Today’s quick review: Heavenly Sword. For years, a clan of nomads has protected the Heavenly Sword from those who would use its power for evil. Nariko (Anna Torv), the daughter of Master Shen (Nolan North), was meant to be the Chosen One, destined to use the sword to defeat King Bohan (Alfred Molina). Instead, she escapes Bohan’s army with the help of Kai (Ashleigh Ball) and goes to deliver the sword to Loki (Thomas Jane), Shen’s long-lost son.
Heavenly Sword is an animated fantasy action movie based on the video game of the same name. The story follows a warrior on her quest to save the world from an evil king. Although the premise is generic, Heavenly Sword has the makings of a solid fantasy movie. Its setting, art design, and backstory all show care, and they give the movie useful tools to work with. However, a clumsy script and flawed action put a serious dent in the movie’s appeal.
Heavenly Sword has a hard time with basic storytelling. The movie is fond of plot twists but does a poor job of setting them up, making the story feel arbitrary and rendering character deaths meaningless. The story skips from place to place without a clear sense of progression, and the motivations of the characters are often misaligned with the situations they are in. The script is also saddled with some dubious lines of dialogue.
For all of these faults, Heavenly Sword still brings something to the table. The world isn’t fully developed, but it has interesting character designs and a knack for visual detail. The CGI animation is sprinkled with 2D flashbacks with a more dynamic art style, which do a good job of setting up the conflict. And while the action suffers from a tendency to make up the rules as it goes along, the solid fight choreography makes it a partial success.
Heavenly Sword is a movie that fails to live up to its considerable potential. It should appeal to fans of over-the-top action, imaginative fantasy worlds, and classic battles between good and evil. But Heavenly Sword repeatedly makes mistakes with its action and storytelling, turning what should be an action-packed epic into a confusing slog. Curious viewers may still want to give it a try, but most are better off skipping.
Check out Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children for a CGI-animated movie with sharper action and a more gorgeous world. For a similar flavor of CGI action with a sci-fi setting and a more developed story, check out Appleseed or Appleseed Ex Machina. For flawed animated fantasy action in a similar vein, try Lady Death.
5.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 5.5 for a decent setting and backstory hurt by a weak script.