In this movie the main characters from three different shows in the yu-gi-oh universe come together to fight the bad guy. The movie is bad and I'll explain why.
In good old yu-gi-oh tradition the card game "duel monsters" is the most important thing in the world. Evil people have used the game to gain power over others and the world. Heroes have used the cards to defend the world, because thats how the universe wants it to be. A duel can determine the fate of the world.
Paradox, the villain of the movie, has realised this and has therefore decided to erase the game from history by killing the creator of the game Maximillan Pegasus and everyone who plays it. In order to do that, he goes back in time to the Domino city tournament arranged by Pegasus. He success in his plan, witch costs the life of Yugi's grandfather. Because of this Yugi, Jaden and Yusei have been teleported into the past to returne the timeline back to normal by beating him in a card game.
Just three problems:
1. Yugi, the main character of the first yu-gi-oh! series, seems a little star-struck by seeing Pegasus. This is odd considering that last time he mead Pegasus, things went a little bananas.
In short: Pegasus is a pretty nasty Guy and Yugi would probably hate him.
Here is some background from the tv-show: ( skip this paragraph if you don't want to know this).
Maximillian Pegasus is a Millionaire, who wants all the millennium-artefact. The thing Yugi has around his neck is the millennium-puzzle. To get the millennium-puzzle Pegasus abduct Yugi's grandfather by trapping his soul in a card. Yugi is now forced to travel to Pegasus island, participate in his tournament, and defeat Pegasus in finale to get his grandfather back. Sound a bit cruel right, well further more if Yugi looses, he has to give Pegasus the millennium-puzzle, that happens to contained a 5000 years old spirit whom Yugi happens to be friends with. Also, Yugi possible has to give his own soul to Pegasus, ass well, if he loses. That much I don't remember.
You can argue that this movie takes place in an alternative timeline, hence Yugi isn't mad at Pegasus and the tournament they are playing in never happened originally, and you would be right. It is the only explanation. This is done purposefully of cause, so the audience can actually empathise with this person whose life is on the line. Here is the problem! When I know, what Pegasus did originally, it is very hard form me to forget that and simply imagine some alternative events were Pegasus didn't try to kill Yugi's friends. The movie never gives me that alternative, so It is too much of an ask that I would just ignore 20+ episodes of characterisation. If I didn't know all of this it wouldn't do much either since I don't have a reason to care about Pegasus in the first place. I care about Yugi's grandfather though, a little bit, but only because I know him from the tv-show.
2. Only Yusei tries to have an arc in the "story". In the beginning of the movie we learn that he has a hard time letting go of the past, because of something that happened. At the end of the duel Yugi tells him, that it is up to him to finish the duel agains Paradox, and that everyone is behind. Yusei then sees all of his friends from his time in the background. I have some questions though:
a. Did Yugi know that Yusei needed to hear this? No. He just says it. This is both problem with Yugi's characterisation witch I will get in to later, and a very forced why to highlight a theme that the movie doesn't spend much time exploring, witch I will also get in to.
b. Did Yusei actually need to hear this. Does Yusei ever doubt that his friend are there for him? Does he feel alone? I am not into Yu-gi-oh 5D, so I don't know if that is a part of his character in 5D. In this movie, at least, it isn't dramatised. How do one dramatise this? Maybe if he mistrusted Yugi and Jaden, that would create complication in their teamwork. Also, Yusei could have problems focusing on the duel, because he his too caught up in the past. That is one way to do it. This character arc is underdeveloped and forced.
c. Yugi's characterisation. He has barely mead Jaden and Yusei, and he immediately assumes a mentor role for these two dualist.
"Jaden, if I were your teacher at the academy I would give you an A for that move". Then his aforementioned line to Yusei. This makes him come off as a bit arrogant, and over-involved. He acts like the supportive teacher, though he isn't their teacher.
3. Did paradox die in the end? He just disappeared. Also, why am I supposed to take his motive seriously? Does he have a point? I guess duel-monsters is used for evil and destroying them would make a better world. That is a big "maybe" though, and the mass genezide that he commits doesn't seem to be worth it, and isn't he too doing evil with the duel monster's cards. He did come from a future were the world did fall apart. But how? I guess I just have to take his word for it.
4. The plot is extremely thin. They are teleported to some time after being shortly introduced, and then they play the villain in a card game and win. The end. Is that entertaining? What about twists and turns and a bit of mystery and character arcs. All I am getting is a duel between a villain with no personality, and three characters that I am expected to connect with from other works. The movie expects me to know all of the entire yu-gi-oh story-lines and then conveniently "forget" a substantial part of them. All in the favour for so little.
4. What is the point of the movie? Yusei says at the end of the movie, that it's about the friends we make. Maybe that applies to him and his friends from 5D, but I doubt that he has gotten much of relationship with Yugi and Jaden from playing with them for 20 minutes, and he is probably never going to see them again.
And the movie hint at a moral discussion of wether or not people should be allowed to have a dangerous weapon even if that weapon is a card game. It might even be a metaphor for nuclear-possession. This potential never amounts to more than one argument from Yugi, that "duel-monsters" has also provided good things.
What is left. Watching a card-game is 10 times less interesting that actually playing it yourself. Without a compelling story to make me care about the game, what is actually left?
I guess a 1/10
How do I rate?
1/10 = bad
2/10 = ok
3/10 = fine
4/10 = good
and so on.
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