Director : Hatsuki Tsuji Starring : Dan Green, Eric Stuart, Amy Birnbaum

Watching Yu-Gi-Oh is about as fun as standing over someone else's shoulder while he plays a video game, or perhaps a game of cards. I had no background information at all about this movie going in, and when I walked out, I felt as if I had just watched an instructional video. The movie is apparently based on a card game from Japan, the rules of which resemble Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon. Since this movie is a commercial product drawn in the anime style (or Japanimation or manga, whatever you want to call it), we can expect an incoherent storyline and underdeveloped characters. Maybe it's time to quit making movies based on cards. It's not like the medium has produced any decent flicks, as viewers of The Garbage Pail Kids Movie will attest.
From what I could gather from the flimsy plot, an ancient pharaoh protected earth from an evil demon 5000 years ago. In present-day Japan, a new fad has arrived in the form of playing cards, and the players who compete against each other are called duelists. Yugi is such a player, and after he solves a millennium puzzle, he inherits the pharaoh's assistance and along with that three god cards which are powerful enough to vanquish nearly all possible opponents. Duelists compete in battle arenas where they play their best cards, and the creatures represented on the cards take physical form to attack each other.

Seto Kaiba has lost repeatedly to Yugi, but he has a master plan up his sleeve to turn the tables. He needs a special card that can render the god cards useless, and once those cards are out of the game, he'll have a better chance to defeat Yugi. As far as Seto is concerned, it's a game. In reality, the evil demon is influencing Seto's actions in order to free himself from his imprisonment. As Seto continues to drain Yugi's life points, the demon grows stronger. The pharaoh makes himself visible for the duel, and as the game progresses, the two duelists throw all their cards at each other. Some are creature cards with special attacks, while other cards are simply spells or traps that can benefit the user or hurt the opponent. First person who loses all his life points loses the game.

The duels in Yu-Gi-Oh are played out with the characters explaining every single move. Yugi draws his cards and describes what monsters he's using, what spells they can cast, what special magic he has standing by, along with a mystery card turned face-down for later use. Then Seto counters with his cards, and describes in detail how strong his monsters are, how his spells can counteract Yugi's, how he can sacrifice creatures in play to form stronger monsters with higher attack points. Then it's Yugi's turn again, and he goes through numerous explanations about what he can do. By the time the movie was over, I had a working knowledge of how to play this game. The only thing I need now is an opponent, but it's not like I deal with 10-year-olds on a daily basis.

Yu-Gi-Oh is silly animated nonsense for children to chew on with their baby teeth. I found some of the match-ups between the various duelists fairly involving. The pharaoh's final plan to win the duel (did you think he would lose?) is unexpected, and even a little inspired. I received a free playing card upon buying my ticket, and I think it might be worth something one day. If I try to sell it on eBay twenty years from now, I could make a whole dollar.