Berserk : L'Âge d'or II - La Bataille de Doldrey

This review is written as a berserk fan so I can't help it if im biased against this second film installment.

Anyways firstly as a berserk fan I first saw the anime sometime in 2001 and then proceeded to move onto the manga which I've since read many times over and let it be known that berserk is probably one of the great works of art and dark fantasy out there. So when i first saw the movie remake I won't deny that I was excited. However after the first installment I was rather skeptical considering the super condensed story line and clunky 3d animation. However, I gave it the benefit of the doubt that being a first attempt, perhaps the second attempt would get it right...sadly I was very wrong.

Lets start with the one good point, the animation is great making the sword swinging, blood spilling and gratuitous boob grabbing all that more satisfying to watch. Seeing guts in smooth fluid animation is absolutely great, something that the original anime couldn't capture due to the low budget and superbly clunky animation. However, I couldn't help but feel that the original anime did a much better job of capturing the art style of the manga. Perhaps the ICONIC battle of the golden age arc (fans will know which one im talking about) was absolutely ruined by this film despite the fluid animation, so many of the scenes depicted in the manga were just outright skipped. Sure its nice to see guts swinging his sword around with the assistance of a bigger animation budget, but so much of the awesome stuff he does in the manga (not to mention the low budget anime) is just ignored and replaced by fluid and nice looking but ultimately empty animation.

This same 'glossing over' effect also goes for the story, no character development is allowed and many smaller but hugely valuable interactions and events are just skipped for the sake of cramming what is essentially hours of BERSERK into a condensed but ultimately tasteless 80 minutes. I also found it weird that so much time was spent on a particular sex scene which although important as a plot device didn't really warrant the amount of time and emphasis it did on screen.

But perhaps I'm blinded by my previous experiences and memories and perhaps the movie isn't really that bad. But I GUARANTEE that if you enjoy what you've seen in this movie but haven't been acquainted with the original manga...then do yourself a favor and go read it cause its a world of difference.

*Word of warning, if you do take my advice don't expect a conclusion to the berserk saga cause for all its beauty and genius, the series has definitely taken a dive and is unlikely to ever be concluded at the rate the author is going

Berserk one of best genera in dark fantasy at ancient times. Now taking place after events of part 1. This time the actions, fights, battles are bloody, Gruesome, and shockingly gory. Fiercely it creates edgy experience. Suspense, twist and turns properly executed. But story was lazy simple and straight lower runtime removes some impactful, heartfelt dynamics. Also visual was too blunt & flat to see 2D/3D effects could have been well polished & detailed. Consider ing on 2010-13 made significance in making many popular franchise. Some elements felt boring & slow paced. Which puts lightness on details. However, love between Griffith & princess was beautiful. But, scene was brief & vague to see clearly. It could've been longer and more intense.

Ending shifts its way to go right in full speed. Bit of Advice don't try watching 3rd part if you can't handle this.

The story arc is slowly but surely making it's way towards the point of no return. The follow up to Spring's Berserk anime remake was a pleasure to watch. The excitement flows from scene to scene without growing tiresome, and our favourite characters are shown in a new light as their relationships change and take new forms.

I was expecting the story to continue further than it did, but this certainly isn't a bad point. In fact it allowed for greater character depth and emotional attachment for the viewer, and of course pure excitement in waiting for part 3.

The more 'erotic' side of Berserk that the manga fans will be aware of makes it's appearance in part 2. But it never feels out of place and is played out alongside a great musical score that never allows it to feel like a cheesy anime porn scene.

All in all a fantastic film. Fans of Berserk will be frothing at the mouth and your average anime/medieval film fan will also leave the cinema with a delightful grin on their face.

Just like Arc 1, the writing is straightforward. The writing leaves no room for awe or interpretation, and basically tells you straight, which is a shame. for example, Griffith says in the 1997 series "war stories, Barbarous as they are, would only Bore ladies such as yourselves." And in this movie he says: "tales of battle are barbaric, and you are so refined I am sure they would only bore you." The tone changes significantly from the series and the movies, and the 1997 series is just superior with its' writing. However, other than this, it fixes many problems of the 1st film and puts a Lot of weight on the important parts, cuts out some of the "filler" from the series, and covers them with class and refinement. You should read my first-Arc review for more specifics, but the scenes don't feel rushed nor breezed over. It slows down and lets things sit, and brings out lighter sides of characters such as Casca while dancing rather than always being harsh and stern, rarely seen in the series. The battles are also Excellent, and even though it skips the arrow-in-the-hand scene from the series, the cinematography is Fantastic. Again, only the lazy writing, probably a problem with translations and scripting from Japan (original version), is noticeable; however, the writing is never Bad to be sure. This film is Precisely how the 2016 anime Should have been. Why they switched to the abhorrent 3D in the 2016 series I am not sure, considering how Arc II is so professional and looks great; This animation style, in this movie, is top-notch, and if they kept things like this I'd say this is the Best of 2D/3D mixing up to now. Detailed, beautiful, and captures what 2D animation has always Strived for: recognized Art (research the history of Akira and why that failed if you don't know what I mean saying this). I will also add the movies cut out many flourishes, such as seeing the broken blade, the arrow in the hand, and most-importantly cuts most of the 3rd-string characters like Judeau and Pippin and makes them totally benched. Especially Judeau and Corkus, which had some of the Best lines in the series, and in perfect contrast to the main characters to give them that opposition, questioning their motives. It's unfortunate that these great characters were sidelined.

Took me longer to watch the whole thing than expected. Kept stopping after about :40 to do something else.

"Was it interesting?" I was expecting a darker story. The character motivations felt a little hollow.

1.5 out of 3 "Was it memorable?" The worst flaw is the movie trying too hard to be pretty. The attempted mesh between different animation styles was so distracting that it almost ruined some of the action scenes. Luckily there were enough action scenes to make up for this.

1.5 out of 3 "Was it entertaining?" It just felt long and badly paced, like 3 or 4 episodes spliced together. It progressed the story just enough to be adequate.

1.5 out of 3 Starting with 1 (because), 1 + 1.5 + 1.5 + 1.5 = 5.5 I'm rounding down to 5 because I feel that a :40 special with more traditional animation would have been find. They tried too hard.