For me, as a 40K fan and an avid commander of Space Marines on the tabletop, this was a decent first outing for GW. It could've been better, but for what we got, it could've also been a lot worse.
The voice acting is great. I usually don't like it when movies, especially lower-budget ones, cast celebrity actors in place of professional voice actors, but most of the celebrity actors they got were pretty well picked. Terence Stamp and John Hurt are always great, so I can't complain. I haven't viewed much of Sean Pertwee's work, but here he's also pretty good. In fact, this is one movie where I never disconnected the celebrity voices from the characters.
The characters themselves weren't very memorable. The Ultramarines (both the Chapter and characters) lack any defining traits to make them stand out, and a Chapter like the Raven Guard or the Space Wolves probably would've been more interesting and/or fun. Also,the Space Marines not nearly as indestructible as they are portrayed in the tabletop game or in the lore. These are the guys who, after having their heart and both lungs stop working, can take off their armor and swallow poison while UNDERWATER and still get back to the fight after a quick dust- off. Here, their armor breaks like glass and a single bolt round to the chest kills them outright. Space Marines should be tougher than this, and that goes for their evil counterparts, too, along with that Daemon Prince. A DAEMON PRINCE SHOULD'VE WIPED THEM OUT, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
The story was... Underwhelming. Dan Abnett's not my favorite Black Library author , but he can still deliver a solid story. The story he gave us here was essentially just a fetch quest with a twist thrown in towards the end, which wouldn't bother me if the characters a bit more memorable. This problem could probably be fixed by a larger budget and a second writer. *cough* Graham McNeille *cough*
The animation and character designs are pretty "bleh". The attention to detail with the miniatures and video games makes the movie look like a college student's final project. The animation's not always fluid and the dust storm that's in a good chunk of the movie's fight scenes feels like a weak attempt to hide this from the audience. But, again, the Warhammer 40,000 universe has yet to get the big-budget treatment it deserves.
So, is this a good movie? No. Did I enjoy it? Eh, not really. Do I want a sequel? YEEEEESSS. So hop to it, Games Workshop, and this time get a studio to fund and distribute it theatrically. I'm sure Warner Bros or New Line would be breaking your door down.
The voice acting is great. I usually don't like it when movies, especially lower-budget ones, cast celebrity actors in place of professional voice actors, but most of the celebrity actors they got were pretty well picked. Terence Stamp and John Hurt are always great, so I can't complain. I haven't viewed much of Sean Pertwee's work, but here he's also pretty good. In fact, this is one movie where I never disconnected the celebrity voices from the characters.
The characters themselves weren't very memorable. The Ultramarines (both the Chapter and characters) lack any defining traits to make them stand out, and a Chapter like the Raven Guard or the Space Wolves probably would've been more interesting and/or fun. Also,the Space Marines not nearly as indestructible as they are portrayed in the tabletop game or in the lore. These are the guys who, after having their heart and both lungs stop working, can take off their armor and swallow poison while UNDERWATER and still get back to the fight after a quick dust- off. Here, their armor breaks like glass and a single bolt round to the chest kills them outright. Space Marines should be tougher than this, and that goes for their evil counterparts, too, along with that Daemon Prince. A DAEMON PRINCE SHOULD'VE WIPED THEM OUT, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
The story was... Underwhelming. Dan Abnett's not my favorite Black Library author , but he can still deliver a solid story. The story he gave us here was essentially just a fetch quest with a twist thrown in towards the end, which wouldn't bother me if the characters a bit more memorable. This problem could probably be fixed by a larger budget and a second writer. *cough* Graham McNeille *cough*
The animation and character designs are pretty "bleh". The attention to detail with the miniatures and video games makes the movie look like a college student's final project. The animation's not always fluid and the dust storm that's in a good chunk of the movie's fight scenes feels like a weak attempt to hide this from the audience. But, again, the Warhammer 40,000 universe has yet to get the big-budget treatment it deserves.
So, is this a good movie? No. Did I enjoy it? Eh, not really. Do I want a sequel? YEEEEESSS. So hop to it, Games Workshop, and this time get a studio to fund and distribute it theatrically. I'm sure Warner Bros or New Line would be breaking your door down.