Review - Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie (2004)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. In a manner similar to Pokémon, a 4Kids dub of a Japanese anime came along and took the youth of America by storm, and helping to popularize a tie-in trading card game, with many cards in the game being featured in the anime. That anime is, of course, Yu-Gi-Oh!. And, much like the Pokémon movies, Warner Bros. and 4Kids also had a Yu-Gi-Oh! movie out there, and of course it got a big screen release. This is my review of the 2004 film Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light.

         The movie opens with the backstory of the series, in that in the times of Ancient Egypt, there were a series of Shadow Games, which were eventually sealed away in the seven Millennium Items by a young Pharaoh. 500 years later, and a kid named Yugi Mutou solves the Millennium Puzzle, and begins to share his body with the spirit of the Pharaoh, also known as Yami Yugi. However, it's also revealed that when the Millennium Puzzle was solved, not only was the Pharaoh awakened, but another being from Ancient Egypt: Anubis, along with his powerful relic the Pyramid of Light. 

        A few years later, and Yugi is now the Duel Monsters champion, having won in both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, and now has challengers lining up to take him on, especially with his all-powerful Egyptian God Cards: Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, and the Winged Dragon of Ra. However, one individual is still obsessed with defeating Yugi: Seto Kaiba. In fact, Kaiba is so obsessed, that he eventually goes to Duel Monsters creator Maximilian Pegasus for the means to defeat the Egyptian God Cards. So, after defeating Pegasus, Kaiba gets the cards he needs. 

       Meanwhile, Yugi and his friends Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, and Tea Gardner are all hanging out, when all of Yugi's challengers show up, and Joey and Tristan distract them, while Yugi and Tea all head to the local museum to meet with Yugi's grandpa, who shows them the sarcophagus of Anubis, as well as the Pyramid of Light. After passing out for a while, Yugi is picked up by Kaiba's little brother Mokuba, as Kaiba wants to face Yugi in a duel...again. 

        So, Yugi and Mokuba arrive at the Kaiba Corp. Duel Dome, wherein Kaiba challenges Yugi to a duel, wherein Kaiba reveals that he has the Pyramid of Light card, which removes the three Egyptian God Cards from the game. Also, Yugi's spirit, along with those of Joey, Tristan, and Tea, are all sucked in to the Pyramid of Light, and it's here where the story splits. On one hand, we have Yugi, Joey, and Tristan, who are eventually joined by Tea, explore the innards of the Millennium Puzzle, finding the tomb of Anubis within, and the spirit of Anubis informs Yugi that when he awoke the spirit of the Pharaoh, Yugi ALSO awoke the spirit of Anubis. A massive brawl between the four friends and a bunch of mummies breaks out, and the four friends land on top, eventually hitting a weak spot and weaken and strength of the Pyramid of Light outside. 

        On the other hand, Yami Yugi and Kaiba are continuing their duel, with Kaiba using a Deck Virus Card to slowly sap away the cards in Yugi's deck, and eventually Kaiba unleashes a new monster, the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, which Kaiba attempts to use to destroy the Pyramid of Light, which is halted by Anubis, who emerges and takes over the duel from Kaiba. So, Anubis summons two new monsters in the forms of Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia, which are eventually merged to form Theinin the Great Sphinx. However, Yami Yugi, once merged with Yugi again, takes control of the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, destroys the Pyramid, and brings back the Egyptian Gods to finish off Theinin the Great Sphinx, and destroy Anubis in the process. Anubis eventually becomes an actual monster, and Yugi brings the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon to life and destroys the monster form of Anubis, ending the movie with Kaiba vowing to defeat Yugi one of these days. 

         Yeah, so the Yu-Gi-Oh! movie was a lot of fun, but much like the Pokémon movies that Warner Bros and 4Kids put out back in the day, it was probably more accessible for the kids watching Yu-Gi-Oh! on Kids' WB back then. The new cards, like the Sphinx trio, the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, Magician's Valkyria, and so forth were all pretty cool. The idea of making Anubis, the Egyptian God of the Dead, the main villain was pretty cool, and we do get to see quite a number of duels throughout the movie. 

      The voice acting, particularly from Dan Green, Eric Stuart, and Scott Rayow as Yugi, Kaiba, and Anubis, was all around pretty good. The animation was really cinema quality, and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie as a kid, and I have a lot of fun watching it nowadays on Blu-ray. I'm giving Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light a rating of 4.85/5. 

       Anyway guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time when I take a look at The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.