![]() No jump scares: an atmospheric horror experience that creates a feeling of tension without cheap horror tricks. Wade through the grueling, bizarre world of Darkwood and delve into the creepiest secrets of its inhabitants to escape the infested land before it destroys your body and consumes your mind. With nightmarish forces corrupting the woods, wait and pray for the sun to come up the next morning. Xbox Series X|S version was enhanced with:Ĭraft weapons, prepare traps, fortify hideouts - you will explore and scavenge the eerie forests of the Soviet Bloc by day, then hunker down in your hideout at night. Movie really strays from the source material to tell a rather unoriginal story - and tell it poorly, to boot.Darkwood is a challenging survival horror that does not rely on jump scares. Bland characters and storylines taken straight from Netflix's poorly received adaptation. Some actions scenes are decent, albeit heavy in martial arts. (+) A select few callbacks to the original manga and anime, particularly at the very beginning, in the training scenes, and for a few seconds in the movie's climax. You want to like or at least enjoy it, but you just end up frustrated at the missed opportunity. Why the lack of faith in it? I came away disappointed and suspect many others will, as well. You could have gotten an awesome movie out of it. It's all 100% watchable, but nobody's recommending it to anyone, and it will be forgotten soon. The action scenes are well-choreographed and the main two characters, sympathetic enough. The glimpses - teases, really - we get of the original Saint Seiya hint at what could have been a great film. Then again, I'm not confident this creative team could have done a good job at it. Could the sequel, with the expected introduction of some key characters, come closer to evoking the thrills the original story did? Perhaps, but I doubt they'll get the chance to do so after botching the launch of what was expected to be a multi-picture saga. Madison Iseman as Sienna showed some charisma, but she too fell victim to the plot holes and inconsistent behavior that plague her and all the other characters. You feel he may have done a better job with more decent lines. As for newer faces, Mackenyu looks the part, but there's something lacking. Hard to shine with the run of the mill story and dialogue. There's also Sean Bean (LOTR, GOT, etc.) and Marc Dacascos (Crying Freeman, John Wick 3) in there, but everyone's acting is flat throughout. It feels all-too familiar, especially with Famke Janssen (Jean Grey in the X-Men movies) overlooking the action as the movie's antagonist. The film's about a young man struggling to accept his destiny as a knight while spouting that nobody's fate is predetermined and the reincarnated goddess he's supposed to protect, a spunky young girl who lived in fear of being unable to control her immense power, in a rehash of the (also poorly adapted) Dark Phoenix saga from the X-Men. It's not altogether surprising: rather than adapt the 80's masterpiece, this movie is based on the more recent Netflix adaptation, which flopped commercially and critically. Key scenes late in the movie are laughable, including some that were supposed to be poignant. But again, the main trouble lies in the story. Hard to tap into nostalgia when you turn your back on 90% of what people liked in the first place. The fighting scenes, heavy in martial arts, guns, and military vehicles, are not what the original series was all about. The armors are way too different - and not particularly appealing. This is not the Saint Seiya we grew up with. Some visuals that made my heart skip a beat, including the very first, somewhat misleading scene. ![]() A few notes in the musical score, taken straight from the anime soundtrack. ![]() So how much does it stray? Well, there *are* some callbacks to the original IP. While not a trainwreck, a good movie this is not. But maybe there was a decent film in there, with some elements of the original manga/anime. A Saint Seiya fan since 1991, I knew going in that this movie would differ from the source material.
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