Mrs. Monster and I walked into the theatre expecting nothing. After blowing some hard earned green on the first Pokemon movie, which was akin to a bad acid trip and a typical half hour episode that ran too long, we felt we should have known better, but being the hardcore animeniacs we are, we had to give it a whirl. We were more than pleasantly surprised!
First and foremost, the animation was phenomenal! The fluid motion and obvious emotion of the characters was a great example of what animation should be! The animators departed from the more simplistic style of the television series making "Digimon: The Movie" more of an event than a film adaptation. The photo-realistic background paintings made the settings come alive. The mixture of computer and traditional animation blended smoothly, one style never overshadowed the other.
The story was cohesive though it seemed a bit long in parts. It breaks down into three acts. Act One goes into detail about the first experience the Digidestined had with the Digital World and introduces a character named "Willis" who was mentioned once on the current series up until this writing. Act Two takes place some time after the original Digidestined have saved the Digital World. Finally, Act Three deals mostly with the new Digidestined. Willis plays a vital role in all three of these stories though we don't see him interact with the other characters face-to-face until the third act.
I'm the last person to try and find some kind of moral lesson or meaning in a movie. That's what school, your parents and living life's for. Movies are for sheer entertainment, but "Digimon" did have a few lessons in there for the kiddies without feeling the need to beat them over the head with them. The film taught the importance of teamwork, being happy with what you have and turning a bad situation into something good, but just to name a few.
Finally, the soundtrack was awesome! Of course, any soundtrack that has the Barenaked Ladies is awesome to me since I've been a diehard fan for the past 7 years!
With most movies where I go in expecting nothing, I usually get nothing, but with "Digimon: The Movie" I got more than I could have ever expected! So, whether you're a Digifan or don't know a Digimon from Digitalis, there's enough solid movie here to satisfy everyone! I'm going to go see this one again!
First and foremost, the animation was phenomenal! The fluid motion and obvious emotion of the characters was a great example of what animation should be! The animators departed from the more simplistic style of the television series making "Digimon: The Movie" more of an event than a film adaptation. The photo-realistic background paintings made the settings come alive. The mixture of computer and traditional animation blended smoothly, one style never overshadowed the other.
The story was cohesive though it seemed a bit long in parts. It breaks down into three acts. Act One goes into detail about the first experience the Digidestined had with the Digital World and introduces a character named "Willis" who was mentioned once on the current series up until this writing. Act Two takes place some time after the original Digidestined have saved the Digital World. Finally, Act Three deals mostly with the new Digidestined. Willis plays a vital role in all three of these stories though we don't see him interact with the other characters face-to-face until the third act.
I'm the last person to try and find some kind of moral lesson or meaning in a movie. That's what school, your parents and living life's for. Movies are for sheer entertainment, but "Digimon" did have a few lessons in there for the kiddies without feeling the need to beat them over the head with them. The film taught the importance of teamwork, being happy with what you have and turning a bad situation into something good, but just to name a few.
Finally, the soundtrack was awesome! Of course, any soundtrack that has the Barenaked Ladies is awesome to me since I've been a diehard fan for the past 7 years!
With most movies where I go in expecting nothing, I usually get nothing, but with "Digimon: The Movie" I got more than I could have ever expected! So, whether you're a Digifan or don't know a Digimon from Digitalis, there's enough solid movie here to satisfy everyone! I'm going to go see this one again!