Every time a children's game gets enough money, a film seems almost inevitable (the Pokemon series, for example has at least 18 films by now). But with something that already has a set-out plot, how can you tie a stand-alone film into the plot without disrupting some form of continuity? Beats me, and apparently it also stumps the creators of the Yu-Gi-Oh movie.
As a big fan of the card game (even hosting a club at my school), it only figures I'd be a fan of the original TV series. The show, about a teenage boy uncovering the secret of a magical artifact that gives him incredible card game skills in addition to an alternate form known as Yami, wasn't a terrific show, but it was fun to watch the cartoon characters duel and to see your favorite cards come to life in all of their glory. At least, it was awesome when you were younger.
Since then, the rules of the game have seriously changed. Monsters have gotten much easier to summon, cards have been banned, and deck types have allowed for new strategies than the spellcasters and dragons of old times. Practically anybody sporting a newer deck could run into the older series and dominate every duelist within a 50-mile radius.
Sure, the rules were BS at times, but it was still fun to watch. It was an all-around decent show with cool villains, decent animation and a sweet card game to go along with it. So naturally, when the marketing department hit it's peak, a film based on the game and series was produced.
I was a big Yu-Gi-Oh fan back in the day (still am), and so I jumped at the chance to see this film. I packed my deck, my Duel Delight flavored Bellywasher (does anybody remember these?), my duel disk and my box of Yu-Gi-Oh cereal (that's right- look it up), bought my ticket and prepared for the duel of the century, on the big screen this time. And....to be honest, it was kind of underwhelming.
Yeah, the ultimate battle between the pharaoh of ancient Egypt and his billionaire archrival Kaiba wasn't exactly what I expected. In fact, it was kind of weird, even by Yu-Gi-Oh standards (this is the same show that had a gay clown ghost). But we can't really discuss the show right now, so it's time to duel.... against an underwhelming movie.
So the main aspect of the film we need to discuss is the duels themselves. The first real duel of the film- Kaiba versus the incredibly flamboyant creator of Yu-Gi-Oh Pegasus- really got my hopes up- Kaiba interrogates Pegasus and challenges him to a duel for the only card that can defeat the three Egyptian God Cards that Yugi holds in his deck.
Right off the bat, this is a good duel by the film's standards- we get to see some of Pegasus's signature Toon monsters lay an early smackdown on Kaiba, only to discover that Kaiba's plan all along was to purposely get his own monsters removed from play to summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon (which is actually a really good strategic move from back then), destroying Pegasus's Toons and blasting him to his defeat. Kaiba searches Pegasus's collection for the card, only to find two instead. Pegasus insists there's only one card, but Kaiba doesn't believe him.
Back in the mainland, we see our main character visiting a museum exhibit about ancient Egypt (which is actually Ishizu Ishtar's, the sister of the man who once held the Winged Dragon Of Ra god card) and discovering the Pyramid of Light, an ancient artifact brilliantly designed to look like the Millineum Puzzle upside down, that is said to hold the spirit of the Egyptian lord of the dead Anubis, who Yami defeated thousands of years ago in a children's card game). But before they can truly uncover the mystery, Kaiba's little brother Mokuba appears and tells Yugi to go to the Kaibacorp stadium for the ultimate duel.
When Yami enters the arena to duel against Kaiba, I noticed that Kaiba's entire deck was differently styled. His major cards, his signature Blue-Eyes White Dragons, were there, but nothing else was. Yugi's deck was the same as always, with the exception of the god cards.
After only 2 turns, Yugi manages to summon his first Egyptian God Card (interesting to mention, he got it from a possessed mime)- Slifer, The Sky Dragon, also known as the weakest god card ever. But Kaiba, in an unexpected move, not only accepts the challenge, but forces Yugi to play all 3 of his god cards at once with Obligatory Summon, which does not exist (I'm just sayin). Then, he reveals one of the new cards he got from Pegasus: None other than a card based on the artifact we saw in the beginning, the Pyramid Of Light, which forces Yugi to remove from the game all of his gods.
Now one other thing I want to mention is the card packs that came with the ticket: that's right, you got a booster pack for watching. When I opened it, I saw the Pyramid Of Light, and I was disappointed to see that not only did it not remove god cards from the game, it ended up having something to do with "Sphinx" monsters.
I hadn't been to far into the film when I opened the pack- I had no idea what these "Sphinx" monsters were, and was really hoping to get a great card of destruction. Other cards included two monsters used by Kaiba once, and something called Watapon, which holds the record for being the most useless monster in existence at the time.
Yami's little boy host Yugi and his friends get sucked into the Milinneum Puzzle by the mysterious force of the Pyramid Of Light. As they search the puzzle for the secret of how to stop the Pyramid Of Light, Yami is in deep trouble.
Without his god cards, Yami is slowly being crippled by his opponent- his deck is shot down by a virus and his only hope rests with his new card- The Sorcerer Of Dark Magic. It quickly decimates Kaiba's dragons and stops his virus, clearing Kaiba's field. All seems to be turning in Yami's favor until Kaiba unleashes his new monster- and the star of the film- Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon.
This guy had the best animation I saw in the film- and also the best effects. His attack shoots up, he can choose what targets him and what doesn't, and even sacrifice himself to destroy anything on the field. Opening another pack (the theater lady knew me and gave me 5) I was surprised to see the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon in the pack, but my heart sank when I realized you had to summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (a card that's already insanely hard to summon) to play it, and it lost it's final effect. But on with the film:
Just when Kaiba can easily decimate Yami with a single attack, he decides to drag the duel out for as long as possible by using Blue-Eyes Shining's effect to destroy the Pyramid of Light, then planning to use Return From The Different Dimension (a card included in the packs, which to my delight actually did what it did in the film) to bring yami's gods back on to Kaiba's side and kill him with his own cards. It is, in his opinion, a perfect victory.
Too bad the Pyramid doesn't want Kaiba to have his flashy ending.
As soon as he uses the Shining dragon's ultimate ability, A large and slimy naked man appears behind Kaiba (don't look at his penis, don't look at his penis, don't look at his penis....) and throws him to the side before he manifests as the human version of Anubis, Yami's old rival. And I have to admit,no matter how unoriginal he is, he looks pretty badass.
Seriously, how come you never see this guy at conventions? I could imagine a great cosplay for him. He looks SO COOL, and yet somehow he manages to be the least interesting character in the movie. He has no real personality other than "Hey, I'm an evil guy who wants to destroy the pharaoh. And I have a pyramid."
Now that wouldn't be SO bad- Many movie villains have no real personality- but compared to the other villains of Yu-Gi-Oh, he lacks the motivation or hatred of the others. Pegasus wanted to resurrect his dead wife, Marik was abused by his father and has a demented dark side, and even Noah (from the awful season 3 of the anime) just wanted to live the life he never had. Anubis? Nothing. But he does throw Kaiba aside and finish the duel with the pharaoh on his own. You know the saying: if you want a children's card game played right, you've got to play it yourself.
Anubis unleashes his monsters- Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia, massive beasts of impressive attack and defense that quickly overwhelm Yami's monsters (As Kaiba labeled them, a cream puff and an elf), leaving our hero at a measly 100 life points. However, Yami exploits a totally bullshit rule that does not exist and grabs Monster Reborn from Kaiba's graveyard, allowing him to revive Blue-Eyes Shining.
Back in the puzzle, Yugi and his friends discover the eye of Anubis, a magical artifact that when shattered, will break the strength of the Pyramid Of Light (how convienent) as the group overpowers mummies to shatter the eye and thus break the invincibility of the card, thus allowing Yami to activate the dragon's effect and blow up the pyramid once and for all, and the sphinxes along with it. Or does he?
Unfortunately for our hero, Anubis has one last trick up his sleeve: his ace card, Thinien The Great Sphinx, that can only be summoned when both of the lower sphinx are destroyed at once. And let me say, I was awe struck at this monster's power. Anubis feeds the creature all of the souls of the monsters in both players' decks (and Kaiba's for some reason), boosting it's attack to a massive 30000 and preparing to absolutely destroy his foe. Luckily, Yami and Yugi become one again and activate Kaiba's facedown trap- Return From The Different Dimension, allowing him to bring back all of the gods and fusing them together for a monster with unlimted attack, blasting Thinien to pieces and the rest of Anubis's health along with it. The Pyramid Of Light around his neck shatters as he is brought to his knees, and all that remains of Anubis is the eye in the center of the pyramid.
Just as everything seems to be ending, the eye starts to glow and Anubis becomes a badass giant dog demon with the intent to destroy the entire stadium and then the world. He reveals that all of the monsters in the decks are real now as Yugis friends try to guard him and Kaiba with monsters that easily get destroyed by Anubis. Pegasus, who appeared earlier, rescues Yugis friends and holds off the collapsing stadium with Toon monsters allowing him to escape. He reveals that yes, he created Blue-Eyes Shining, but the spirit of Anubis placed the Pyramid Of Light in his collection in hopes that it would be used.
Also worth mentioning, earlier in the film, Pegasus has my favorite line in the entire movie: when asked how he knows about the Pyramid Of Light and its mythos, you expect some kind of ancient magic backstory or saying knowing the guy (this guy used to have an ancient artifact shoved in his eye socket), but no:
Ï looked it up.¨
So anyway, Yugi realizes that if the monsters are real, so are their powers- including the Blue-Eyes Shining's abillity to destroy any monster. It sacrifices itself to destroy Anubis, shattering the eye and ending the film.
As a duelist, can I really hate this movie? I guess in a way, I can and cant at the same time.
OVERALL RATING: 5/10
---------------------------------
So its not the best movie. Definitely not. A lot of the main story is lost in the film, the cards are kind of lame (except for Return From The Different Dimension, which is used to this day) and there isn't really a lot to look at without raising more questions (Why didnt Ishizu ever tell Yugi about this artifact?).
But on the bright side, it does play out like an episode of the show: the duel is clean, although somewhat slow, the characters are true to their personalities, and the animation is pretty cool at times (especially in Blue-Eyes Shining and the cataclysmic ending). Overall, its definitely not a super film, but as a duelist, I can appreciate the good parts and loathe the bad.
But trust me, if I was in the film, I could wipe them all out. King Of Games, bitches.
Just when Kaiba can easily decimate Yami with a single attack, he decides to drag the duel out for as long as possible by using Blue-Eyes Shining's effect to destroy the Pyramid of Light, then planning to use Return From The Different Dimension (a card included in the packs, which to my delight actually did what it did in the film) to bring yami's gods back on to Kaiba's side and kill him with his own cards. It is, in his opinion, a perfect victory.
Too bad the Pyramid doesn't want Kaiba to have his flashy ending.
As soon as he uses the Shining dragon's ultimate ability, A large and slimy naked man appears behind Kaiba (don't look at his penis, don't look at his penis, don't look at his penis....) and throws him to the side before he manifests as the human version of Anubis, Yami's old rival. And I have to admit,no matter how unoriginal he is, he looks pretty badass.
Seriously, how come you never see this guy at conventions? I could imagine a great cosplay for him. He looks SO COOL, and yet somehow he manages to be the least interesting character in the movie. He has no real personality other than "Hey, I'm an evil guy who wants to destroy the pharaoh. And I have a pyramid."
Now that wouldn't be SO bad- Many movie villains have no real personality- but compared to the other villains of Yu-Gi-Oh, he lacks the motivation or hatred of the others. Pegasus wanted to resurrect his dead wife, Marik was abused by his father and has a demented dark side, and even Noah (from the awful season 3 of the anime) just wanted to live the life he never had. Anubis? Nothing. But he does throw Kaiba aside and finish the duel with the pharaoh on his own. You know the saying: if you want a children's card game played right, you've got to play it yourself.
Anubis unleashes his monsters- Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia, massive beasts of impressive attack and defense that quickly overwhelm Yami's monsters (As Kaiba labeled them, a cream puff and an elf), leaving our hero at a measly 100 life points. However, Yami exploits a totally bullshit rule that does not exist and grabs Monster Reborn from Kaiba's graveyard, allowing him to revive Blue-Eyes Shining.
Back in the puzzle, Yugi and his friends discover the eye of Anubis, a magical artifact that when shattered, will break the strength of the Pyramid Of Light (how convienent) as the group overpowers mummies to shatter the eye and thus break the invincibility of the card, thus allowing Yami to activate the dragon's effect and blow up the pyramid once and for all, and the sphinxes along with it. Or does he?
Unfortunately for our hero, Anubis has one last trick up his sleeve: his ace card, Thinien The Great Sphinx, that can only be summoned when both of the lower sphinx are destroyed at once. And let me say, I was awe struck at this monster's power. Anubis feeds the creature all of the souls of the monsters in both players' decks (and Kaiba's for some reason), boosting it's attack to a massive 30000 and preparing to absolutely destroy his foe. Luckily, Yami and Yugi become one again and activate Kaiba's facedown trap- Return From The Different Dimension, allowing him to bring back all of the gods and fusing them together for a monster with unlimted attack, blasting Thinien to pieces and the rest of Anubis's health along with it. The Pyramid Of Light around his neck shatters as he is brought to his knees, and all that remains of Anubis is the eye in the center of the pyramid.
Just as everything seems to be ending, the eye starts to glow and Anubis becomes a badass giant dog demon with the intent to destroy the entire stadium and then the world. He reveals that all of the monsters in the decks are real now as Yugis friends try to guard him and Kaiba with monsters that easily get destroyed by Anubis. Pegasus, who appeared earlier, rescues Yugis friends and holds off the collapsing stadium with Toon monsters allowing him to escape. He reveals that yes, he created Blue-Eyes Shining, but the spirit of Anubis placed the Pyramid Of Light in his collection in hopes that it would be used.
Also worth mentioning, earlier in the film, Pegasus has my favorite line in the entire movie: when asked how he knows about the Pyramid Of Light and its mythos, you expect some kind of ancient magic backstory or saying knowing the guy (this guy used to have an ancient artifact shoved in his eye socket), but no:
Ï looked it up.¨
So anyway, Yugi realizes that if the monsters are real, so are their powers- including the Blue-Eyes Shining's abillity to destroy any monster. It sacrifices itself to destroy Anubis, shattering the eye and ending the film.
As a duelist, can I really hate this movie? I guess in a way, I can and cant at the same time.
OVERALL RATING: 5/10
---------------------------------
So its not the best movie. Definitely not. A lot of the main story is lost in the film, the cards are kind of lame (except for Return From The Different Dimension, which is used to this day) and there isn't really a lot to look at without raising more questions (Why didnt Ishizu ever tell Yugi about this artifact?).
But on the bright side, it does play out like an episode of the show: the duel is clean, although somewhat slow, the characters are true to their personalities, and the animation is pretty cool at times (especially in Blue-Eyes Shining and the cataclysmic ending). Overall, its definitely not a super film, but as a duelist, I can appreciate the good parts and loathe the bad.
But trust me, if I was in the film, I could wipe them all out. King Of Games, bitches.
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