Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV

Let me make this as clear as possible: If you're a Final Fantasy fan, are excited for Final Fantasy XV, and plan to play the game whenever it releases (with hope, in our lifetimes), this is the movie you definitely need to see to get hyped for it. Critics who have been watching this movie have no idea about the lore or the work and story behind the characters the cast in Kingsglaive are related to, making it difficult for them to follow it (or want to).However, having watched this with non-Final Fantasy fans, also gamers, who had their interests piqued with this movie, I can safely say that this is a great introduction into the lore of FFXV, the Kingdom of Lucis, and the starring characters that we will eventually encounter in the videogame. The movie requires more than one watch to actually grasp- and the dialogue dub for english is hurt by some of the words being mumbled, but hopefully, the subtitles should help there. While the main cast is your typical everyman's soldier, a princess and an ailing king for a fantasy tale, they're all memorable and beautifully animated. The lush and crisp CG will leave you looking around everywhere, and the lore behind the abilities of the Kingsglaive members is both powerful and beautiful to watch in execution.Lena Headey is wonderful as Luna's voice, bringing a lot of personality to who could have easily been a typical pure princess damsel-in-distress character, but the real showstealers are Sean Bean as King Regis and Darin De Paul as Ardyn Izunia, who deliver powerful performances filled with character, and bring all their characters to life for the short while they're shown. While the story ultimately circles around Nyx Ulric, the lead "hero" of the 'Glaive, it doesn't entirely linger on him or bore us with exposition about him. There's a lot left to consider and figure out, something that will likely benefit players of the upcoming game.The rest of the members of the Glaive are all what one would expect, but they all shine with personalities worth recalling. The character designs veer away from Final Fantasy's standard "anime" look, while maintaining a sweet blend and real world feel of anime and western action-fantasy. There are many Final Fantasy related easter eggs to be found, including a certain one that will make one recall a famous "seafood stew", and many more for the keen-eyed (or keen-eared!).Don't listen to the critics, and yes, while the movie is far from perfect, it's a fun and exciting ride throughout, just meant to be enjoyed as is and prep us all for Final Fantasy XV. Watch it to enjoy the work put into it, and to be introduced to the lore and world that we'll eventually get to explore in the videogame, or if you don't expect to play it, then enjoy creating your own with this lovely introduction into the universe of Eos and its fantasy, based on reality.

I have enjoyed all the Final Fantasy movies, but for whatever reason stopped playing the games a long, long time ago. FFXV caught my interest, so I ordered both it and the "accompanying" movie for full effect. In typical Square fashion, they play it a little fast and loose with plot elements, but it's nonetheless an enjoyable story presented in stunning animation. If you're playing the game, I *highly* recommend watching the movie first - the game will make *loads* more sense with the story laid about by the movie... Really, the movie should have come with the game - piecing together the entire story just from the game is pretty much impossible!

I just want to watch Kingsglaive over and over again. The film is a very immersive experience, and if nothing else, the visuals alone will keep you glued to your seat. It really pushes the boundaries of what animation industry and cinematography can do. Director Takeshi Nozue and Visual Works (Square Enix's exclusive CGI studio) outdid themselves creating a highly engrossing and cinematic experience. Never has a CGI movie looked or sounded this good before. Beautifully rendered and with an evocative soundtrack, Kingsglaive feels more like a great epic than an anime CGI feature. I was an instant convert.The film is visually stunning. From the interior of the Royal Citadel to the streets of Insomnia (the name did give me pause), everything looks hyper realistic. The character design is amazing! Every wrinkle, birth mark or strand of hair is visible and natural looking. The production team was aiming for a realistic tone in the film; nothing was left to chance making sure that character hairstyles are feasible in real life. The clothing looked like it was lifted straight from Renaissance era paintings and artfully mixed with modern clothing. The sleek and distinctive looking Kingsglaive knights’ uniforms were beautiful and very well matched to the story. Even the lighting and its effect on characters’ skin and clothing was handled with utmost care and detail looking very natural. I almost forgot I wasn’t watching a live-action film! I sat down for a few minutes and the next thing I knew the end credits were rolling.The musical score, almost a character in of itself, is often ethereal and hauntingly beautiful with its multi-toned, ever changing orchestration. It seamlessly keeps up with the film, perfectly enhancing and evoking the moods of the scenes and creating the film’s distinctive aural brand.But Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV is not just eye and sound candy. It offers some of the best in fantasy lore and animated storytelling. A lot of its strength comes from the mythos of the story as well as the characters, most of whom are relatable and charismatic while others are delightfully evil. The main characters are very likable, with Nyx Ulric, the main protagonist and titular Glaive, anchoring us firmly to the story. His humanity, natural strength and very sympathetic nature captivates and beguiles the audience. Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII, the father of Prince Noctis and current ruler of the Kingdom of Lucis, has a larger than life presence, gravitas and a multi-dimensional personality. He is faced with a daunting task of making an uneasy peace treaty with a compromise that he knows will earn his subjects’ ire and resentment. Despite knowing that, he reluctantly agrees to the treaty in order to protect Noctis, the people of Insomnia and the Crystal.The actors did a spectacular job breathing life into their respective characters and creating rich personalities that could exist in real life. Aaron Paul, Lena Headey and Sean Bean especially deliver outstanding performances creating an epic feel and emotional richness not often seen in an animated feature. And as a bonus, there was a familiar face, or rather voice, Todd Haberkorn, who has lent his voice to multitude of Japanese animated features, as Luche Lazarus, one of Kingsglaives.The production team had a unique approach for creating this movie, using live actors and fashion models for character prototypes along with motion capture technique to create realistic motion and characters and it really paid off. I kept feeling as if they were going to leap out at me from my TV at any moment. The action scenes, though very quick paced at times, were a sight to behold, and the warp action through Glaives’ use of special daggers was a marvel of visual creativity. I loved the concept of Kingsglaives using the ancient magic provided by their king for fighting and defending the kingdom. It gave the movie that authentic medieval times fantasy magic feel. And yet, it perfectly blended with modern. For someone who is usually put off by anachronistic elements in motion features, Kingsglaive was done in such a way that the anachronistic elements became an integral part of the movie. The team working on the project did a spectacular job melding modern with medieval, technology and magic, science, and mythology, creating a unique beautiful world where all these elements meshed perfectly. This was a global effort with the Japanese team at the helm collaborating closely with Western companies and multiple overseas studios to complete the film on time and create a product that would be appealing and relatable to western audiences. Indeed, Assassin's Creed and Game of Thrones influences can be seen throughout the film. According to Visual Works director Takeshi Nozue, a huge effort was needed from all involved studios to complete the film on time and attributed the large number of helpful overseas studios to their common liking of the Final Fantasy franchise. This was an international labor of love and it shows.I could go on and on about high production values, story and cast members, but that would make for a very long review. Suffice to say, Kingsglaive touches upon many topics relevant in real life. Trust and betrayal, loyalty, honor, friendship and what defines one’s home, immigration issues and most importantly family ties are strongly echoed in the story; something we all can relate to.Of course, the film is not without flaws. Sometimes the action was so frenetic that it was hard to follow. Some scenes, instead of showing a coherent view, seemed like a dark dirty canvas filled with a blur of flashing lights and rumbling walls. This is especially apparent during the final battle scene with havoc erupting and the city falling apart. It was very difficult to see any details or really anything at all. The camera work, occasionally, was shaky, moving too fast or depicting action at odd angles with jerky movements that interrupted the flow of action. At times, the lip synching did not match the movement of the people’s mouths and the characters movement was not natural. In those moments I could definitely tell that it was CGI. The film’s sometimes opaque plotting created its own challenges as the story development did not always flow smoothly. Some pivotal moments especially felt like someone stitched together originally cut scenes for a promotional trailer, leaving the viewer intrigued and hooked but puzzled and confused at the same time. One had to try to riddle out what is going on for themselves, sometimes without much success. The issue becomes compounded if you are not familiar with the lore of the Final Fantasy games. Indeed, to the uninitiated one, there were some head scratchers and puzzling moments, and not being a gamer, I felt that I probably missed some nuances, like the Easter eggs that the fans of the franchise mention. At times, it seemed that some of characters could have been more fleshed out as their backstories would have enriched the story. I loved the lore of FFXV: Kingsglaive and wanted to know more about the characters, especially the main trio of friends, Nyx, Crowe and Libertus, and how they grew up and became friends, how they became a part of the elite King’s guard, especially Nyx. Maybe an OVA prequel that could also include a deeper background on the very charismatic king. And of course, there is Ardyn Izunia, the chancellor of Niflheim and the main nemesis in FINAL FANTASY XV, who starts out as a protagonist and a tragic figure two millennia before the events of the FFXV (but we do not know that unless one has watched his origin story or is an avid FF gamer). Of course, I want to know more about Luna and Noct and what happens to them, but I know their journey is just beginning as events of this movie end and they are not the focus of this story. The world of Kingsglaive is very intriguing and mesmerizing, and I really want to learn more, see more and just soak it in. The movie did not necessarily make me want to run out to buy the game, but it made me long for more of the FFXV world and its characters, its mythos. I understand that any animated works based on games are just a periphery for Square Enix, a way to hype up fans of the franchise for new games and gain new audiences, but I really hope that they will put out more films/OVAs about the characters and the world like they did with Kingsglaive. But for all this criticism, I found that generally I could easily follow the story in Kingsglaive. I appreciated the prologue, which explained a lot of the setting of the world and the environment of the story leading up to events in the movie and felt that Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV worked well as a stand-alone feature. Though indeed confusing at times, any casual viewer could watch the film and still enjoy it. If nothing else, the Kingsglaive will tingle your auditory and visual senses in the most satisfying way. Highly recommended!

I decided to get this on Blu-Ray as being a bit of a movie snob i wanted the best quality. As I had started to play Final Fantasy XV i wanted the full details behind the game to fill in the gaps and not only does this movie do it, its also a great stand alone movie which any fan of the Final Fantasy series would enjoy. There is quite a lot of the mythos still missing in this "universe" but not enough to confuse, possible just my desire to know the full details causing me to see this as a negative. I paid £7 for this and will be keeping it with my collection and will watch again in the future

When you watch these cgi animated films it is so well done that you could be mistaken for thinking it is real actors. I have seen all the Final Fantasy films & I think that the animation just seems to get better & better. It can't be easy matching up the visual mouthing of the characters with the actors voice overs, amazing! Also the settings they produce are awesome, a visual treat for the eyes indeed.

Truly an amazing film.I never played any of the games but still enjoyed the film immensely.Deserves to be played with audio on full blast or via full surround sound as the audio is as epic as the visuals.Some say that the speech volume is too low.If not played at cinematic volume levelsthis is true, but like I said this is a film that deserves a "proper" viewing and not being played in the background without disturbing others in the room.

I must admit it does take some beating to beat Final Fantasy Avant Children!Final Fantasy Kingsglaive , just edges it.And the General, is just to slick and tough to beat.Quote, from the General.I told you before, one man can not win wars.You will not be disappointed.

Not the first Final Fantasy animation by a longshot, but the best? I'd say so. Beautifully made, scored, voiced it is a class act all round. Essentially setting up the prologue of the story where the next Final Fantasy game will carry on from. It has all the things you need in a story, great settings, amazing effects, fantastic fight scenes, intrigue, romance, betrayal.I won'tspoil the storyline here, but if you are a final fantasy fan, an animation fan or are planning to buy the next final Fantasy game..then check this out, you'll be glad you did its a class act.