First of all sorry that i didn't manage to get some more posts done quicker but university started back up again with an essay project so that was a top priority so anyway heres my thoughts on Mass Effect: Paragon Lost.
Unlike the other movie that came out of Bioware's co-productions with Funimation, this project is primarily 2D. There's some CG here and there but overall its a 2D effort from Production 1.G. and TO entertainment. The plot of this movie really feels like one of the better episodes of the current "Clone Wars" cartoon and seeing as they share the same writer, that is understandable. It's a pretty simple plot that generally follows one of the most hated characters from Mass Effect 3, James Vega. To be honest, he's not a very interesting character with the only personality he has being because Freddy Prinze Jr. voices him and quite well i might add. He's almost unrecognizable as Vega but back to the topic at hand. The supporting cast represent a cross section of character types we've all seen before and they are all quite fun to watch with the exception of the tech guy who just comes off flat overall. Todd Haberkorn and Eric Vale's characters in particular added a bit of humor that made the whole thing less serious and that was a wise decision otherwise i think i would have fallen asleep if it was serious the whole way through. If you know nothing about the Mass Effect universe this will still be a fun watch but not as much as it would be for someone that's played the games and notices the little details like the guns the characters are using and the like. The ending is something to behold as well because it definitely wouldn't have happened if it was a big budget live action movie because they hate leaving viewers feeling dissatisfied. It's a good thing they decided to end it that way because looking at it from a logical point of view, the direction it took made actual sense. Overall the story was neat but nothing too ambitious. Now lets get on to the animation.
As you can see from the video above, this production is only slightly above average in terms of the overall animation. The character designs are decent but lack a certain artistic flair that would have really made this production look more unique. The designs look really generic for lack of a better word. In the ed they were just simplistic designs to make it as easy as possible to draw the character and keep on what i'm assuming was a moderate budget. The CG is highly inconsistent with the CG shots in the first 20 minutes being quite good to some of the later stuff looking downright awful Not so much as to make your eyes bleed but you can tell they just wanted to get it over with. The one high point in terms of design was Yoh Yoshinari's creature designs that adapted the look of the creatures from the games really well while adding his own signature stamp to them. He also did a short cut at the beginning of the movie that features his signature explosion. This really mad me wish he did the Character designs as well because when you see the two styles next to each other, its quite obvious who's work is quite superior.
Now on to the animation. As i stated, the animation quality is only slightly above average and that is only because of a lot of good effects animation in the opening action sequences that showcases action in Mass Effect like i couldn't have imagined. I wouldn't know how to cinematicaly show the combat that features in mass effect but they did it in such a way as it was so much fun to watch. Its a shame really that you can tell that they spent the majority of the budget on the opening and ending actions sequences because the generic looking character designs just make the middle section look really bad in terms of character art. Besides the obligatory Asari character, it all looks just bad until the action picks up again. The last major complaint i have is the frankly embarrassing CG backgrounds and some of the terrible composition work done by Production I.G. I thought they were one of the industry leaders in CG in japan but looking at some of the stuff in this you wouldn't be able to tell that. This is definitely not their best effort in that realm. There's not much else to say really now though besides the fact that the first 20 minutes and the ending are best parts of the movie. Many scenes i decided not to feature in the above video because they contain major spoilers and i don't want to spoil too much stuff because i think this is a good way to introduce non fans to the Mass Effect universe. It's just that for an animation snob such as myself it's hard to watch it when there's a lot of mistakes you spot in character art and lazy art direction. For people that can't spot things like that it'll be a blast because my dad and sister certainly enjoyed it. They don't give a shit about the games but the enjoyed the movie and can't wait for the big budget version if it ever comes out. In the end I'd say that if you are a fan of the games this is a buy as it has a lot of stuff in there for you to enjoy if you ignore the stuff i mentioned but otherwise only try it if you are interested in the games and want something to give you a quick introduction. If you just want a fun movie to watch that you can turn you brain off for with soldiers shooting aliens it'll do too. Anyone else can just skip this one.
The overall animation of the movie gets a 2.5/5 mainly because of the good cuts in the opening action sequence otherwise it would have been lower. My next blog post is gonna be my thoughts on the studio Artland and Katekyo Hitman Reborn so look forward to it *wink*.
Unlike the other movie that came out of Bioware's co-productions with Funimation, this project is primarily 2D. There's some CG here and there but overall its a 2D effort from Production 1.G. and TO entertainment. The plot of this movie really feels like one of the better episodes of the current "Clone Wars" cartoon and seeing as they share the same writer, that is understandable. It's a pretty simple plot that generally follows one of the most hated characters from Mass Effect 3, James Vega. To be honest, he's not a very interesting character with the only personality he has being because Freddy Prinze Jr. voices him and quite well i might add. He's almost unrecognizable as Vega but back to the topic at hand. The supporting cast represent a cross section of character types we've all seen before and they are all quite fun to watch with the exception of the tech guy who just comes off flat overall. Todd Haberkorn and Eric Vale's characters in particular added a bit of humor that made the whole thing less serious and that was a wise decision otherwise i think i would have fallen asleep if it was serious the whole way through. If you know nothing about the Mass Effect universe this will still be a fun watch but not as much as it would be for someone that's played the games and notices the little details like the guns the characters are using and the like. The ending is something to behold as well because it definitely wouldn't have happened if it was a big budget live action movie because they hate leaving viewers feeling dissatisfied. It's a good thing they decided to end it that way because looking at it from a logical point of view, the direction it took made actual sense. Overall the story was neat but nothing too ambitious. Now lets get on to the animation.
As you can see from the video above, this production is only slightly above average in terms of the overall animation. The character designs are decent but lack a certain artistic flair that would have really made this production look more unique. The designs look really generic for lack of a better word. In the ed they were just simplistic designs to make it as easy as possible to draw the character and keep on what i'm assuming was a moderate budget. The CG is highly inconsistent with the CG shots in the first 20 minutes being quite good to some of the later stuff looking downright awful Not so much as to make your eyes bleed but you can tell they just wanted to get it over with. The one high point in terms of design was Yoh Yoshinari's creature designs that adapted the look of the creatures from the games really well while adding his own signature stamp to them. He also did a short cut at the beginning of the movie that features his signature explosion. This really mad me wish he did the Character designs as well because when you see the two styles next to each other, its quite obvious who's work is quite superior.
Now on to the animation. As i stated, the animation quality is only slightly above average and that is only because of a lot of good effects animation in the opening action sequences that showcases action in Mass Effect like i couldn't have imagined. I wouldn't know how to cinematicaly show the combat that features in mass effect but they did it in such a way as it was so much fun to watch. Its a shame really that you can tell that they spent the majority of the budget on the opening and ending actions sequences because the generic looking character designs just make the middle section look really bad in terms of character art. Besides the obligatory Asari character, it all looks just bad until the action picks up again. The last major complaint i have is the frankly embarrassing CG backgrounds and some of the terrible composition work done by Production I.G. I thought they were one of the industry leaders in CG in japan but looking at some of the stuff in this you wouldn't be able to tell that. This is definitely not their best effort in that realm. There's not much else to say really now though besides the fact that the first 20 minutes and the ending are best parts of the movie. Many scenes i decided not to feature in the above video because they contain major spoilers and i don't want to spoil too much stuff because i think this is a good way to introduce non fans to the Mass Effect universe. It's just that for an animation snob such as myself it's hard to watch it when there's a lot of mistakes you spot in character art and lazy art direction. For people that can't spot things like that it'll be a blast because my dad and sister certainly enjoyed it. They don't give a shit about the games but the enjoyed the movie and can't wait for the big budget version if it ever comes out. In the end I'd say that if you are a fan of the games this is a buy as it has a lot of stuff in there for you to enjoy if you ignore the stuff i mentioned but otherwise only try it if you are interested in the games and want something to give you a quick introduction. If you just want a fun movie to watch that you can turn you brain off for with soldiers shooting aliens it'll do too. Anyone else can just skip this one.
The overall animation of the movie gets a 2.5/5 mainly because of the good cuts in the opening action sequence otherwise it would have been lower. My next blog post is gonna be my thoughts on the studio Artland and Katekyo Hitman Reborn so look forward to it *wink*.
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