For years, the Niflheim Empire and the kingdom of Lucis have been at war. The empire, having dominated most of the world of Eos, covets the power of the last known Crystal, which is held in Lucis' capital city, Insomnia.
In order to protect his people from these advancing forces, King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII used the power of the Crystal to surround Insomnia with a magical wall. Along with this barrier, Regis assembled an elite military task force known as the Kingsglaive. By drawing their power from the king, the Kingsglaive protect Lucis' borders from the onslaught of the empire and other forces that would do them harm.
One such member of the Kingsglaive is Nyx, a man nicknamed "The Hero" by his fellow warriors due to his arrogance and desire to save everyone. However, his pride gets the better of him, causing him to disobey his captain's orders, resulting in a demotion. Now, Nyx spends his days guarding the city gates, but things begin to change once word gets out that Regis plans to sign a peace treaty with their sworn enemies.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
SanaeK10
"I went in expecting nothing and still got disappointed". This sentence sums up Kingsglaive succinctly and accurately. Of course, for a more detailed explanation of why this movie is somehow worse than that cash grab that is Advent Children, I'll be spoiling the film below. If you care about the story and/or have no qualms paying 10 bucks or so for a ticket, go ahead and watch it. Otherwise, welcome, dear reader, to another episode into the dark spiraling hell that is my review. Spoilers start here. The movie begins promisingly enough, a simple prologue that explains the world and its inhabitants well enough. However, after thatcomes a poorly shot fight scene. This fight scene is a prime example of one of the movie's greatest downsides. As pretty (and I mean pretty) the CGI is, the frantic and erratic camera following the fight make it difficult many times to even comprehend the action and the stakes involved. However glamorous or epic the scale of the action is, the erratic camera makes the action scenes far less enjoyable than it should, which is a damned shame.
As we enter the movie proper, you may notice that the lip syncing is way off. Which is curious, considering the movie was shot with the English voices first. Not that it matters much, especially considering how atrocious some of the dialogue is. None of the characters in Kingsglaive speak like normal humans. The biggest offender is Lunafreya, the main heroi- damsel in distress of the film, who seem to speak entirely in what I call "Trailer Bait", who goes on vaguely saying such gems like "I must fulfill this destiny for it is my duty to fulfill this destiny" or some "destiny"-infused nonsense. Nyx's dialogue is mostly passable, he seems the most human of them all. It is really jarring to see how disconnected and artificial the dialogue is seeing as the actual game itself (judging from recent gameplay footage), and hell, the anime, have the characters speak naturally and normally. Ardyn's dialogue I rather liked, although that could be chalked up to how much fun his VA is having with is character. His scenes are a pleasure to watch, few as they are.
The story itself is simple, but poorly told. Many characters seem to be written backwards. What I meant by this is that, instead of having a character's motivation naturally progress them into a situation, most of the characters seem to have a purpose or a scenario they are required to be in and the writing tries to force the characters into fulfilling this purpose or being present in the scenario by whatever means necessary. An example off the top of my head is Libertus' betrayal and redemption. So the big guy gets mad, betrays the glaive, and feels bad after seeing that the Resistance members are all nutcases, and then comes back to save Nyx. His arc is so poorly formulated the only reason I can think of why he's written like this is because the writers wrote the scene near the end with Nyx struggling with Glauca near the end and they needed to write someone in to save him. That and Luna needs a driver and Cor's nowhere to be found (Cor's probably in the trunk of the Regalia methinks). Ravus' arc was pretty lousy as well, so he hates Regis for not helping him despite it was the Empire's fault his country fell and now he's actively harboring a personal vendetta against Regis specifically? Uhh, you go dude. I'd hate it if he ended up as the Main Villain of FFXV, his motivations are lousy and weak.
Ultimately the story ends as an ad for FFXV. Not complaining about this in particular, since this was basically the purpose of the film, but I'm sure a lot of casual moviegoers would be left disappointed as the whole story thread isn't resolved even after the end. Instead, the whole purpose of the film is basically to act as the 2 hour opening CG cutscene to FFXV. In that retrospect I can't hate it as much, but then I remembered I spent money to watch the opening cutscene of a game that isn't out yet.
At least Advent Children had a proper story with a beginning and end and the plot is resolved. Sure it reuses the same plot threads, but at least I knew what was going on in that Bahamut fight, the same cannot be said for the Ultros fight here.
In summary, this movie is a beautiful mess.
2/10.
Also where's my boy Cor in all of this? And Etro?
ClawViper
Being a Final Fantasy fan who has been following the development of Final Fantasy XV pending its release, I decided to watch Kingsglaive as soon as it was released in the theaters. I will try to give my impressions of each individual aspect of the movie while withholding spoilers, thus keeping this review short. To sum it up - there is nothing that will blow your mind out of the water in this movie besides the animation, but it is definitely worth a watch if you're planning to purchase and play the game - it stands as a decent prequel to the game, although notso much as a stand-alone.
There is no shadow of doubt that the strongest point of the movie lies in its animation . Rather than engaging in redundancy by attempting to describe the animation in words, watch the official trailer on YouTube to see it for yourself. It's worth the two minutes of your time even if you're not a Final Fantasy fan. The depiction of Insomnia is extremely immersive and it does its job at getting me excited to begin exploring the world of Final Fantasy XV.
The story is nothing standout if one views it as a stand-alone movie. However, I consider that the main purpose of the movie would be more of an introduction to the world and historical background of Final Fantasy XV as it is a prequel to the game after all. While the story might be simple and rather predictable, I think keeping it this way as a prequel to the game was the correct decision as having a convoluted story with plot twists out of nowhere would spoil the movie's purpose of being an introduction as it will scare away a part of its target audience.
The characters are not particularly outstanding, but commendable nonetheless. The main character - Nyx is likable and will get you rooting for him throughout the story. By the end of it he will be remembered as a badass. One thing I must give credit to the creators for is the fact that they did well to show the plight of some of the characters in the story and their moral conflict within themselves in a not overly-complicated way. This movie did not just keep so simple as to merely - "Oh, this guy is good. This guy is bad," but actually displays why some of the characters in the show make the decisions they did, which gives way more depth to their actions. Although I think there could be more focus on that moral conflict, it was sufficient for me to see these characters as more than just mere generic good guys or villains.
Being a Final Fantasy fan, I could notice and appreciate many references to creatures that exist in the Final Fantasy universe, increasing my enjoyment of the show. My only complaint would be the fact that some action scenes can get really messy, which does make it unclear and possibly even confusing as to what is going on. I also thought that the action scenes were slightly too drawn out. However, it is far from boring and it didn't detract from my enjoyment and viewing experience.
Despite this not being mandatory to play the game, do give this a go if you are planning to play the game. It's worth it as it serves as a decent prequel and adds hype to the upcoming release of the game.
Ground_zero
I have been a Final Fantasy fan since the old days and although it's my favorite video game series of all time, I have to admit that the animations and movies based on the series are not always up to par and some times even horrible, but thankfully this is not the case with this movie. It is definitely worth 2 hours from your daily routine just for the visuals alone. Looks/Animation: This is the strongest part of the movie. The graphics used are some of the best if not THE best you have ever seen. The characters look realistic to the point that sometimes youconfuse them with real actors (although there will be times that you will spot an occasional weird looking guy, but it's rare). The backgrounds are majestic and immersive in such a way that makes you wish that you could live there. Fantasy and reality blend nicely in a way that doesn't seem out of place and if you are interested in the game, it will really make you want to explore this beautiful world in full when it comes out.
Story:
The story is basic Final Fantasy stuff: The Machine Empire tries to take over the Magic City with the Crystal and Heroes try to stop it! If you have been an avid Final Fantasy player, this will remind you the FF AGITO story but it's only natural if you consider that they were based on the same universe before they rename FF VERSUS XIII into FFXV. This movie serves as an intro to the actual game story line but it's more than that. Square Enix didn't try to just "cash grab" with this. They put an effort to show the inner struggles of all the characters, so you can sympathize with their motivations better and it succeeds. This is not JUST an intro, but a good full movie with its own heroes, villains and ending.
Characters:
The main good characters are a team of bad-ass soldiers working for the good king trying to support their homeland vs the oppressor. Nothing too outstanding but none of them are dislikable either. The protagonist (Nyx) is your standard over the top action hero, but that doesn't mean that he is one dimensional. He succeeds in making you feel with his troubles and you end up supporting him till the climax! The rest of his team are also well portrayed with their own motivations and conflicts. Not many of the bad guys are shown here (they definitely keep them for the game) but for their little screen time the succeed in making you interested in them. Particularly the opposing Emperor manages to stand out a lot! His composure, his witty lines, his whole plan make for an outstanding villain Ruler and I can't wait to see more of him when the game comes out!
Overall/Enjoyment:
If someone tells you that this is not an enjoyable movie he outright lies. It has lots of action perfectly choreographed, lots of drama, some funny moments, good music, great visuals and if you are a true Final Fantasy fan you will spot many many many references to keep your inner fanboy excited! Real fun from the beginning to the end.
TL/DR:
This is a great movie, as a fanboy I would rate 11/10, but since I have to look at some minor weakness objectively I give this 8 or 9/10. Watch it, you will not be disappointed.
anonypc
The visual & audio appeal in this movie is off the charts. The CGI is mind-blowingly amazing while the story offers nothing deep or surprising. There is a crap-load of jam-packed action scenes occurring at least every 10 minutes throughout. I'm talking like a Kraken on an AIRSHIP fighting teleporting knights, or Pacific Rim scale battles while ANOTHER dragon ball like battle is happening between two people WHILE at the same time the two GIANTS are fighting eachother... INCEPTION! Seriously though, don't go in thinking there is a great & meaningful story to be told here. Although, I can gladly saythe story of Nyx (the MC) was presented in a mature and refreshing manner. It avoids typical cliches or cringe-like moments common in fairy-tale like stories.
One should be able figure out the premise of the story fairly quickly. Less time is spent explaining the intricacies of the world and instead, more time is about putting you inside it. It forces you to experience it through the eyes and life of Nyx, who's simply a badass.
There was so much crazy stuff happening all the time in most of the action scenes, it was almost comedic at some points, seriously. Anyways, just pure action and entertainment throughout, while simultaneously presenting the beginnings of FF15 in a stylish fashion.
Let's just now hope that S-enix can deliver and retain the quality in FF15 this time around, far gone from the days of the S-soft era...
ssjtk
Don't listen to the critics, they usually have no idea what they are talking about. This movie is fantastic. The world is beautiful and the CGI is breath-taking. This is an amazing action film which a really great story that has a lot of lore to add to Final Fantasy 15. If your a fan of Final Fantasy you are sure to love it. The story shows the war between the Kingdom of Lucis and the Empire of Niffleheim and I am really looking forward to seeing which parts of the movie will be mentioned or be expanded upon in the upcoming game. The fightscenes were some of the best I have seen in an animated movie and the characters really incorporating the warping magic into their fighting styles. Overall this was a really enjoyable movie and I recommend any Final Fantasy fan to see it. I rate this an 8/10.
LucidDreamScape
TL:DR version: Pointless. Pretty, but pointless. Pretty pointless. Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV is the supplementary CGI movie prequel story to Final Fantasy XV, and if you don't know what Final Fantasy is, then I'm amazed how you were able to watch weeb trash and not know what the FF franchise is. Anyways, this film was made to tell the story of how the city of Insomnia fell and how the Kingsglaive (fancy super knights) and the King failed to save it, for in the game you don't witness the events personally. The real reason why this film was made was so Square Enix to get someextra cash for a game they've put so much time and development into, that if the game wasn't a financial success, the company would have been in the red by now. Also to reuse some scenes that were made for the game, but did't fit into the narrative very well during who knows which version of said game.
Now Lucid, you say that the film is a prequel to this game, and from the description that you gave it, this story seems like it's of some level of importance, but you called it pointless, why so? Well I'm glad you asked! Nothing in this film really expands on the story or world in any important way, at all. Everything you learn in the film can be learned in the game itself, and it doesn't really flesh out anything important to enhance the experience of playing the game.
You see, a prequel has to do these 2 things to be considered something worth watching. It must properly flesh out the story and/or world of something that you watched, read, or played. It has to be that puzzle piece that you had no idea was missing, and once you fit that piece in, it fit very well into the overall picture. And 2, it must stand on it's own as a story. If it's just more fleshing out and world building, that's fine, but it's something one would really tell someone else to sit through unless they really liked this other thing they sat through.
I am "glad" to say that Kingsglaive fails at both. I've already described why the film doesn't really do anything to help with the story of XV, but as a stand alone story, it's a really boring action film that looks pretty, sure, but I can't feel anything for the garbage characters or generic plot this film is trying to make me like. More on the boring action, everything is so overblown and over the top, you really lose any sense of pleasure early on, and everything afterwards is just on the same level, therefore being unimpressive. And the characters are so underwritten that I can't really care if they're in danger or not. The OG Gundam animation is dated as all hell, but anytime Amuro fights Char, I am hyped because the series has built up those two characters so well, that I want to see them fight, even if the animation is super weak by modern standards.
And I talk about the action so much because that's what this film has going for it really. There's not much to talk about anything, so best to talk about the 1 thing it really wants to show off, and it fails at doing that. Really, there was 1 time I enjoyed my time watching this movie, and it would be spoilers so I shouldn't really say. Still, it's not like I would even recommend anyone this movie, so I won't say "Watch this one short action sequence, it is so worth the rest of the trash that this movie is!"
Well, the other thing this movie wants to show off is how pretty it is, and while yes, the CGI animation is impressive, and will probably age well thanks to the style not really aiming to be realistic, the art direction is very colorless and cluttered. You will mostly remember the colors black and white, and dark grays. And particle effects, lots of them. Now I'm not saying that having a less colorful aesthetic is inherently bad, far from that, but this movie doesn't really pull off the look it wants to go for.
Once agai, really boring and pointless, looks nice, not offensive. Oh yeah, I watched this in English, and some of the English speaking actors were either given terrible direction or are just bad. The lip flaps (save for the final scene after the credits) were impressive, but still, weak dub. Can't say I saw the Japanese, nor do I really want to. Yeah.
Light 2 outta 10
ArchStanton
Final Fantasy's developed a bit of a problem. Their stories were always quite simple, with evil empires, noble rebels, wizards, demi-god opponents, and monsters. Their strengths were the way they combined them to create emotional plots and unique characters. The problem with the recent installments is that they've buckled down on the exceedingly basic nature of their plots while dramatically increasing the complexity of their descriptions. While previous installments would be content to simply state that people are using a mana cannon, for example, its abilities to be demonstrated in game, more modern ones would feel compelled to describe the nature of the mana cannon,the means by which it draws its power, the construction of it, the strength of its blasts, some metaphysical conundrums raised by it, etc. And of course, they'd be sure to give it a unique and complicated name that you need to remember for later. Worse still, they might create all these details and then not explain them, leaving the audience to figure these things out on their own or requiring them to read the copious compendium. That might sound like exactly what I'm praising the early games for, but the difference is that everyone can work out what it means when they say a mana cannon is firing but it's a lot harder to understand what is meant when an el'Hurpaderp cannon is vlerping. The added details and terminology add nothing and makes everything more confusing. For example here, when the hero fights the villain he does so in league with a giant monster of some kind whose fight seems to echo his fight. What is this thing? Is he controlling it? Is it simply reflecting his actions? Why does his opponent have one too? Are they the same thing? And why couldn't they simply leave it at two guys fighting without confusing everything by adding in giant monsters that serve no purpose?
And so we come to this movie. It's not the worst example of Final Fantasy's weird terminology (it does at least call a magic wall a magic wall) but it's certainly fallen for the trap of overcomplicating simple matters. The basic plot is admirably simple. An evil empire is assaulting the good people of Lucis but they offer a treaty which could end the war at the expense of surrendering the territory outside their capital of Insomnia. The kingsglaive (a military unit filled by people from outside the city, though why the city-dwellers can't fight for themselves isn't clear) is understandably upset over this since that means that their homes are now outside the kingdom they were protecting. Shenanigans ensue, the evil empire is evil, and fin. There should be enough there to fill a movie. But they are so afraid of meaningful or measured expositing (as opposed to shouting out a lot of complicated phrases meaning nothing) that none of this is allowed to be introduced naturally instead of through shouted cries in between battle scenes. And so much that we need to understand is never explained. Who the heck is this Princess Luna and why is she so important? Why is rescuing her from the empire the king's main issue when his entire kingdom is at stake and when the empire was the one to bring her there as bride to the prince in the first place? Why is Prince Noctis so important to the safety of the world and to Luna personally when they've apparently not seen each other in twelve years? These are not minor unresolved questions that can be swept under the rug as cool mysteries to be uncovered later. They inform every decision made in the film and yet we're never allowed to understand the reason behind the characters' behaviour. The core of the second half of the film is Luna's rescue and escape yet we understand none of why this is happening. All that we know is that people are doing things because other people told them to and oh look at the pretty fight scenes.
A part of this is not the film's fault. The film is the companion to the game and as such has to leave out large parts of exposition which is saved for that story. For that reason it shares many faults with Advent Children. But that cannot excuse the way they chose to go about telling this story. If Luna's backstory can't be explained then leave her out of it. Or if that's not possible have one of the game characters (like King Regis) tell Nyx (the movie exclusive lead) that there are powerful secrets here that he cannot reveal to him. Build up a sense of mystery rather than just ignorance. Nyx isn't a lead in the game so what he knows and doesn't know can serve as the audience's surrogate in the film. It doesn't. There's never a real sense of why things are happening, simply a progression from one fight scene to the next. Characters are nonexistent. Nyx is an empty sack made worse by astonishingly bad voice acting from Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul. The man just does not care about any of this. Sean Bean as King Regis and Lena Hedley as Princess Luna (finally a good Cersei) round out the cast and do slightly better, but there's never any real soul to them. I attribute this to the fact that their motivations and behavior are inscrutable due to the aforementioned absence of meaningful exposition. This is especially unfortunate seeing how good the character work in the companion anime Brotherhood was. None of the characters was exactly deep, but they were distinct and had genuine relationships with each other and their world. Here I can't describe a single character trait beyond a description of their jobs. Nyx is, like, a soldier? He fights people I guess. And monster things. Luna's a princess who cares about something larger than herself? I don't know what that something is because they never tell us. Regis is king and he's, like, nice I think? Probably? It's all a vacuous waste made to service the "plot", by which I mean set up cool-looking fight scenes.
As a pretty display of animation the film does alright. The visuals are stunning if so overblown as to be wearing. And the fight scenes with the teleporting swords are pretty damn cool. As a trailer for the world of the game I suppose the film can be tolerated. I know more now than I did before, but at the same time I'm confused and worried that this will be another XIII since all that game's faults are on display bar the endless corridor. That said, Final Fantasy has never adapted well to film and this one is really no worse than Advent Children except for the fact that we went into that one knowing who those characters were. A bad film does not a bad game make, and even if it did the fact that Brotherhood is really quite good gives me some hope that the game is taking a more character-driven approach. I suppose that this film can't really be judged in the absence of the game. It's possible that once the game reveals all this movie will make sense and stand on its own. But I really really doubt it.
LuzuNatalia
Before watching Kingsglaive, if you've never followed the developments of FFXV I suggest you do a little research first about the characters and the story line. This is a prequel of the game so this is important. STORY >>> The story, I say is quite good. Of course this doesn't shine away from crystals or the typical final fantasy themes of recent years but this has it's own charms and flair. There are a couple of scenes with cheesy lines (kind of, imo) but can be ignored. And the plot has its surprises. ART >>> WOW! It's fantastic graphics, and shows how much the FFseries has evolved.
SOUND >>> Nothing grandiose here but the sounds fits the scenes.
CHARACTER >>> The characters are nice and for mostly an action packed film there's character development for the main cast.
ENJOYMENT >>> Really enjoyed it and would recommend it to FF fans (or to non FF followers/fans, again just do a little research first otherwise you'd end up lost).
LucentRivers
This movie holds up really well both in terms of visuals and story. Nyx and Luna, and sometimes King Regis carry the movie in terms of character, as the others all come off as pretty cliche and just sort of pawns to the whole thing. There are some missteps and missed opportunities, particularly in how the film squanders some of its promising characters, but overall this film works as a big hype up to 15 so much that it made me hate 15. I was expecting way more than what we got. Sure, I haven't played 15 since it has ben bandaided by DLCs, butthe product I played on release was pretty pitiful and incomplete in terms of story, and most of what's interesting about this entry to the FF series happened in Kingsglaive. Nyx is a way cooler and more interesting protagonist than boy-band wannabe emo prince Noctis and I wish for once we could get an FF GAME about a real man and not some emo pretty boy. The sword warping effects and battles in Kingsglaive are off the chain, and the use of magic is more tangible and convincing than in any other FF movie to date. The ring of the Lucii seems vastly nerfed in FF15 compared to how it is used in the movie though, so again, this movie set up a lot of things that the game would later disappoint me on. All in all, I think Kingsglaive is a movie for adults and does not come off as pandering to any younger audience than that. On the other hand, the game it's a prequel too definitely panders to a teenage and young adult crowd, so it definitely feels jarring in more ways than one moving from the prequel into the main game. Not to mention going from mind blowing action to running around in the desert trying to get a broken down car running again... Yeesh. The aesthetic and realization of magic and battles in Kingsglaive are at peak form for the FF cinematic world. There are some touching moments of morality and sense of care/duty for family and friends from some of its characters but beyond that the story is nothing too crazy. It sets up the game and leaves you let down for what an incoherent borefest is to come when you play it. I think this film set the bar too high for what was to come, unfortunately.
robert788
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2016) As far as this goes it has received some pretty harsh criticism which I honestly do not think is deserved. Yes, it is an advert to the game that was obviously going to be the case since it is based around that so heavily and the people that seem to be shocked by this need to take a step back. The story can be a bit jumbly but it is at the same time great, it covers a lot and fills in pretty much everything I need to know. I do not finish this thinking that I have a list ofplotholes at all.
The art is fantastic. It is a genuine masterpiece artistically with how CGI can be. It is crisp and lifelike. Some moan that the camera can move around too fast as such and makes it blurry and it is like what? like many live actions films do, absolutely it should during fast-paced action sequences.
The soundtrack is great too and they have depth, damn I love the depth, it shook my surround sound and that is what I wanted. I love the voices too they are so engaging.
Characters are well filled out, to the point that you know enough about everyone you care about. Some people don't really matter they won't last so it doesn't matter because you get a good summary and others you get a life story.
The character model for Lunafreya Nox Fleuret is just superbly done. Visually she is a queen and verbally she is an angel.
Overall it is a solid 9/10. At the end of the day, it is an advert for a game in the form of a movie and it isn't perfect but it sets the bar high for the use of CGI correctly.
9/10.
ShadowCode
When Final fantasy comes to mind, I can think only of killing monsters as I have played a few of the games and enjoyed them. However when it comes to this movie, that really isn't the case(mostly). Story:6 The story itself was pretty basic. Lucis and the Niflheim empire have been at war for years. A magical crystal that protects Lucis manages to keep the empire out. Niflheim manages to break in but the Kingsglaive(The military taskforce)are there to stop them. Characters:6 The characters too me didn't really stand out much. The majority of them didn't get much screen time so it's kind of understandable. The one thatdid get most of the screen time was Nyx. He was a total badass and voiced by the one and only Aaron Paul(if you watched the dubbed).
Sound:10
This is one of the movies strong points. The music that is played throughout is always on at the right time and goes along with what is occurring. The sound effects that come from the cars, swords clashing and everything else is top notch. The voice acting was great too.
Art/Animation:9
When it comes to the animation, it was almost flawless. Some of the fight scenes were a little messy and were kind of hard to keep up with. Though they were still enjoyable. Some face movements were kind of off. The art however was phenomenal. Throughout the movie I was forgetting that I was watching an anime because it was so realistic.
Overall:8
Even though the story and characters were kind of basic, the art and sound were fantastic. The action scenes is what made me hooked throughout the entirety of this movie and just made me wanting more. If you are into action and drama with stunning visuals, i'd give this movie a chance. Id recommend watching this dubbed because since there is so much to look at, the subs would just get in the way and distract you from this gorgeous movie.
AccDelete
I am not really familiar with the plot of Final Fantasy XV, nor did I have any particular expactations about this movie - I watched it pretty much on a whim, but I don't coonsider it a time wasted. While it lacked a lot of things - the lip sync was off, there were a few too many loopholes and unexplained plot developments, and the story WAS fairly simple. Even taking all this into consideration, it was rather fun and engaging watching this. I liked both the animation and the music. The action sequences were entertaining, but a bit chaotic, and it was sometimes abit difficult to tell what's going on(altough I guess that's usually the case with action sequences). This is far from a must-watch, but I can't help but disagree with people that give this movie the lowest of scores, because while it has many shortcomings, somehow, magically, it's still enjoyable to see.
Mugetsu-
Every parent at some point in their life will be forced to watch a direct-to-dvd movie of their darling child’s favorite franchise, and don’t laugh at their suffering, Dear Reader, chances are you will know this fate as well. You know the ones I’m talking about. Let’s say for this instance: Bionicle: Web of Shadows. The flick gives little if any reason for someone unfamiliar with the franchise to pay exact attention or hold on, a monologue here; a slight explanation of this character there. The parent finds ways to get through this. Some shots are cool. Some fight scenes are pretty great. Even so,this is how these experiences usually end, the parent saying: “Well that was okay. Time to change the channel to what I want now.”
Why do I mention this? Because Kingsglaive is that movie. No matter how much it disguises itself in a gorgeous, enchanting - but hollow veil. This is most evident in how the film itself looks. Kingsglaive to this day, nearing four years later, is the most technically beautiful entry into the medium, would you expect any less from Square Enix pumping twenty million dollars into this? It’s simply unfair to compare it to practically anything else in its category. . . but, if you analyze it just a tad more you’ll realize that despite how magnificent the film looks, it doesn’t know how to engage you in that world consistently.
Kingsglaive borrows the aesthetic of Final Fantasy 7, which 7 itself borrowed from Blade Runner. Grim and somehow alive feeling-cities toned with a gentle nocturne palette, characters bathed in shades of onyx with this to only be contrasted by the film’s antagonist faction of Niflheim. What I believe makes Kingsglaive a joy to look at is how Nozue, Takeshi, well known for his work on Advent Children, creates a pleasing and thematically potent collocation of vibrant colors contrasting and shining through the almost predestined lens ordering for everything to be black. Pardon any confusion, but what I’m saying is: Kingsglaive is beautiful because its colors exist in contradiction, but also harmony, which is even more fitting considering the themes of - well - not this film but the game which this is meant to be a prequel to, and fails miserably at.
You’ve more than likely read the synopsis so I will gall with details as briefly as possibly, frankly this isn’t as exactly enthralling or complex as Macbeth anyhow. Two kingdoms, Lucius and Niflheim, have been at war with each other for god-knows how long, Nifleheim uses clankers (one person will get that reference) and monsters, while Lucius employs the titular Kingsglaive who are basically battle-mage-badasses. The majestically both designed and acted Ardyn Izunia proposes a peace treaty when your typical menagerie of political chess ensues as both sides rush to get tactical advantage over the lands before this treaty can be officially signed.
Sounds cool? You have the right idea, but try more: “satisfactory.” While this idea is awesome on paper and does shine through in some breathtaking action scenes, it makes me wish that, unlikely as this would be, we could get a full, half-budget series that would slow the pacing of movie down a tad, maybe a twenty-four episode series if Square would have been so kind, allowing this would have given the audience a chance to get attached to the characters that, guess what? I still can’t remember after watching this movie five times now.
Don’t blame me or yourself after you get done watching it, they’re paper thin at best, it’s as if the writers put more effort into the etymology of their names than developing any traits for us to actually REMEMBER THEIR NAMES. Uh, I guess our main protagonist is cocky, hot-headed and arrogant, and his throughline of learning to be humble is fulfilled by the end of the film by atoning with some sense of martyrdom? The plot is a bloated-corpse but ironically not hard to follow at all from our viewpoints, it’s only difficult to understand because our characters are basically the only look into this, in theory, engaging world, yet our tour-bus driver is a bore.
Soundtrack? What soundtrack? Not a single song is stuck in my head which is frankly disrespectful to the amazing Yoko Shimomura who composed Final Fantasy: XV’s soundtrack. Did Square really not want to bring her along for the ride or at least borrow a few of the masterfully composed tracks from the game, maybe compose some quick three-to-five little notes? Anything would be better than the typical cacophonous, Hollywood-stir that this film claims to be an OST, it will only sound pleasing when characters are in motion and engaging an enemy, nothing you can listen to on your own in the slightest.
To make matters even more dire, these character’s have odd dialogue and some pretty awkward scenes together when they’re not kicking the enemy’s ass, which by-the-by is the only time they’re palatable, and looking back on it more it seems that whoever was shooting these action scenes excelled when the battles were at a distance, such as the opening warfare at the beginning of the film, but it becomes a boggled and deranged mess in close-quarters combat, meaning that they’re only cool to look at about half of the time they’re on screen, the rest of the time before the film’s endgame you will be cringing at awkward writing I think they’re mistake for chemistry?
What’s particularly sad is that the VA’s are doing their best to make this work, I can tell Lena and Aaron tried digging through the scripts as well as motivations to breathe some semblance of life into these pale concepts, these are renowned and high-level talents in this movie, yet in the end they only achieve barely making these voices heard due to being smothered by terrible lines. Characters do have arcs and throughlines in the film indeed, though don’t expect for any of them (besides Nyx just barely) to be fulfilled in a satisfying way. If a death does happen, you will not care.
Perhaps this is just the curse of Kingsglaive being based on a JRPG, which are known to be jumbled messes of metaphysics and fate with shaky stories and some stand out, but most of the time forgotten characters - but hey, it looks pretty, right? Sure. No denying that, but I also cannot deny that there's nothing worth looking at twice. I get an impression that Kingsglaive does not desire to be a work of art on its own, but more so telling the viewer to buy Final Fantasy XV. Hell, it’s even in the title of the film. So, what else is there to say about it? Not much, really.
Should you watch it? When you have two hours to kill on a boring Friday night, but I don’t blame someone for having this on their plan to watch list for years and never actually looking at it. Kingsglaive, despite how beautiful it looks is an afterthought. At its best, it will make you buy Final Fantasy: XV. At its worst? You’ll feel like you’ve just thrown away two hours of your life - and change the channel.
Lombandicoot
With a plot made interesting with kingdom politicking and themes of faith, loyalty, and service; Final Fantasy XV: Kingslaive stands as a solid movie on it's own while also filling in a huge hole for the game. My opinion is definitely shaped by the fact that I'm nearly finished with the game as of the time watching this, but outside of a bunch of proper nouns this movie didn't seem to hard to follow. The only criticism I have is that it does drag a bit towards the end, going for a bit longer than it maybe should have. But, I also can't complain aboutextra screen time for the top notch computer animation and awesome action scenes.
Yuee12
This review contains some spoilers. I think that first of all, as a Final Fantasy fan, I have to say that this is the movie worst adaptated for this universe. I'm not saying that this makes it a bad movie, not at all, but only I wanted to clarify that. Advent Children and The Spirits Within were much more of a Final Fantasy than this one. Kingsglaive is not a bad movie per se, but it doesn't highlight in anything. Of course, technical section is impressive and impeccable: characters (even if Nyx isn't that well drawn), lights, places... This all is made with perfection so themovie can really be enjoyed.
We have a movie that is divided in three acts: the first one is quite mediocre, as the script is capricious and the structure directly amorphous. We have two kingdoms fighting between each other and the presentation of some characters that are living this. About Nyx, character of Final Fantasy XV, we only know something about him (and see him) at the start (and after the credits) of the movie, and I'm not complaining about this either: I only expose it.
But about Lunafreya, also character of Final Fantasy XV, we know many other things, as she is protagonist alongside Nyx Ulric, a member of the Kingsglaive (Guards of the King), and King Regis, Nyx's father. I do not think that the characters of the film are bad at all: Nyx and Lunafreya are, in my opinion, a bit wasted, and leave Regis as, by far, the best thing of this movie, as he is the only one to really be natural, to really be a character and to breath as one.
As I was saying, the first act is bad, but the second one gets really incredible. The tension that we feel and experience as the movie goes on remembers me about Game of Thrones, specially in the scene where Regis and Iedolas are simply talking. In that moment, we have Nyx fighting to save Lunafreya from General Glauca and an opening of scene very impressive, composed by a certain number of different cameras coming from left and right to the center of the screen. I think that this block of the film in particular, adding the duel in the palace, is very well made (not because of the plot, because we arrive at this point just "because", but because of how it is done on-screen).
Nevertheless, the third act is really shameful: it's a constant block of fighting and it seems to never end. I can accept the part of Nyx being the chosen to put the ring and to use its powers; I can accept General Glauca being the leader of the Kingsglaive; and I can also say that I seriously liked the ending scene of Nyx, when the sun sets and he dies peaceful and romantically. What I can't accept is seeing big statues fighting and destroying Insomnia. That is only spectacle with no good reason.
So, is Kingsglaive a good movie? I can certainly say that it is not a bad one, and that is has some interesting ideas, but Nozue, our "dear" director of this movie, didn't know how to use them. Anyway, I think it is worth watching.
Thedude3445
(Review originally posted on Letterboxd) This movie tried really, really hard to be something special, something more than a tie-in prologue to a video game, and it got fairly close, but its execution was unfortunately not as good as its ambition. This movie, essentially the Rogue One to the recent video game Final Fantasy XV, is the story of some guardsmen as they deal with the impending collapse of their kingdom after a really long war. The movie opens with a fairly incomprehensible opening monologue and throws us right into the action with pretty much no explanation afterwards. Anyone who complained about Warcraft being hard to followneeds to watch this and see just how hard it COULD have been; I was thoroughly baffled for the first fifteen minutes at least. Though... I started to dig it eventually, thanks in part to the well-crafted worldbuilding.
There's a lot to praise about the movie technically. The CGI is several steps above other recent Japanese-animated movies such as Space Captain Harlock, and the movie was specially re-animated for the English version, so the lips move in-sync, which really surprised me at first. The world of Final Fantasy XV is also intricately-designed, and you can tell that in every scene from the beautiful sets and costumes (can I use those terms for CGI movies?). It's a sign that, even without motion-capture performances, computer animation is coming a long way and it's going to look superb in just a few years.
The story is also wrapped up in ambition; there's a big political plot and a whole lot of machinations and it's genuinely compelling to a degree. However, the execution is pretty poor in some areas; there's one subplot that seems really minor, disappears, and then becomes very important, but in a confusing way. The entire main plot is also incredibly convoluted. It's unfortunate, but it's not incredibly difficult to follow unless you already gave up by that point.
Some of the action setpieces are genuinely amazing; the final battle has a dual-battle that plays with scale in ways that I had never thought about from any action movie. And some of them are just storyboarded really-well. However, the editing for these sequences is oftentimes strange and makes them hard to follow. The opening battle sequence is actually the worst example, which is probably what left me so confused for so long into the movie's first act.
Also, because I watched the English dub, I got some pretty mediocre voice acting from the non-principal cast, with a lot of annoying anime voices. Aaron Paul is good, though. The sound editing for the voice acting is also damn bad, making it sound like, well, a dub. The voices usually sound like they're coming from disembodied sources offscreen rather from the characters speaking. It's not always the case, though, so I know they could have done better.
Overall I can't help but have enjoyed the movie; it's ridiculously complicated, very self-serious, and pretty dorky, with a ton of narrative flaws, but it's entertaining enough that I can give it the benefit of the doubt. A lot like Jupiter Ascending, actually. I doubt I will ever play Final Fantasy XV, but this movie did make me very interested in it, at least.
GooseMcloose
Note: I wrote this review a few months after I saw it. I can't be bothered to watch it again but, I felt like my opinion on it was worth sharing. I try not to go into plot too much for people who are just looking for a general review without spoiling anything so I hope y'all have a good read and that I (somehow) Convince you to watch or not watch this movie. Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV The Story: So the story takes place right after Noctis leaves. The only thing you really get from it in the game is that shit went down inthe city and the movie shows what happened in the city while Noctis and the boy band were off on their magical boy adventure. Without spoiling a quick summary would be that the main character is in the Kingsglaive a group of people that protects the Crown City and the King it follows Nyx Ulric as he goes through the Niflheim army's invasion in the Crown City
Art:
Kingsglaive should be seen as a really long Final Fantasy CGI Cutscene. And honestly it looks really good. It never really reaches the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children final battle level but it does have some pretty great action sequences.
Sound:
All I can say is the music is good and the voice acting for the most part is pretty good aswell so I guess it can have that.
Characters:
There are like 3 major characters in this movie so ill give a brief summary of all of them.
King Regis Lucis Caelum: King Regis is the current king of Lucis, he has very strong magic abilities and gets introduced an honourable man and a caring father, He uses the Ring of the Lucii to channel the power of Insomnia's Crystal. With that power he maintains the Wall.
Lunafreya Nox Fleuret: There's nothing to say about Lunfreya in this movie. I guess the enemy in the movie are trying to kidnap her (It's pretty vague about what exactly they are trying to do with her) and that's kind of it you see her dealing with the city being demolished and how incredible shocked she is by the events that happen inside the city (I mean that ironically she doesn't have any real emotion she is the only one who's acting I don't like, Lena Headey is a good actress but her performance in this film isn't good, I wouldn't say bad just not good I like the game's Lunafreya's performance more.) I never felt that she was actually well written or doing something noteable in the movie.
Nyx Ulric: The main protagonist of the movie. Let's get acting out of the way first Aaron Paul did a pretty good voice performance and didn't dissapoint me in this movie. Nyx got saved as a child by King Regis, to repay him he serves in the Kingsglaive. Nyx is also the only character that keeps your intrest in the movie. He's a pretty alright character and seems to be the only one who's able to make wise decisions in the film.
There are more people to talk about but these are the 3 characters I felt I could give a good description off without spoiling anything.
Overall
For me this film is a very mixed bag. On a technical level it looks and sounds fantastic, but the story is goddamn awful it makes sense but it's bland and really some of the things the characters do go right against how the movie seems to want the characters to act. But the action sequences and the presence of Nyx Ulric actually being pretty good I can't say it's good nor bad. I watched this before playing Final Fantasy XV and I think the only way you would enjoy this film is if you are planning to play or have played Final Fantasy XV. It's kind of the same problem Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children had (But Advent Children was better and actually felt like a good return to form for Cloud and Co while this movie will never give you the same epic feeling as that movie did)
I give it a 6 because while it isn't a good movie at all ,like really just avoid it if you don't like Final Fantasy, it is a fun preview of the world you will be spending your time in in the game and nothing more then that.
