Review of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale (2017) by Nevan D — 30 Jun 2017

This movie left me with a stupid smile on my face. I wasn't expecting anything associated with SAO to be "good", but I was glad to be wrong. It's visually stunning, sound design is spectacular (something which is typically overlooked for some reason), antagonists were reasonably fleshed out and the psychological elements were a welcome addition.

Make no mistake, this is not a perfect movie by any means. In fact the first 30 minutes were cringe-worthy at best, overflowing with exposition, poorly written dialogue as well as one too many footage clips from the original series. Some of this exposition continues throughout the entire movie, but it stops becoming noticeable after a while.

For those worried about fanservice, I wouldn't be. While you shouldn't show this PG-13 class (although it's rated PG) to kids because of its adult themes and fairly brutal sequences, it doesn't contain nearly as much fanservice as the original. There are 2 sequences where it is noticeable, they aren't intrusive, and didn't ruin my experience of the movie.

So if this movie has so many issues, why the 4 stars?! Well, here's why. Despite its shortcomings, SAO:OS delivered in almost every category. Watching it in cinemas was a treat given it's drop-dead gorgeous action sequences with sound quality comparable to a Marvel movie. The characters weren't as boring as the original (but still not quite good enough to interest SAO haters). But above all, my favorite aspects of the film were without question the psychological elements. Some moments were so well written and deep, and when combined with the outstanding soundtrack (which surprisingly didn't take anything from the original) gave me chills.

So final verdict! If you hated the original SAO, this won't change your mind. If you loved it, you'll love every aspect of this movie. But if you found any form of enjoyment in the original SAO, especially around the fight sequences, you will be happy you watched it. Although some parts of the movie were fairly awful, making me feel obligated to tear off one of the five stars as a result, or the equivalent of 20% in the Tomatometer. The movie isn't perfect, but I left with a giddiness that I simply never found in the original series. This is certainly the best SAO story to date.

However please note, many of the experiences I had will be inferior watching it online or digitally, so please, if you have the chance to, watch it in cinemas. You're in for a real treat.