Studio: Gonzo
Director: Fuminori Kizaki
Writer: Mitsutaka Hirota
‘Bloody Fate’ is a full length anime film adaptation of the plot of ‘Bayonetta’ by the prolific anime studio Gonzo. It was a Japanese language film, but the English dub reprises most of the voice actors from the game. It mostly retells the game’s story verbatim, often with dialogue lifted straight out of the game’s script, though some ordering and plot details are changed. In particular, the final battle plays out quite differently, but the plot is still essentially unchanged. The film makes some plot details which were inferred by the game more explicit, and actually made me realize I’d missed a couple things in the game. It’s certainly a bit more on the nose than the game version, but I’m not sure why the game felt the need to be coy, anyway. It’s also better paced in a lot of ways, and clearly demonstrates how most of the game’s plot was crammed in at the end — the endgame starts around halfway through the film. It introduces important characters and plot points that the game withheld until the end right at the start, which provides a better setup and creates more impetus for the plot.
With that said, this translation doesn’t always work. Despite the improved pacing, it can feel a bit rushed and cursory, with an awkward and unnatural flow between scenes. It never really manages to establish a sense of forward momentum. While I wondered if the lack of anticipation I felt was the result of already knowing the plot, I think it was something more than that. There’s a feeling of missing context here which makes me think I may have been confused by the film if I didn’t come into it with plot knowledge. Even the tone feels a bit wonky — the opening scene lacks the ridiculous goofiness of the game’s opening scene, by tries to compensate in other ways, like making Bayonetta frequently lick her lips in anticipation (the execution of which kind of squicked me out).
The dialogue is still jokey, even including a couple cute winks towards Devil May Cry, but the voice acting in the English dub feels more stilted despite using mostly the same voice actors. With the exception of Bayonetta herself, the voice acting sounds unrehearsed, as if the lines were being read off the page for the first time. The animation isn’t anything special, but it gets the job done. It often imitates the game’s partial still frame cutscenes, which again leads this action-heavy affair to feel a bit more static than it should, but there’s still plenty of visual busyness. The camera is, of course, still obsessed with her body. In short, all of the elements are there, but the film nonetheless feels a bit dialed down from the game’s ridiculous insanity — and that’s a shame, because this story could have been truly mad without the game’s filler. While it improves on the game’s storytelling in many ways, the execution still leaves a bit to be desired.
Rating: 6/10 deadly poses
[Originally posted in 2019]
