Now, please don't attack me on my opinion/views (or do, whatever), this is a review that is pretty objective to me. I just think that the story and characters have so much more potential than it was given, but it eventually just becomes a regurgitation of every cliche and cheap characterization that the Black Clover anime has used on the regular. With way better animation than the anime, that is.
The introduction of the main antagonists of the story, the four wizard kings, made a deep impression when it was first promoted, so there was a high expectation of the lore and story of each of the wizard kings. Unfortunately, Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King does not escape the shallow, surface-level characterization of its characters, something that is deeply disappointing as one can easily see how far they can go with these badass antagonist characters (especially Princia Funnybunny). As I have said, a classic Black Clover flaw.
Another bone to pick with this movie is the plot. Although the execution of the plot itself is satisfactory, I could not find it in myself to be entertained by the story and how it moves. This seems to be a recurring problem in the Black Clover franchise, and it is disappointing to see them repeat this in the movie. This should have been their opportunity to do something that is completely out of the ballpark to experiment with the kind of writing they can play with in the Black Clover world, but alas.
The final 20 minutes of the movie, though, almost made me tip the rating to a 6, but a 5.5 is the most I could give it. The animation is its saving grace, along with the beloved characters (especially the Black Bulls) coming in to save the day as a team.
Animation - 8/10
Plot - 4/10
Sound & VA - 5/10
