After reading a score of movie reviews, I had no intention on viewing Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie , since many of the things the critics about which the complained was the same garbage the American writers added to their English-language adaptation of the series which airs on Saturday mornings. However I was given an opportunity to view the movie that favored my schedule perfectly. Get ready for a review of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie from somebody who is a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! and a seasoned moviegoer. Expect no talk about what promo card I obtained. Expect a straight review.

And there will be spoilers.

The Story of the Matter

The producers and writers at 4Kids Entertainment (pronounced "for kids"), the American production company for the English version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series and the main production company for Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie , said the movie would fit perfectly into the Yuugiou Duel Monsters storyline perfectly. This claim is very hard to believe because Yu-Gi-Oh! 's story, which was first established as comic by manga artist and writer Kazuki Takahashi, has always been the Duel Monsters' saving grace in Japan, and the American producers and has neglected it all the way from Season One to Season Three for sake of marketing. This movie is no exception.

For starters the movie was supposed to take place after Battle City. However, the movie open before Battle City gets to finish in the U.S., prematurely revealing that Yugi would beat Marik, therefore scoring all three Egyptian God Cards.

The beginning of the movie already conflicts for the original storyline. Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle so easily in the prologue. Anyone who has read the manga or watched either the series the first series which bever aired in the America or the current series would know that Yugi was given a much harder time solving the puzzle. If you are hoping to find your favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! subplots like Anzu's infatuation with Yugi's other self, Jonouchi's bond with Mai, and Bakura stalking the Pharaoh, don't bother looking at this movie.

Being a Character Doesn't Mean You Have Character

Who are the good guys in this movie? Yugi Mutou possessed by King Atem, Katsuya Jonouchi, Anzu Mazaki, and Hiroto Honda, right? Not quite. It's their caricatures Yugi Mutou possed by King Yami, Joey Wheeler, Téa Gardner, and Tristan Tailor. And you know what that means, YGO enthusiasts one-dimensional roles and bad dialog. The lines you hear in this movie are nothing far from what is heard on Saturday mornings. Expect lines "I think I smell trouble"/"No, that's just me" and I think "I'm gonna hurl" and other pieces of uncreative dialog. When it comes to voice, there is no real improvement with the possible exception of Seto Kaiba. In other words expect you ears to hurt a lot.

As for the main villain Anubis, there is very little story behind this bad guy if any at all. We don't even find out about how he was defeated by the Pharaoh first time around. Anubis was very forgettable and perfectly fitted the stereotype that all Duel Monsters duelist are mere TCG salesmen. I sincerely missed Marik and Bakura while seeing Anubis in action. (FYI: Did anyone noticed thay regular Marik's Engkish voiced improved greatly in the final episodes of Battle City? More on that another time.)

Lights! Camera!...

Hmmm... What do you thing about the movie visually? Let's break it down.

This movie has a slightly different production team than the TV show. The addition of Korean animation company, Woo Animation, the company who did work on the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles if I'm not mistaken, had made the characters look different, but not necessarily better. The cards in the movie look like actual cards instead of the Polaroid-like format used for English TV show. None of the monsters are painted over so that flaw is gone from the movie. The stats counter used for the duels is the one used in Japan, which I think, is a nice touch. With these changes, this movie is, by a narrow margin, is the best looking piece of animated Yu-Gi-Oh! I have seen to be officially released in America. That may change once uncut Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters comes out in October.

How is the dueling, you ask? I would say the Anubis duel makes the movie seem like its screenplay was downloaded for Fanfiction Dot Com. The Pegasus Versus Kaiba duel was way more appealing to me. The part when the toon Gemini Elf kicks the crap out of Kaiba was the movie's money shot. Ditto for when Injection Fairy Lily stuck a needle in Joey's butt. Nice work from the animators there. The dialog used in the duel could be way better. Wouldn't "I end my turn" would be a better sentence to end your turn with than "Had enough?"

The whole thing where Joey, Tristan, and Téa fight harmless mummies didn't help the movie at all. I also want to know what the deal is with the "raising the hand with the imaginary smiley face" thing? They hardly referred to that since Season One.

Judge Moal's Verdict

Even though I liked the duel between Pegasus and Kaiba very much, I can't recommend this movie to anyone. There are too many problems with this movie to make it enjoyable. The movie as a whole helps paint the image of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise as "another Pokémon" Even though Pokémon is among favorite video games, Yu-Gi-Oh! is not Pokémon. It is not marketed like Pokémon in Japan and it shouldn't be marketed like Pokémon in America.

Other notes:

- Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon looks ugly and it will always look ugly.

- Téa's Matrix kick against the mummies was a surprise.

- The soundtrack was better than expected but not worth twenty dollars.

- I predict moat of the new cards introduced in the will make their next appearance in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster: Next Generation.

- If you don't like the movie, you can always put your promo card on Ebay to make back your money.