DISCLAIMER: The Bayonetta Game Series and Bayonetta: Bloody Fate is very violent, contains blood, swearing and high sexual implications in fanservice. This review will not have any inappropriate content, but if you do decide to seek out the movie or games, you have been warned.
Bayonetta is a high action game with stylish movement developed by Platinum Games, who previously worked on the Devil May Cry Series - but did you know there was an animated movie released in 2013? In fact, did you know that many Japanese based games get Animated Movies or Shorts, such as Professor Layton, Power Stone, Street Fighter, Devil May Cry and even Animal Crossing? These animated adaptions generally share the heart as the games and are very well done - but how does Bayonetta: Bloody Fate hold up today?
Before I go into my thoughts, I just wanted to make a point of not spoiling the story or major points of the movie and the first Bayonetta game, so this will be a brief overview for you to decide if this movie is for you. Bayonetta: Bloody Fate is an abridged retelling of the first game, with a few parts either expanded on or shortened to suit the flow of a standard movie. If you have a fond memory of the major storylines of the game, it does have enough to keep you entertained none the less. The basic plot of the film is about an Umbran Witch with amnesia, Bayonetta, trying to find out who she really is as she’s stalked by a reporter named Luka trying to prove that Witches exist. Bayonetta fights the Angels as she traverses the land destroying the forces of the evil heavens. How will Bayonetta confront on her past and will she have the will to save the world.
This movie, though a brief recap of the video game captures your attention with it’s high action and style as Bayonetta dashes around using her hair as attacks (and leaving her quite bare.) Though there is no nudity in this film, there are a lot sexual implications, but nothing too major. The movie plays homage to the game with various weapons that Bayonetta wields and a lot of Easter Eggs hidden in the film such as Luka bragging about having lot’s of girls interested in him such as Claire (Claire Redfield from Resident Evil 2) Trish (companion of Dante from Devil May Cry) Sylvia (from Viewtiful Joe) and Ammy (Amaratsu, the Sun God and main character from Okami). Antonio ‘Tony’ Redgrave is another name that pops up that is quite significant as it’s the BETA name for Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 4 - and then it became the Alias Dante from Devil May Cry uses when out on missions to hide his identity.
The English Dub of this movie is surprisingly done very well, in fact the mouth movement is sometimes out of sync to make sure the line delivery sounds better than it should. Not only is the animation and acting amazing, the commentary reveals that after a hard time tracking down the original English cast of the video game (as the original game went uncredited for all actors) they managed to get every single voice actor to reprise their roles, with the exceptions being Cereza, (who nobody could track down) but that is also very acceptable as the girl who played Cereza in the video game would have been too old to reprise her role anyway and Enzo who was unavailable to reprise his role, though they got the voice actor who voiced Enzo in Bayonetta 2. This Bayonetta movie is a joy to watch as a fan and has me getting more and more excited for Bayonetta 3. If you’re a fan of Bayonetta and it’s games it’s a must watch, not only for the enjoyment, but for letting you stepping into the world without stressing that you’re about to get a game over. Bayonetta: Bloody Fate is available on BluRay and DVD, with the easiest way to get your own copy being through your local JB HiFi.
