Apr 17, 2022
This review is more directed to those who already have prior experience with Kingdom Hearts or at least know a bit about it. I highly advise against watching it as a first look into Kingdom Hearts or as a standalone movie, as it has little substance and it's hard to make sense of it on its own (even though it does come first chronologically). Since Kingdom Hearts 4 has now been announced, this movie and the lore within the mobile games are more important than ever. I say this because the trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4 has a character and multiple references to things that
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have only been shown in this portion of the story. As you may already know, Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover tells the story of the Keyblade War through the Fortellers' perspective rather than the players. This is why it's important to not only watch this movie, but also the cutscenes from the mobile games Union Cross and Dark Road. Eventually when Missing Link is released that's going to add on some more story relevant plot points. The reason I'm saying all of this is because the movie tells a largely incomplete story that probably won't leave you satisfied. Characters like Ephemer show up but won't be shown doing much despite having played big roles in the overall plot. That's not to say the movie is unimportant, in fact it gives a nice showcase into how the Keyblade War unfolded from the Foretellers' perspective that we never get to see in the mobile games.
The visuals and art are pretty solid. There's not much to complain about here. The animation in the fight scenes are well done too. 8/10. There are a few REALLY good voice actors, like the Master of Masters, while other characters' voices feel off-putting, like Aced. If you enjoyed the voice acting during game cutscenes or at least managed them, then you should be fine. Otherwise the sound and music is adequate, nothing extraordinary but not bad either. 6/10. The characters range from being pretty intriguing and mysterious to straight up uninteresting. I think this is due to the movie's length being relatively short making it so that not all the foretellers get adequate screen time. For example we get to see plenty of cool scenes with Ava and the Dandelions while Gula and Invi don't have too much going for them. Some characters like Ira and Aced may annoy you at times because they make some impulsive and unintelligent decisions, but this is certainly not the first time (and probably not the last either) we've seen this in Kingdom Hearts so it shouldn't be something that completely deters you from watching the movie. 7/10. Storywise it sets up a lot of plot points and mysteries that get explored in the games so far. They're also going to become relevant in future installments so you can't really miss out on this one if you wanna understand the story moving forward. Because it works as a background for other events, do not expect to have your questions answered by the end of the movie. No, it is not enough to only watch this if you want to grab the whole scope of what's going on. A lot of the content supplements Union Cross so you'll feel the most complete by watching that along with this. Based on the trailer for Missing Link, it seems that is also going to help tie in all of the story elements presented here and in Union Cross. Kingdom Hearts Dark Road is a bit separate, as it focuses on a character that is relevant to the first saga long after the events of the Keyblade War. There are a few connections between Dark Road and these plotlines, but it is not the focus. 9/10.
I really enjoyed the movie. I had a blast discussing its meanings and contents with others as well. One of the best parts was theorizing what was gonna happen next and trying to piece it all together until Union Cross ended. Without the mobile games and the preexisting Kingdom Hearts story, this movie is mostly a mess without much to be gained from watching it. In my opinion it only works within the larger context. At least that is why I enjoyed it as much as I did. 9/10.
Overall, it's a solid movie for a Kingdom Hearts fan wanting to know more of the lore from another perspective. The experience becomes a lot better if you add on the story of the mobile game Union Cross, so much so that I would almost say it's necessary if you want to get any meaning from it. 8/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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