- Actors: Aaron Paul, Lena Headey, Sean Bean
- Director: Takeshi Nozue
- Producers: Koseo Ito, Larry Sparks, Shinji Hashimoto, Hajime Tabata
- Format: Subtitled
- Language: English
- Subtitles: French, Portuguese, Malay, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Indonesian, Cantonese, Thai, Spanish, English
- Dubbed: French, Portuguese, Thai, Spanish, Japanese
- Region: All Regions
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: PG-13
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: October 4, 2016
- Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2019
- Run Time: 115 minutes
In terms of
cross-promotional creativity, I must give credit to Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, a movie meant as a viewing companion
to the newest video game. Much of the computer animated film resembles the cutaway
scenes featured between game play, which often makes the lack of audience
participation even more noticeable. Though the visuals are remarkable, this
glaring issue with video game films is only increased in a movie that is
included with the purchase of the game. If nothing else, this film should have
the ability to encourage viewers to play the game instead.
Meant to serve
as a narrative companion to the story within the latest game in the franchise,
it is difficult to know what aspects of the plot were meant to be familiar to
me. With little to no knowledge of the franchise remaining in my brain since
the last film installment, I was entering the narrative blindly and found an
overwhelming amount of backstory and plot-significant mythology. While the
details of this world’s social hierarchy require somewhat of a learning curve,
there are transparent themes in the narrative which are commonplace in the
science fiction genre. Convoluted as the plot may be, there is little beyond
the cutting-edge animation in Kingsglaive
that hasn’t been done before.
The storyline
for Kingsglaive involves the magical kingdom of Lucis, which is home to a sacred crystal
with powers that the rival empire of Niflheim longs to possess. King Regis
(voiced by Sean Bean) is faced with an impossible dilemma under the pressure of
Niflheim’s attacks, relying on the efforts of his elite soldiers known as
Kinsglaive. Among the greatest of the soldiers wielding the power of the king’s
magic is Nyx (Aaron Paul), though he is a lower class citizen looked down on
for his nationality despite the abilities given to him by the king. Despite
being the best fighter in the army, Nyx must live with being treated as a
second-class citizen.
Though there is
a convoluted plot with too many characters, political undertones and social
commentary, this is really just a movie for a polished visual showcase of the
video game action. The highlight of this comes from the Kingsglaive’s ability
to use swords as a means of transporting short distances, a tactic used
copiously throughout the many scenes of animated sci-fi spectacle. I would not
be surprised to see this effect used in a Hollywood
blockbuster in the future. The animation is impressively refined, even when the
narrative often jumbles together an incoherent number of derivative storylines.
Even if little
of the story has stayed with me, there are some spectacular visuals in the
realistic animation of Kingsglaive,
making the high definition presentation a must for any interested. Animation has
long been the greatest benefactor of enhanced viewing formats, and this film is
no exception. The Blu-ray disc of this film is included in several of the
releases for the new Final Fantasy game, serving as a companion narrative to
the one in the game. The film is also available in this standalone Blu-ray
release, which also comes with a Digital HD copy.
The special features on the disc
itself have four featurettes. “A
Way with Words” features interviews with the
filmmakers and the English-language voice actors (Aaron Paul, Lena Headey, and Sean
Bean) about the process of creating the audio track for the film. “To Capture
the Kingsglaive” is a fitting
companion featurette, exploring the process of motion capture in creating the
visuals to go with the audio. The other two remaining features also deal with
the visual and the audio, though from a design perspective rather than
performance. “Fit for the Kingsglaive”
looks at the development of the visual look of the world within the narrative,
whereas “Emotive Music” is about the creation of the score.
Entertainment Value:
5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5/10
Historical
Significance: 3 /10
Special Features: 6/10
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