MOVIE REVIEW  – Final Fantasy XV is upon us, but before we jump into the long awaited game, it is time to review the prequel movie. The cinematic visual orgy that sets off the game’s event. Kingsglaive is an unfortunate by-product of big ambitions, long development for FF XV, and the need to cut back on said game’s storyline a bit. Is it a horrible movie that wastes two hours of your life, or is it a technical and storytelling marvel that puts Warcraft to shame?

The movie itself is nearly two hours long, and it looks spectacular. Spirits Within did not look this good, and that was back in the good old 2001. The city of Insomnia and the characters are extremely detailed and lifelike to the point my jaw was heading to the Earth’s core. The story of Kingsglaive is a starting off point for those who will play Final Fantasy XV. The Kingdom of Lucis is at war with Niflheim, and the war has been progressing rather poorly for Lucis.

In order to protect the city, King Regis has decided to yield, and sign a peace treaty, which will forfeit all territories to Niflheim except the city of Insomnia. Throughout the war days, the King had an elite unit called the Kingsglaive that battled the armies of Niflheim and the demons it unleashed. Unfortunately, not even their might was enough to hold the forces of the enemy.

Michael Bay would be proud

Well, unfortunately, one thing is for sure, Kingsglaive is not going to be famous for its story. If people ever complain about a video game movie not being close to the source material, I can now point them to this movie. The dialogue is horrible, and only Sean Bean, plus Aaron Paul can save the entire production.

I was not sure if the script was bad, or if the delivery of the dialogue was wooden, but by the end of the movie it became apparent that at times it was both. Sean Bean is rather consistent in performance (we can also chalk this movie up to his list of movies where Sean Bean dies), and Aaron Paul sort of works for the most part, but by the end, he seemed to have lost enthusiasm for the voice work.

The pacing is also all over the place. The first half of the movie is great, and the epic battles would make Michael Bay proud, regarding cinematography, and effects. Then the second half starts, but it feels like a slog to get through to, just to see the final epic battle.

The second half is like all of the sidequests and mini cutscenes from a game, and it shows in Kingsglaive that the content shown here should have been a side story for the beginning of Final Fantasy XV. With all the development troubles after all these years, (and especially after that Conan Clueless Gamer session), I feel that this part of Final Fantasy XV would have made an epic Chapter Zero. Big boss fights, world building, instead of the broken down car in the middle of the road beginning for the game. There’s also the anime which adds another layer of story to the overall game that we will be getting next week.

The fights in both parts of the movie are stellar, though some might scratch their head as to how knights with machine guns work in the world of FF XV, or giant stone statues are fighting demons that shoot rockets. The movie is entirely chaotic both in terms of storytelling, and visual, but it is not as horrible as many people make it out to be.

The Final Countdown

Kingsglaive Final Fantasy XV explains some of the background for characters, and their motivation. However even without this movie the game will be enjoyable, as scenes from the movie will be added via Day One patch to the game. So who is this movie for in the first place? Well mostly die-hard fans, but for those also who have some spare time and enjoy the action on the level of Devil May Cry games.

It is not perfect, and it reaches borderline horrible levels in the middle, but by the end, it becomes an average popcorn flick.

-Dante-