Minor spoiler warning! I normally don't enjoy game adaptions, however, this movie spent enough time on characters and plot to be fairly decent. Not knowing anything about the characters, I was thrust into an alien world with two opposing forces. One based on technology (the aggressor) and one based on magic (the defender). As the story progressed, it was apparent that the glaive (king's personal elite forces) were from the outlying lands (combat zone) and were second class citizens in the shiny capital of the defenders. This created ambiguity in some characters' motives throughout the film. If you aren't on your toes, you may miss things in this movie. However, if you like a fantasy/fighting movie to challenge your thinking, this will be rewarding. It's fair to say though that an extended edition would make the film a little more complete and hopefully not spoil the surprises. The graphics are a step up from the previous final fantasy movie, but still disappointing - the eyes felt lifeless and constantly reminded me I was watching generated graphics. The story has a similar Asian feel to the last FF movie (although this one is definitely more Americanised than the previous installment as it has no respect for Gaia/Earth's spirit). Ultimately, this movie is a little simplistic (pure aggressor/pure defender), however, the story has depth in the social dynamics and the movie keeps you thinking. If you want a lazy cinema experience, give this one a miss. This isn't power rangers. It's a tribute to many fantasy classics and it won't spoon feed you every step of the way.
Review of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
