|
|
What? A new Yu-Gi-Oh film?
I was under the impression the anime about the popular children's card game had
died out in the west some years ago. It seems I was wrong. It went
from strength to strength with new anime incarnations and I was surprised to
find
that my nephew played the game. I had watched the original series of Yu-Gi-Oh!
with him which we both enjoyed, so I could sit down and watch this new film with
him too. A generation on and Yu-Gi-Oh still has plenty of fans.
|
|
The new film Bonds Beyond Time commemorates the tenth anniversary of the franchise
in style, bringing together the main characters of the original, GX and
5D's.
The cinema release was also made more special (or less special depending on your
opinion) by giving viewers a chance to watch it in 3D. |
|
|
the various series. This ten-minute recap was added to the English
version, presumably as those in the West will be less familiar with
the later series then the Japanese. This is no bad thing as
the added footage is well presented and entertaining enough.
Also it has to be said that without it be added to film, parents of
younger viewers would have no idea what is going on. This is
because the film is short and moves at a fast pace that only fans
can keep up with. But this is a tenth anniversary celebration
after all, so fans are the target audience. |
|
|
And fans will have plenty to enjoy when Yugi, Jaden & and Yusei fight together against Paradox, the villain of the piece. Paradox wishes to erase the game of Duel Monsters from history, so travel back in time to kill the creator of the game: Pegasus. This affects the future timelines for Yusei & Jaden, who then travel back to Yugi's time in which Paradox has launched his attack. The 3-on-1 duel then begins and....that's it. This short film (an hour running time including the added western intro) is one big duel. To be honest, the duel |
|
is no more no more spectacular then any other Yu-Gi-Oh duel. If
you have not seen the series since your childhood then you will probably enjoy
this for nostalgic value, but you could just pick up a copy of the original
film/series for that purpose. Even in the original cinematic 3D the duel
isn't any more spectacular than the climax of the original Yu-Gi-Oh film,
with the effect just creating CGI dirt around the characters. Also putting
up the main characters of GX and 5D's just proves that neither of them are
as interesting as Yugi, the star of the original. Yusei of 5D's is serious
meathead and Jaden a cocksure upstart. Yugi's split personality still
makes for a more appealing protagonist, with his nervous child-self making us
all believe we can achieve our goals when we use our inner power. Hey, I'm
only talking in the same terms of cheese you will witness in this 'lets work
together and fight' flick. Interestingly this release does contain the original Japanese
dub, which is unusual for a children's anime release. It doesn't make the
film any better, but fans will be interested to hear the original Japanese music
being used, as well the sound effects being unedited in this version. Game:
|
