IkuharaKunihiko
Bunny, a relaxed high school girl, encounters a talking cat with whose help she transforms into Sailor Moon during a second, equally surreal encounter with a vampire-like youma who is sucking blood from a girl. However, the mysterious Tuxedo Mask helps her fight against evil...In 2011, a group of fans, led by director Elana Mugdan, decided to film their very own live-action, independent movie of a popular anime and manga series, funded entirely with donations. As a longtime "Sailor Moon" fan, this project caught my attention and I was eager to finally see how they are going to pull this off. Since as of this date only the first 20 minutes of the movie were made, this review will focus only on them. Even though I was skeptical, the first 20 minutes - which roughly follow the events of the first episode of the anime - are surprisingly catchy and enjoyable. Yes, certain unusual new details need time to get accustomed to (two FBI agents were added into the story; the blood sucking youma seems more like a vampire...), yet I have to admit...I watched it with such an awe as if I was a little kid. With almost a 1/3 effect of what "Sailor Moon" had on me when I saw it for the first time. They captured that adventurous flair.Avery Danielle is great as the title heroine. Nick Uhas seems at first as a strange choice to play Tuxedo Mask, yet he proved himself worthy later on. I know some will be put off by the fact that it plays out in the US, not in Japan, but when you have American actors and locations, such a modification was arguably justified. The location for the Game Center Crown, for instance, suits the story perfectly. Director Mugdan did a good job. Since this is just the start, I will just have to wait until they post the whole thing until my final judgment. Therefore, I cannot yet compare it to PGSM, that golden standard of live-action "Sailor Moon" adaptations, or the Sera Myu musicals, but my hopes are up. The movie was elegant, natural and fun, with a few great solutions in transporting the animated world into ours.
Quentin Watkins
The return of Sailor Moon has brought a lot of attention to the female evil fighting character that rose to extremely high popularity in the 90's - and this movie has brought it back to shine, and in an outstandingly good way! Most of your modern fan-made movies doesn't have a cast that spark, graphics/editing that catch the visual appeal of the project -- this independent short film has blown others out of the water. In honesty I feel as if I've watched a professional Hollywood movie that's stayed true to the storyline, but only modernized some aspects.The costumes are by far top notch and even bring forth the original designs of Naoko Takeuchi before they was changed to what most Sailor Moon fans are now exposed too. The acting was immensely good. I feel as if the characters captured the personalities of the original characters perfectly. The CGi/Video Effects.. I don't think I've seen an independent film to date thats had effects nearly as great as this. The music used is extremely extremely good and fitting to the feel of the scenes when music is used. Throughout the film you catch sneak peaks and its made me ask myself "did you see that?" -- things that I'm hoping are to come if they extend this project. Keep your eyes open!Overall I recommend this film to anyone that is or isn't a fan of Sailor Moon. Hopefully this team decides to make more Sailor Moon films like this in the near future! Awesome job. A+
Sabrina White
I just watch the Sailor Moon the movie 2011, and I thought that it was cool, and not one Sailor Moon fan should not miss this movie! The transformation are very cool, the script was flawless, and actors were prefect!!! The actress they got for Sailor Moon was prefect!! The director had the look that most of Sailor Moon saw when they would think how would they get Sailor Moon from an anime to live action, and she did it! The writers are major Sailor Moon fans to write the script like they did. The setting was cool and real. This whole movie is one for all Sailor Moon have been waiting for ever since the anime came out in the 90s. This movie is a Sailor Moon dream come true. Sailor Moon says "In the name of moon, I'll punish you!" :) :)
