So certain head-scratching moments aside, the movie was a good, if relatively bland outing for the 40K universe. The budget shows itself pretty heavy in certain situations; most of the time the Marines appear to be moving "through" or "over" the environment rather than "within" it... is it possible to have conspicuous CGI in an all-CGI movie? The actual combat scenes are usually pretty good, even if the diversity of tactics for BOTH sides seems limited to a choice between "hold your ground (even if you're out in the open) and shoot anything that moves" and "charge headlong, screaming bloody murder."
The overall look of the film is fantastic, with highly detailed and interesting environments, and wonderfully crafted characters (for instance, the new recruits' armor is shiny and near-perfect, while the older veterans show heavy weathering, minor repairs, etc.) Unfortunately, most of that is only noticed during close-ups, while so much of the movie is pulled back to give more of a landscape.
All in all, while not horribly disappointed, my number base reaction can be summed up thusly: "Wow, that was a phenominal mid-game cutscene I just watched. Now, where's the actual direct-to-DVD movie?"
Better than expected, worse than hoped for
So certain head-scratching moments aside, the movie was a good, if relatively bland outing for the 40K universe. The budget shows itself pretty heavy in certain situations; most of the time the Marines appear to be moving "through" or "over" the environment rather than "within" it... is it possible to have conspicuous CGI in an all-CGI movie? The actual combat scenes are usually pretty good, even if the diversity of tactics for BOTH sides seems limited to a choice between "hold your ground (even if you're out in the open) and shoot anything that moves" and "charge headlong, screaming bloody murder."
The overall look of the film is fantastic, with highly detailed and interesting environments, and wonderfully crafted characters (for instance, the new recruits' armor is shiny and near-perfect, while the older veterans show heavy weathering, minor repairs, etc.) Unfortunately, most of that is only noticed during close-ups, while so much of the movie is pulled back to give more of a landscape.
All in all, while not horribly disappointed, my number base reaction can be summed up thusly: "Wow, that was a phenominal mid-game cutscene I just watched. Now, where's the actual direct-to-DVD movie?"