After having watched it twice and having a good, long think about it. I can finally say that this was pretty good, then again I've said that in my reviews of season 1 and 2.
Story (8/10)
Now like in both seasons of SAO there are flaws in the story, some pretty big like Alfheim or some pretty small (not sure what to put for an example). However Ordinal Scales story was actually ok, sure a scientist who created a new device that could make everyone experience Augmented reality while also using this device to steal memories of SAO survivors so he could bring back his dead daughter was pretty far fetched, but compared to other arcs in the series it was handled pretty well and kept me entertained till the end.
I did like how it took the next step in technology as we go from going into the virtual world to bringing the virtual world to us, leading to more active lifestyles instead of laying down on a bed until you got hungry or something.
I will admit if the story didn't have a big concentration on the whole pop music idol figure it would've been better, because that just felt forced in and unnecessary.
The pacing of the movie was pretty good too, we have the slow setup as Kirito and the others start experiencing the joys of Augmented reality, until they realise something fishy is going on and they have to stop something really bad from happening, which brings us to the final battle and it was a glory to see.
Yes, yes there are plenty of flaws like the usual Kirito getting OP once more, but it felt a little better this time, because he has to really push his body to succeed. Then there is also the whole science behind the memory stealing and it's side effects which are kinda messy, but compared to the rest of the movie it was a blast to watch.
Characters (8/10)
Now compared to the Alfheim and GGO arcs, Ordinal Scale does try to balance the screentime between all the characters. True Kirito, Asuna and even Yui make up quite a big portion, but each of the supporting characters do get their chance in the spotlight and it felt really nice seeing these guys all work together to stop the threat giving me the sense that this is what it should've been in the first place.
It also manages to make up for the lack of interaction between Kirito and Asuna, which has been incredibly scarce since the Alfheim arc and you can see the chemistry between these two characters build up again like it did during the Aincrad arc, which felt good to see once more.
Now the three new villains or two technically speaking Yuna, Eiji and Shigemura weren't all that good for the most part, but SAO usually doesn't get it's villains done right. Yuna and Eiji are more victims really as they seemed like Kirito and Asuna's opposites, instead of fighting they kept in the background and both got separated in the end. Other than that the representation and reasoning of these characters just wasn't that good.
Art (9/10)
With this being a movie, the art department definitely had a bigger budget to work with and by god was a lot of the stuff in this look pretty damn good. The battle scenes looked pretty nice with the demonic, Gothic like feel which fitted nicely with the setting.
The characters looked silk, smooth and the new outfits were alright, they weren't amazing and felt like they were lacking a little, but the design was fine and definitely fitted a lot better compared to the Alfheim arc. Although it was great seeing the characters in their original outfits again during the final battle giving me a nice nostalgic feeling.
I also liked the design of the monsters, especially the giant Samurai dude and the final boss, which felt like a proper final boss to a game. True there was the odd CGI monster which didn't look all that good, it was small compared to the rest of the movie, plus the final boss scene must've looked like an anime artists wet dream.
Sound (8/10)
SAO usually makes a good soundtrack and it did the same here, true they mainly used the same track for some of the battles, but it fitted nicely with the events going on, plus it was good to hear some of the old tracks again from the first series.
Extras:
The action as usual was well done and were nicely spaced out between all the conversations and exposition with all the characters. However the final boss battle was just a glory to watch, yes it might've been a bit fast for some people, but the amount of people attacking that monster with their special attacks was just an awesome spectacle to see.
The romance felt a bit more back on track after the last few arcs where we hardly saw any interaction between Kirito and Asuna. We finally got to see a little more of that and the moments between them were sweet much like the moments they had in the Aincrad arc especially when Asuna's memories were in danger of being erased forever.
Enjoyment (8/10)
Overall (8/10)
Overall this was a pretty good movie for 2 hours as a sort of bridge gap between season 2 and 3 which given by the end credit part is definitely something to look forward to as we edge closer to the coming Alicization arc.
