This is a movie I was very excited for, but unfortunately what we got was something that subverts every chance it has to be good along the way. There's lots of plot holes in this movie and things that should be explained that aren't, but the most egregious issue this movie however has is its handling of Eiji and Ankh's reunion. Before watching I had seen some of the spoilers and was fine with Eiji dying as long as it was handled well, but the way the film went about it is incredibly poor. Rather than a movie which gives Eiji and Ankh one last go together and has them interacting throughout, Eiji is effectively barred from his own movie by being possessed by new character Goda.
Goda is a concept that could have been interesting if executed well but was instead handled poorly. With a large cast of returning characters and a comparatively short runtime of less than an hour, introducing a new character was already risky and Goda is unfortunately handled in such a way where instead of adding to the setting he saps time that could have been spent developing some of the returning characters more. Fans had literally been waiting for a decade for an Eiji and Ankh reunion, yet instead we get Goda possessing Eiji for about 90% of the movie and Eiji only getting a few minutes of interaction with Ankh at the end before dying, something that comes across as an cruel bait-and-switch rather than the swan song that was likely intended. Had the film had Eiji and Ankh together for most of it, rather than Ankh and Goda, then Eiji's death would have likely been received much better as we would have at least gotten plenty of Eiji and Ankh beforehand.
Besides Eiji, the rest of the cast is also handled poorly. The side characters barely contribute anything. Goto gets a new form that's immediately wasted. Akira, Hina, and Chiyoko don't do anything of note. Kougami is just as fun as ever, but barely gets to do anything. The four Greeed are brought back but don't do anything for the most part other than stand around Ancient King OOO. Ancient King OOO also deserved better. The movie doesn't even explain how he came back to life, and he's killed before we get a chance for a proper Eiji on Ancient King OOO fight, so the movie can pull yet another pointless twist and make Goda the final boss.
I definitely recommend skipping this film. It's an insulting punch to fans of OOO.
Goda is a concept that could have been interesting if executed well but was instead handled poorly. With a large cast of returning characters and a comparatively short runtime of less than an hour, introducing a new character was already risky and Goda is unfortunately handled in such a way where instead of adding to the setting he saps time that could have been spent developing some of the returning characters more. Fans had literally been waiting for a decade for an Eiji and Ankh reunion, yet instead we get Goda possessing Eiji for about 90% of the movie and Eiji only getting a few minutes of interaction with Ankh at the end before dying, something that comes across as an cruel bait-and-switch rather than the swan song that was likely intended. Had the film had Eiji and Ankh together for most of it, rather than Ankh and Goda, then Eiji's death would have likely been received much better as we would have at least gotten plenty of Eiji and Ankh beforehand.
Besides Eiji, the rest of the cast is also handled poorly. The side characters barely contribute anything. Goto gets a new form that's immediately wasted. Akira, Hina, and Chiyoko don't do anything of note. Kougami is just as fun as ever, but barely gets to do anything. The four Greeed are brought back but don't do anything for the most part other than stand around Ancient King OOO. Ancient King OOO also deserved better. The movie doesn't even explain how he came back to life, and he's killed before we get a chance for a proper Eiji on Ancient King OOO fight, so the movie can pull yet another pointless twist and make Goda the final boss.
I definitely recommend skipping this film. It's an insulting punch to fans of OOO.
