brkamp

This remake has absolutely zero to do with the source material. It has no depth or gravitas. It has none of the impact. I couldn't bring myself to believe in, or care about, this supposed relationship. Much less the motivation to revenge a wrong.

Now wait, diverging from the source is not necessarily a bad thing! There have been several movies relating to this concept. They have different characters, different stories, all relating to the Crow concept in different situations and context. There are movies and comic books and numerous Crow stories out there! Where THIS one makes the biggest mistake, is in trying to use the original characters, Eric and Shelly, and then completely ignoring the entirety of those characters. This would have worked better if they had simply changed the character names and run with it. That would have made it just another Crow movie and not the worst possible "remake" of a classic comic-book flick.

This movie is just bad. It doesn't even get MOVING until an hour and ten minutes in.

So, maybe that's the answer: Watch the last 30 minutes and call it a day.

So, first off, yes, this is a game. Yes, there is combat. And yes, there are puzzles and things to figure out. (There are games with BETTER combat but this is not bad. I can name some games that are really bad. And the puzzles... there are some clever puzzle-elements in Hellblade that I found rather unique and interesting.)

But this isn't so much a "game" as it is an interactive-feature-film. This is Cinema. There is creative photography, stunning visuals, and brilliant concept art. Fantastic soundscapes and voice-acting that invokes just what is needed in the mind of the player. And, while it is a game, the acting is also great when matched with talented motion-capture. All of this comes together and is presented as an immersive story. One that, by the final scenes, you aren't ready to see end.

You aren't going to replay this game to see different endings or try different strategies. You will replay this game in the same way that you will re-watch a movie that you enjoyed. Sure, you know the story and how it ends, but you will want to see the imagery again, be disturbed by the ideas, and go on that journey once more.

Hellblade has better writing and production value than many theater-level movies out there.

This is GOOD.