I am an anime fan, but there are only so many hours in a day so there are many popular series that I am not familiar with and Overlord is one of them. Still, I feel that other animes such as Dragon Ball, My Hero Academia, and Demon Slayer have movies that fit into their shows, but also stand alone as good movies that anyone can enjoy, even if they are not hardcore fans.
How to Download Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom
Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom was released on September 20, 2024 in Japan and on November 8, 2024 in North America. As of the time of writing it is not available for download or stream the streaming from a digital platform but evetnually there might such an option. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability.
The Movie Review
A Confusing Experience for New Viewers
Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom is not like that. As someone new to the series, I felt lost, uninterested, and sometimes just flat out confused as to what was going on and why people were acting one way one moment, and then later, they would seem really different. Granted, you could argue that me finding the plot hard to follow is because I came into this ignorant to the source material. However, I would argue that anyone could watch a movie like Dragon Ball Resurrection F no matter their familiarity with the show. I feel that they could have done more to get non-fans up to speed here.
The Plot: Humanity’s Fight Against Monsters
I found the plot of the movie very hard to follow. Basically, The Sacred Kingdom has been in a long battle with these monsters and now there is a Demon Lord called Jaldbaoth who has taken over the invading force, and that puts humanity in a very vulnerable position. I liked the idea of this big bad Demon Lord trying to take over and slay humanity!
Momonga and the Sorcerer Kingdom
However, all is not lost. Turns out that there is a Sorcerer Kingdom that is led by a guy called Momonga who can use an army of the undead to try and defeat the Demon Lord. There was clearly some drama here between Momonga and the Demon Lord, but the movie did not really explain things all that well. They couldn’t get Momonga so the Sacred Kingdom tries to come up with another way to defeat the Demon Lord.
A Movie That Feels Like a TV Arc
I am sure if you are into the show, this was awesome stuff, but they did not do enough to make me care about any of these characters! In many ways, it felt like this was the latest season of the show and they just decided to turn it into a movie. I have heard some people who are fans of the show say that the arc that is shown here glosses over many things and it feels rushed.
A Long Runtime and Epic Battles
Let me tell you, rushed is not a word that I would use to describe Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom. Coming in at over two hours, there were some parts of this movie that really dragged! To be fair, there were also some exciting parts too, and as you would expect from a theatrically released anime movie, it looked amazing. There are some huge battles (even the battles can go on too long!) in the movie and one very early on felt like it could have been the final battle it was so epic and so well done.
Final Thoughts on Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom
Look, it is on me for going to see a movie based on a show that I knew next to nothing about. If you are a fan of the show already, ignore my review. However, if you are like me and just love anime and want to see an anime movie in the cinema, Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom is one that I would not highly recommend you make the effort to go and see. I have to be honest, this did not increase my desire to watch the Overlord anime series at all.
