An untold chapter in the Mass Effect saga, following the early career of Alliance Marine, James Vega, as he leads a squad of elite special forces into battle against a mysterious alien threat known as The Collectors. Stationed at a colony in a remote star system, Vega and his troops must protect the inhabitants from an invasion of the deadly insectoid warriors determined to collect the population for unknown purposes. Soon after the attack, Vega's commanding officer falls in battle, forcing the young officer to embrace the responsibility of leadership for the colony's survival. Having idolized Earth's greatest hero and warrior, Commander Shepard (the central character in the Mass Effect video games), the young and idealistic Vega must now make life and the death decisions that will effect not only the lives of his squad, but the lives of every person in the colony - all of whom he has sworn to protect. Fighting valiantly for every life in his hands, Vega soon discovers the path of heroism is not as glamorous as he envisioned, and that victory in war always comes with a heavy price; the end of innocence, the sacrifice of one's ideals and ultimately, the loss of those closest to him. Set before Mass Effect 3, James Vega and a group of soldiers try to protect a human colony from the Collectors, who wish to capture the colonists for unknown purposes. First off, let me state I only played half-way through the first game and didn't touch the second or third. I despise the cheap emotional and sex ploys employed in the game just to beef up a weak story.<br/><br/>So when watching this amerime my sister who is a bigger fan (1st and 2nd game and novel) sit with me so I can check with her some facts about the story.<br/><br/>So here is my impression and opinions of the Paragon Lost: The art was inferior to what other game franchises put out i.e. Halo. And sometimes highly inconsistent.<br/><br/>The director had either very bad storyboards or was left to his own imagination on how each scene was to be played out that you will encounter a lot anime art (gestures, postures) tropes you in fast and cheap anime series.<br/><br/>The story overall was dull and weak. There was not much on character backgrounds or settings and with even that it felt dragged out.<br/><br/>The voice acting ranged from OK (Freddie Prince Jr, Laura Bailey and Monica Rial) to 1990s-2000s style dubbing (Jad Saxton biggest offender no offence to her). I totally blame the voice director.<br/><br/>With all this in mind I would have right this movie a 3 or 4 but and there is a big but I follow one rule, "The end justifies the means." Which means that no matter crappy the beginning and middle of a story is, the ending if it is good will allow forgiveness for the rest.<br/><br/>And I must say the ending did not cop out despite the red herrings in the 1st and 2nd act would like you to believe. The ending shows a realistic and only logically conclusion to the time and situation present for that I am grateful.<br/><br/>If I would recommend this movie to buy it may, just maybe for the ending that is similar to the choices you have to make in the games time and again. But if you are not a fan then rent it. The ending is much better that most other sci-fi movies that have great 1st and 2nd acts but fails to pay off in the final 3rd act which always leaves me angry (like all the hype build up just to be disappointed when you finally see the crap product). I'm not a "fan" of the Mass Effects games, although I did play the second one all the way through. The third one seems to have gotten mixed reviews, but I have been thinking about picking it up anyway.<br/><br/>When I caught this movie, I didn't know what to expect. The story was easy enough to follow, and the art and animation art easy on the eyes. The acting was OK, and overall I enjoyed the movie right to the end.<br/><br/>Anyone who has played the games will be familiar with the universe and some of the characters mentioned in the movie, not to mention the main antagonists. People who have never played the games should have no problem with the movie as a basic history is explained as the movie progresses, with the audience learning all they need to know for the plot to work.<br/><br/>Basically, there have been reports of colonies being wiped out, or disappearing. A squad of marines is sent to one planet to try and stop an attack. They succeed, and are ordered to stay and protect the colony. As they work to repair and upgrade the colonies defenses, they are again attacked by an unknown enemy, one that none of them had seen before. <br/><br/>This universe makes use of a technology left behind by an ancient dead race to power pretty much all their tech. Throughout the movie it is speculated that this new enemy may have been responsible for the disappearance of the ancient race.<br/><br/>As the enemy tries to abduct the colonists, it's up to the heroes to stop them, the main character must make a decision that will haunt him for ever.<br/><br/>The good thing is that the story, script and acting are all done well enough to give you some feeling for the main characters.<br/><br/>Overall, fairly well done. I'll definitely watch this one again.
Holvir replied
363 weeks ago