Garo: Divine Flame

So, on the one hand, it is quite positive to see the animated superheroes from Garo: The Animation again, which I enjoyed. Plus, those superheroes are still just as good, and I still enjoy watching them. Even my favorite characters from the Garo universe make an appearance; though, of course, it is just filler to make the audience nostalgic. Another positive thing is the CGI animation of the Makai armor is not as awful as in the anime series; at times, it even had a comic book feel. The armor and the fights were not as weirdly contrived as in the anime series. Well, yeah, although that made it all the more over-the-top, and I also found out that every Makai Knight gets a free horse/jet-ski to go with his armor and that Makai Priests can even pull out a heavy caliber rotary-barreled machine gun! It was a bit much; the water-skiing and swinging on whips and so on detracted from the fighting. That is a shame as the narrative is mostly focused on the fighting. As far as the narrative goes, it is nothing too original; it is embarrassingly obvious in places. Practically the only scene I was not expecting - the fight on the bridge when everything seems to be wrapped up - I found unnecessary and probably the most awkward moment of the whole movie. If they had ended it without that supposedly unexpected and epic final moment, I might have considered some better rating. However, I think it is just average, as it is, and I am only awarding 5/10 partly out of nostalgia. (24/12/2016)