna relationship. Which in that regard I feel it did an ok job at that which I will go into more detail later. But other than that regard I do feel that the storyline and plot was a little underwhelming and lackluster, to say the least. The basic story and plot are basically about this dude who using the game ordinal scale to gather the memories or PTSD from the sword art online players in order to bring back his dead girlfriend Yuna as an A.I. And even if I find this idea of people using technology to download themselves Onto a computer to keep themselves alive interesting and it also kinda hints there some sort techno afterlife that's going on in the background. But The main plot falls apart when you think about how exactly is other people memories and experiences of sword art online going to bring your girlfriend back to life exactly. Even if she in this a.l data format it still wouldn't work because those aren't her memories or her experiences and even if she had interaction with some of the people that they stole memories and experiences from it still wouldn't work because it, not her memories or experiences it's someone else point of view Not hers so the reasoning is pure grade bullshit. Now the kirito and Asuna relationship thing and kirito being less overpower which was quite hyped until this movie release I feel that it was a little overrated and didn't really amount to much in the grand scheme of things. Like Asuna loosening her memories and experiences from sword art online would make an interesting catalyst to test the waters of kirito and Asuna relationship because of that where they fell in love and I feel that conflict has enough emotional payoff for you to care slightly about what is going on. But at the same time, I kinda feel That it's a little overdramatized and doesn't really have much of a conflict with it. Kirito and Asuna aren't going to break up or are going through this rough stage of their relationship because of this memory loss issue The only conflict is that maybe this memory loss thing may get worse and spread to more parts of her memories. this is where feel they fucked up because what they should have done is made her lose all her memories of kirito and the rest of that conflict was kirito trying to keep their relationship together and it would have made his quest to get her memories back by becoming the top player of ordinal scale more impactful as the way they present it in the movie is very cringe-worthy at to say the least as there are scenes where kirito is playing and acting like a complete crazy man Because as well know video games are serious business, and if you don't take them seriously you are a newb that won't get good at games or get the girls. But besides that story wise there isn't much majorly wrong with it besides those things I mentioned.
Of course, other small nit pics I have are that the info dumps are fucking mind-numbingly boring that I would prefer to watch paint dry as these infodump scenes slow down the pacing and the fact there is multiple info dumps scene in a two-hour-ish movie just showcases how shit the writing. Also after all the shit that people went through with the sword art online and dart gun incidents, You would think that the government at this point would keep an eye on new technology that involved video games. Because guess what this new device that people use to play ordinal scale can kill you wohhhhhhh mind fucking blown and the only reason why there were no deaths is because kirito and the government stopped it before it reached that point.
Characters, 5/10
Kirito is his usual self-insert self. But this time he actually has more of a personality, And for once we actually see him struggle for a bit with a conflict that is out of his control and he actually has to try really hard to get what he wants. Like it just shows that even if he quite strong and intelligent there still things that he can't beat alone without him giving it his all. Which is nice to see but it does really amount to anything and it's just another example of sword art online classic wasted potential moments.
Another thing I want to address is Asuna is more relevant and actually shows the combat skills that made her this vice commander of the Knights of blood oath in the first place. In fact she actually a little stronger than kirito in ordinal scale and she actually even kicks quite a bit of ass. Which I liked and even after the memory loss thing they still treat her character with respect and not just some damsel in distress that needs to be saved all the time by our lord and saviour kirito Which I also like and I feel she was handled a lot better in this movie than the rape fairy arc or all of season two. Also before I move onto the side characters, I want to talk about Yuna quickly. And I like what she brings to the table it just to me she isn't that interesting and I didn't really give a shit about her anyway because I have no reason to care. So The Side characters The usual crew is back again nothing much has really changed. Except like Asuna there all made more relevant and actually do something instead of being fodder or mouthpieces until kirito shows up to rekt shit. Like they all showcase their abilities as well and it nice they have a role and do it well, Like at the end there this one scene where they all fighting this massive boss monster and they all work together to kill it and during that fight, they used teamwork and even saved each other a few times from video game death Which was nice to have. So the main villain or should I say man villains are a massive step up form. I don't know why I did this guy, rape fairly and darth gun. Eiji the dude who getting the memories for bringing his girlfriend back. His reasoning is understandable and even though he does questionable things to reach that goal. He not evil and a bad guy he just wants his girlfriend back and even if that kinda simple and basic it's a lot better than rapey dude. And the other villain Dr. Shigemura. He basically a dude full of guilt because he blames himself for his daughter Yuma death in sword art online because he brought her the nerve gear thing for her birthday which lead to her death. And even he is understandable and not exactly an evil person he wants to bring his daughter back to life even if he has to harm others and even if he is also basic and simple it's still 100x better than rape guy.
Art, 8/10
The animation is god tier and it looks like it was animated by the gods. The background is so clean and crip that would want to make a wallpaper out of it. There also really good CGI that doesn't clash with the animation. the fight scenes are really good and even if I find them a little too flashy for my liking. It still looks pretty cool to watch and some decent fight choreography as well, with people using teamwork or fets of combat prowess. I am not exactly a big fan of there new VR form character designs because they don't have much of a personality to them anymore and I kinda which they did. Because gun gale form had more personality to them and they looked cool because it reminded me of fallout.
Sound: 8/10
The ost, by Yuki Kajiura, was fucking amazing as always and easily one of the redeeming aspects of this movie. Even by the standard, she’s set in the past though, I was astonished to see how above and beyond she went with the quality of the soundtrack this time around. My favorite piece of this movie’s ost was probably delete, an extremely divine sounding track, making the contents of the movie feel a lot grander. It was also extremely pleasant to see that a few old favourites were revived for this movie, such as swordland All in all, ordinal scale has a lot of outstanding tracks that are amazing to listen too and do an excellent job of making the movie they go with feel like it has some weight to it, despite the actual narrative contents.
Enjoyment: 6/10
The bare-bones story and lacking characters, unfortunately, prevented me from getting really invested in the vision that this movie was trying to realize, but nevertheless, it at least gets a cookie for presentation. I really enjoyed this movie and I would recommend it to anyone who just wants a nice action movie to watch. SAO as a whole is never lacking in the spectacle department and this movie definitely brings it. The fight scenes, in combination ost, especially make for some excellent popcorn material, but other than that nothing really got my interest.
Overall: 5/10
Conclusion:
Was this the big redemption for the franchise that it was hyped up to be? Well yes and no. A lot of the series’ has had in the past major problems were taken away, but I still feel like this movie was pretty bare bones and underwhelming considering what’s been done in this franchise before. It’s certainly a step in the right direction and if they keep this up then maybe sword art online won't be such a meme in future. But a step in the right direction doesn’t equate to a good end-product and I don't have high hopes for season 3, but who knows, this series may shock me once again.
Special thanks to my pain in yu-gi-oh cards editor, Lonecrit.
