Flanked by his well trained warriors, Laocorn Gaudemus is a man seeking for a weapon from his ancient bloodline called the "Armor of Mars". It's said that when all six pieces are combined, the wearer will possess god like abilities. His twin sister Sulia is completely unhappy with this. She searches for the only man she thinks capable of stopping her mad brothers plan, the martial artist Terry Bogard. Together with his friends and Sulia, they venture off on a scavenger hunt to claim the pieces, but Laocorn's warriors stand in their way.-summary
Based on the popular video game series Fatal Fury. Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture(FF:TMP) is directed by one of anime's most notorious hacks to ever exist named Masami Obari. It also happens to be the third and final installment of the series, and I hope it's the last. The movie was released about 17 years ago, so things are looking very good. The reason I feel this way is because the original didn't even crack the ceiling of mediocrity, the second movie wasn't even average, and this third installment took gigantic leaps backwards. It's actually far worst than the first two, even though it was given a longer run time and better production values.
It's no secret that video game to anime is meant to appeal to fans of the game, butI just can't understand how some fans accept this, because it doesn't really cater too much to the fans at all. I'll say it's about 5-95(and not in the fans favor). Surprisingly, the fact that it strays completely away from the source material isn't even a gripe for me. I have plenty of other reasons why I consider this an atrocious anime.
In regards to non fans and casual anime fans. The story doesn't require them to have much knowledge of the game or the previous movies. Several things are explained through flashbacks, which works towards the light character development.
When looking past the solid music score, there is almost nothing I find good about this movie. Obari brought his "F" game for sure with this one; such as characters appearing for no reasons other than to display some of their moves list and leave as quick as they came. The movie revolves around Terry and the gang fighting Laocorns minions, but Geese Howard and Billy Kane make appearances. Why? I understand it was meant to help build up the possible sequel, but valuable time could have been used in adding length to at least one fight scene which ended in a colossal disappointment. Overall, the scene added NOTHING to the plot.
The animation is very near bottom of the barrel. Violence Jack had better animation than this. I may be pushing it but I hope you get the point. Most of the fight scenes are heavily simulated with strokes indicating blows, sloppy choreography, one blow victories, and stills on static backgrounds. I've known people to actually call this great animation.
I have to get this part off my chest. The fans of video game to anime puzzle me quite a bit. They ripped Street Fighter Alpha to shreds because Ryu fought with a nobody instead of Akuma. Yet, I've seen these exact same folks give this a free pass. Most fans can't deny they wanted to see Terry Bogard vs. Geese Howard, The Power Geyser vs. The Raising Storm. Instead, we get Terry and the gang versus a skinny weakling in an anorexic Iron Man suit engaged in X-Men/Dragonball Z like combat. Normally, I don't mind if the source material has been ignored, but I do mind the severe identity crisis. Had the movie stuck to and delivered martial arts, instead of superhero like high energy attacks, which looks completely silly with Fatal Fury, then this wouldn't have been a problem for me. To include, Obari even rehashed a plot segment, along with the characters action and choice of moves in the exact same sequence from the second movie. There's just no excuse for that.
The movie only gets worst with its cheap fight scenes, and I was bored almost the entire time. The drama hits in some areas, but it's overplayed in others. If it wasn't for Joe Higashi's comedic antics concerning getting laid, and his fight along with Kim's in the very beginning. I would give this a much lower score. Oh yeah, and for the fan service crowd. You get quite a bit of the big breasted, yet incredibly annoying Mai.
I hate this movie on damn near every level. Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture could be one of those "so bad it's good" deals, but since I only believe in "pure bad and hating it". I'll be lying to myself if I ever said I could see this again during one of my boozing sessions, and that's when I'm the jolliest.
Pros:
-Soundtrack
-Joe's comedy
Cons:
-Very bad choreography
-Animation
-Severe identity crisis
-Very little to no real martial arts
-Cookie cutter bad guys
-Characters appear for no real reason
