Oh, Heavenly Butcher.....

The Heavenly Sword

"Yes, the carpet matches the curtains!"

     Based on a video game of the same that I've never played, this is my first anime film for this fest. It features a crap load of sword fighting and scantily clad warrioresses on an adventure (read:murder spree) to hand over a sword that their slaughtered clan hid and protected for eons. It's birth-rite owner is their long lost brother....who is killed in the first 30 seconds of him holding the magic weaponry. In the end, it's the usual Good vs. Evil battle with the bad guy going E.A. Poe, and the good girl going slightly Tron-ish. The story isn't much deeper than that. There was a side-story about 'daddy not loving daughter' but it was a useless and convoluted.

But wait! There's more!

     The CGI looks like it came right from the PS3. It's just too clean and unrealistic. If one of the scantily clad tarts rolled around in dirt, she should be shown getting dirty. I really felt like I was watching all combined cut scenes from the game. And why? This was released in August 2014! That wasn't even a year ago as of this posting! The tech is there! I just watched 3 terrible movies featuring dragons that were drawn better, and half the budget!

     But the worst issue is all in the vocals. The sync is off and the voice levels are all over the place. If someone is whispering, it really shouldn't sound like they're yelling. As for the voice actors, the talent is there and they do great job, but why the hell is Thomas Jane cast in this? His voice is largely forgettable and pointless. Just let the voice pros do their thing!