I think it’s a safe bet to say that there’s plenty of anime out there based off of video games. It’s a fact of life, let’s be honest. Sometimes, a video game-based anime comes along that confounds people. Sometimes the source material is from a more obscure game, or it has come from an equally obscure animation studio, or it comes completely out of left field. Today’s subject matter is definitely from that third point: an anime feature based off of a video game from the United States. Today’s review.....is on SiN the Movie.
Alright, a little bit of background on this one. Developed by Ritual Entertainment in the late 90s, SiN was a first-person-shooter who’s graphics were based on a modified version of the Quake II engine. It was actually rather revolutionary for the time: it had story, depth, character, multiple paths to complete certain missions, and some fantastic FPS action (In singleplayer as well as multiplayer). Sadly, the game was facing some serious competition from an iconic title in the form of Half-Life. Ritual’s publisher, Activision (Who were far less dickish then than they are now), were afraid that SiN would be eclipsed by Valve’s first game. In their haste, Activision had Ritual get the game out a month before it’s original release date. Sadly, this resulted in the game having a bevy of bugs, varied grades, low sales, and in the end became eclipsed by Half-Life. Today, SiN still has a surprisingly large cult following, and in 2006 there was an attempt to revive the game through the now failed SiN Episodes franchise.
In any case, it’s an interesting story, but that’s not what you are here for. With that said, let the review begin!
Story/Setup
Taken from the DVD case:
“In the 21st century city of Freeport, the only thing holding the once prosperous city from succumbing to rampant crime and corruption is an elite strike force known as the Hardcorps. Under the leadership of dedicated Colonel John Blade, the Hardcorps faces a never ending uphill battle to clean up the streets and return Freeport to its former glory. When a series of mysterious kidnappings lead Colonel Blade directly into the black heart of the crumbling city, the discovery of wicked biochemist Elexis Sinclaire's terrifying plot to bring about the evolution of mankind sparks a earthshaking battle that could threaten to bring the entire metropolis crumbling to the ground.”
That’s really all there is to the story. Unlike the one within the game, the version presented here is a heavily streamlined edition. It feels like a lot of things were cut, altered, or some combination of the two. Even characters aren’t immune to this, with the background of some characters being shortened, or some characters getting taken out all together (Blade’s sidekick & best friend, JC, only has a few moments before he gets brutally killed in the beginning). It’s such a shame, considering the surprising amount of depth that the game’s story has.
Animation
The animation within SiN is something of a double-edged sword. The movie uses a mix of traditional 2d animation, along with some 3d CGI. This combo is rather strange: the 2d animation looks & feels rather dated. It looks like it came out of the early/mid-nineties, and thus comes across as very weak. On the other hand, the 2d animation looks fantastic. Despite coming out in 2000 (When computer-based animation was beginning to take hold), it looks & feels crisp, and there’s a rather clean feeling to the movement of the characters. There’s a small hiccup here & there, but they are only noticeable to the trained eye.
Voice Acting
The voice acting in SiN is some of the weakest I’ve ever heard. Most of them don’t sound like they want to belong there, and that they were doing this movie just to get a paycheck. There’s really no one standout among the voice actors: they all just sound rather boring. The only characters that seem to have at least a little bit of effort put into their voices are the main hero & villain, but even then it’s really in spurts. I don’t know if it was just me, but I could have sworn that Vic Mignogna voiced one of the characters. I didn’t know who it was, but I’m certain that I heard his voice.
Characters
If the voice acting was weak, then the characters are flat. Even if they had good voice actors backing them up, the people they’re voicing are incredibly 1-dimensional. There is really nothing to the personality of the characters: they are all set to one personality/mood, and it rarely if ever changes. The main character, John Blade, is especially bland despite what little they give us. Only one character seems to have at least something in the movie, and that would the movie’s main villain, Elexis Sinclaire. Although she’s somewhat of a standard cackling villain, you can understand some of her motivations, some of her actions, and other personality quirks. Apart from that, there’s absolutely nothing to each & every single one of the individuals in this movie.
Availability & Pricing
Despite being out of print for a long time, this movie is surprisingly available. Although finding it in stores can be a challenge, online it can be relatively easy. On Amazon, the pricing is rather flexible, ranging from $5.99 to $10.29. Best Buy is the most expensive yet still agreeable price of $12.99. FYE is by far the cheapest of the options, with the low price of just $3.99 dollars. Used pricing seems to be available only on Amazon, with costs starting at just 2 dollars. This is the most flexible of the anime titles I’ve reviewed so far on in terms of cost, and thus there’s the most buy-able options.
Overall Impression & Rating
SiN the Movie is trash. For people who have played the game, it is an absolute slap to the face. Watered down to the 5th degree, the movie barely holds a candle to what the game was/is capable of. If you haven’t played the game, you’ll probably find that SiN the Movie is an average to above average film. There might be something you’ll find somewhat entertaining, enough to the point where you might actually enjoy it.
For people who’ve never played the game, this movie will probably get a 5 to 6 out of 10. Those who have, a 3 to 4.
Well ladies & gentlemen, I’ve reviewed a good anime & a bad anime, so now it time for some heavy metal. All I have to say about the next review.....is that it’s gonna be pretty untouchable. See you soon!
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