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Cardcaptor Sakura - The Movie Director: Morio Asaka Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Animated, Color, Dolby Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 86 minutes Studio: Geneon Entertainment Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2002-03-26 Buy from Amazon |
 "Fun, but a bit slow"Perhaps my expectation of this movie was too high after reading these reviews. I was expecting 'heart stopping action' and a fast paced 'mystery'. Instead, this movie is a light hearted romp through Hong Kong, with Sakura and her friends, with various twists and turns along the way. Nothing new is introduced, nothing especially exciting happens, either. Entertaining, but often it feels as if its dragging its feet along at times, and minutes are wasted building up a mystery that could have been solved in the regular 30 minutes. As for the plot, other reviews cover it better than I can, so i'll focus on what I liked and what I didn't like, instead. The film is good, it isn't bad, but it falls short on a lot of points. Firstly, if you're expecting the films budget to have been used on special effects and high-tech fighting scenes with Sakura whizzing through Hong Kong, you'll be slightly disappointed. While there is a fair share of action, most of the time it stops when things are about to get good. I think the point of the film is to be ghostly, mysterious and poignant, to leave you thinking. Unfortunately, stretching that theme to movie-length also slows it down, a lot. If you're they type of Sakura fan who loves the actual 'card capture' parts the most, this movie could bore you in its slower parts. The parts that bugged me the most were the dream sequences. The dreams are meant to be mysterious and creepy, and they are-- at first. But after watching the same dream over and over with only slight variations, it gets a bit tiring. This is the only gripe I have with the film, but its quite a major one. Once you begin to notice how slow things are going you'll often stare at the fast forward button longingly. Apart from that, the animation is superb, with the Hong Kong streets looking like the real thing. The music is brilliant as well, with the English version adapting the Japanese songs as best they can. Its quite different and they really made an effort. The Japanese songs are probably cuter, but both have their good points. The sub, and dare I say it, dub, are very good. While puritans like to spit acid on the dub, nothing much is wrong with it, if you keep an open mind and don't attach too many expectations on the english voice actors. You can't expect the voices to be identical to the Japanese, and they're not. They're as good, but in different ways. The dubs script falls short though, and the name changes of the characters are a tad annoying. However, this is its only problem. The voices are quite sweet. In particular, Tomoyo/Madison voice, I think, really suits the character. Sakura herself is quite different --not as squeaky cute, which would sound out of place and annoying in English, anyway. The other major change, is Kero-chan. Kero's english voice is deeper and more goofy. Kero's Japanese voice is more high pictched and girly. What works best? Well, I like both. I got used to both after a while. Both are cute in their own ways. I think the character of Kero, being so goofy, works with a goofy voice, and the deeper sound suits the concept of Kero becoming the tough Keroberus/Cerberus. Give the english dub a chance, but make sure to watch the Japanese version for the plot inconsistencies. Again, thats the only problem with the dub, so give it a try. If you hate it, just switch back to Japanese. The movie is uncut, and It would have been nice if these the english actors were also used in the uncut series DVDs, but the two versions are seperate. It was interesting they (Pioneer and Nelvana) combined their forces for the film, though. All in all, I liked the film, and it had some really cute and fun parts, but it didn't make up for the slow place, at times, I found it excruciatingly slow. The ending is somewhat anti-climatic as well. Its a bit of a strange resolution after building it up for so long and was definitely disappointing. I would rent before buying this. I do feel buying it straight off was a mistake, even though I am a huge fan of the series.  "Cardcaptor Sakura is the best anime ever!!"This movie isn't as good as the second one, but the characters' voice is better in English than the second one. You should watch it in English than in Japanese. The story is mostly about friendship and loyalty. It is a great movie, so go and buy this and the second one. "excellent expansion of the series"Sakura, her brother, Yukito, her best friend and Kero go on holiday to Hong Kong when Sakura wins a prize. Of course they meet up with with the entire Li clan whose home is Hong Kong. While there they learn a valuable lesson: magic lasts, its effects last. The animation is quality and the soundtrack is better than the series. Even Kero is less annoying. I think it moves the plot along quite nicely and sets things up well for the third season of the series. Very empowering for girls, too. "Sakura is in Hong Kong, but senses come upon her..."Facts: A movie of great success. I was pretty suprised with English Dub, they didn't do that bad on acting, the music may be a little off, and the dialouge as well but it was an entertaining movie. But on japanese dialouge, somehow you people think its dumb because they talk way different then us but, I thought it was KAWAII! Their music shows a relaxing way, forming type of way. Well, if there were no subtitle with Japanese then I probably wouldn't buy it but atleast there is. Anyways! Story: "I've got the gold one, probably just the constilation prize." says Sakura smiling with the golden ball in her hand. The lady at Twin Bells shop looks at the list of prize winners. "Grand..." Tomoyo looks confused as well with Sakura...it was probably it. Sakura wins a trip to Hong Kong for about 3-4 days! But when Sakura gets there, she has these strange dreams. Of a woman, and a set of birds, mysteriously but weird. The presence lingers into her, finding this is no Clow Card, but something else. Her friends are trapped in a dimension, but Sakura must find a way to bring them back, Soo Young wont let her. Overall: "The best!!!!"This was a cool DVD. It has commercials from Japan reviewing about the movie. If you are a big Cardcaptor Sakura fan, you'll enjoy this as much as me. I also like Magic Knight Rayearth, Sailor Moon and Utena. |
