Paul Lancione
Halo Legends ReviewVideo Games are growing rapidly as a medium, and in turn the games are growing larger in their own respects. An example of one of these franchises is Halo. While to many it's just a series of shooter games, it actually has a complex story arch and an incredibly vast universe. Halo Legends explores this aspect of the series through animated shorts. These shorts vary from more serious and dramatic pieces, to more light-hearted shorts. While there is certainly room for improvement, Halo Legends can certainly hold its own as a great staple of the Halo franchise. Each short is directed by a different director that is well known for their skill in animation. The project was led by Frank O'Connor, the creative head of the Halo Franchise. Some of the other directors include Shinji Aramaki, Hideki Futamura, Toshiyuki Kan'no, and Yasushi Muraki. The shorts feature many voice actors, including Josh Grelle, Greg Ayres, Luci Christian, and David Matranga. Halo Legends allows the viewer to explore the expanse that is the Halo universe from multiple different perspectives. These perspectives vary from an Arbiter struggling with the conflict between his beliefs and the beliefs of his superiors, to a squad of ODSTs (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) following a Spartan on a mission to take out a prophet.None of these scenarios seem too far-fetched. They all feel at home in the Halo universe, and for the most part it seems as though the directors did their research. Having different directors for each short was the right call. It gives each short a distinctive voice, and makes each perspective feel unique. Something else that I enjoyed about the shorts were the animation styles. Each short has its own distinct style of animation, to help create the unique atmosphere of each short. The animation is beautiful in its own respect, but it also helps accomplish the goal of setting the atmosphere quite effectively. One short, The Duel, fell short in this. The animation itself was fine, but there was a filter over the whole short. This made the short look blurry, and it became annoying to watch after a while. A creative decision that I feel was intelligent was the decision to use the pre-existing Halo score instead of writing new music for the shorts. It helped make the shorts feel more at home in the Halo universe, and gives the viewers who are familiar with the Halo franchise a greater emotional response. That, and the Halo score is some of the greatest music ever written. An issue that I had with the film was how some of the directors ignored integral aspects of the Halo lore. I have previously stated that the directors did their research, which is a statement I stand by, but there were a few moments that left me puzzled. The most obvious examples of this are when certain characters interact that could never have been able to interact based off of the previously established lore. All in all, Halo Legends is a great film. The directors took great care in producing stories that fit well into the Halo cannon, and it holds up as an animation regardless. That being said, there were some creative decisions that were detrimental to the overall quality of the film. While my opinion may be biased, I would give Halo Legends a solid 7.5/10.
daryl42-1
7.5The first thing I want to say is that I'm a huge Halo fan. There are certainly bigger fans out there, but Halo is close to my heart, has been in my life for almost a decade, and any more Halo love in my life would make me really weird. I guess that's why they call it, "love", huh? Halo Legends is a collection of 8 animated shorts drawn and created by 6 different studios. Origins I & II - These are by far the best episodes of the bunch. Part 1 and 2 are different in their animation style. However, not only is the animation style excellent, with its simple edges, bright colors and very good use of lighting/tone. Origins sports, like most of the other episodes music ripped straight from the games. This, in conjunction with Cortana's narration and familiar voice, makes for a very fan-pleasing episode. According to the commentary, there is a lot of imagery here, such as what the forerunners look like, or what their world looks like, that is not canon and only exists in Cortana's imagination, if you will. Still, seeing these images and also seeing some of the Covenant's races in their primitive state is very exciting. If Halo fans were to get anything out of Halo Legends, it would be Origins.The Duel - This is my least favorite episode of the bunch. I usually don't like to criticize other people's work. A lot of the time, it is usually lack of rapport and/or misunderstanding that leads me to not enjoy or dislike a certain work. However, I found The Duel to be very boring. I also was not a huge fan of the artistic style, which happens to be the most unique one out of the bunch. I greatly enjoy seeing the back-story of the Covenant races, but I felt that this was an Elite take on Japanese samurai storytelling. The only thing worth noticing here is the style, which employs a filter of a sort to make everything look watercolored.Homecoming - Exactly what I expected out of Halo Legends. Although not my favorite, I would very easily recommend this one to someone. It is exactly as I expected, and it is actually pretty good. At first glance, it might seem to take place in a random anime-style universe. However, as soon as you see a Spartan, you know what's going on, and it actually makes sense.Odd One Out - One thing that differenciates traditional western animation from eastern animation is the tone. A lot of the western stuff is comedy. A lot of the eastern stuff is dramatic. Serious stuff. How many western, adult cartoons can you think of? How many eastern animated comedies can you think of, that are strictly for kids, and have minimal to no violence? Well, Odd One Out is such. I guess. There's fighting in it, for sure. But it's not done in a way that I would be afraid to show it to my kids. In fact, even the animated style resembles something that is kid-friendly. Some might be turned off by this, but to them I say, have you ever seen Red vs. Blue?Prototype - This is one that hooked me in from the start. From the cinematic title, to the stylish, atmospheric setting, and the melodramatic intro, I was convinced that this might be the best offering on the disc. However, it was, to my taste, permeated with action, and lots of explosions. Sounds good, right? Well, again, this is my taste. And I prefer gab over guts, any day. Still, it is a good episode. Highly recommended for those that love niche aspects of Japanese culture, such as mechs.The Babysitter - Like Homecoming, this is similar to what my expectations were going into Halo Legends. This one also happens to be my second favorite of the bunch. The Babysitter tells the story of a group of ODST's sent on a special mission: assassinate a Covenant Prophet. Wow, pretty crazy, huh? There's only one catch. A Spartan soldier is going to not only accompany them, but lead the whole operation. I won't say anything else, but given that these are short stories, averaging at about 15 minutes or so each episode, they did a good job. A good story was told, using a good art style. Many scenes were shown that ground you in the Halo universe, not to mention some very intense scenes.The Package - This is second runner up for least interesting episode in the package (the disc). This is the only episode that sports 3D animation. There is nothing wrong with this style of animation. The reason that I do not like it, is that it is all substance, and no style. What you basically have is a famous piece of Halo History, where the Master Chief and 4 other Spartans board a Covenant ship to rescue Dr. Halsey, the A.I. that Cortana is based on. It also includes the first encounter between the Arbiter and the Chief. (I am not sure if this bit is canon or not.) All it is, is essentially 5 Spartans literally running and gunning. I did my fair share of that in the games.Halo Legends is ultimately a mixed bag of works, all taking place directly in the Halo universe. Ultimately, I'd recommend Halo Legends to any hardcore Halo fan. If you hate anime, but love Halo... well, you might as well give it a shot. If you love anime, but don't like Halo, you might enjoy these short stories, but it would be better if you knew some back-story before going into it.
