Heavenly Sword (2014) Full Movie
Heavenly Sword is a dramatic tale of revenge that sees Nariko (Anna Torv), a fiery red-haired heroine, embark on a quest for vengeance against the invading King Bohan (Alfred Molina)
Director : Gun Ho Jang
Writer : Todd Farmer
Stars : Ashleigh Ball, Barry Dennen, Renae Geerlings
Storyline
Heavenly Sword is a dramatic tale of revenge that sees Nariko (Anna Torv), a fiery red-haired heroine, embark on a quest for vengeance against the invading King Bohan (Alfred Molina) and his army. Once considered the failure of a legendary prophecy, Nariko must wield a sword that was ultimately meant for another. This ancient Heavenly Sword, once belonging to a powerful deity, can never be wielded by a mortal without it slowly and inevitably killing them. For Nariko, it is a race against time to avenge her clan before her life is irreparably overtaken by the omnipotent Heavenly Sword.
Reviews
"Heavenly Sword" seemed more like something that should have remained in a PlayStation game and not made it to the big screen. Especially because it looked like something from the early 2000's. The animation and textures were not up to par for 2014, not by a long shot. And it totally pales in comparison to the 2001 "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" and the 2005 "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children".
The storyline was adequate and had some good moments, but it seemed like everything was just skipped over lightly and without going into depth with anything much really.A lot of the animation was rigid and wooden, and the outdated textures didn't really help further the movie in any possible way. I must say that I think they could have used more resources and time on the animation here.
The characters were adequate, albeit two-dimensional and lacking personalities.
Having sat through the entire length of this animated movie, and with being very close to getting up and doing something else twice along the way, but deciding to stick with it to the end, I must admit that I had hoped for something more than it turned out to be.
I have never tried the game upon which this movie is based, but truth be told, then it felt like this entire movie should have been used as in-game cut scenes and not as a feature animated movie.
One thing I did think about though, was if this animated movie wouldn't actually have been far, far better if they had opted to continue with the cartoonish animation style that they used in the movie to tell some of the backstory. That was actually more interesting to look at and far more stylish and memorable than the outdated CGI that was this movie.