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(About Our Ads) "YU-GI-OH!" (2004) (voices of Dan Green, Eric Stuart) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Mild Heavy *Moderate Mild Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild None Moderate None None Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Minor None None Mild *Moderate QUICK TAKE: Children's Animated: A card game champion must not only contend with a challenger determined to defeat him, but also a recently resurrected god of the dead who wants to conquer the world. PLOT: Yugi is the acclaimed champion of a fantasy card game where contestants choose playing cards that create imaginary characters or monsters that do battle with the same sort of creations chosen by their competitors. Yugi's ace in the hole are three "god" playing cards that allow him to defeat any challenger. Accordingly, Seto Kaiba pays a visit to Pegasus, the creator of the game, in hopes of obtaining similar cards that he could use to beat Yugi. Little does he know, however, the ramifications of getting his hands on the Pyramid of Light card. It seems that 5,000 years ago, Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of the dead, tried to use that card to conquer the world. He was defeated and entombed by the Pharaoh, but when Yugi cracks the Millennium Puzzle, he resurrects both of the ancient archenemies. Possessed by the Pharaoh, Yugi senses that something bad is going to happen, but must contend with Kaiba and his new and quite powerful set of cards. As Yugi's grandfather Muto, and friends Joey, Tristan and Tea try to help, the card champion must not only contend with Kaiba's challenge to defeat him, but also the return of Anubis who wishes to finish his destruction of the world. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of the card game or TV series, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG For scary combat and monster images. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: It's debatable whether kids view animated characters as role models, but here's a quick look at the major characters. YUGI is the card game champion who partially becomes possessed by the ancient Pharaoh and must not only contend with Kaiba's challenge to his throne, but also the resurrection of Anubis. SETO KAIBA is Yugi's archrival who will do anything to defeat Yugi at the card game. JOEY and TRISTAN are Yugi's friends who assist him in his game playing as well as dealing with Anubis. TEA is Yugi's young friend who also assists him. GRANDPA MUTO is Yugi's grandfather, a former Egyptologist. ANUBIS is the ancient King of the dead who, after being resurrected, wants to complete his destruction of the world. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this PG-rated animated film aimed at young fans of the popular card game and TV show. Various imaginary, card-based beings and monsters briefly clash with others of their ilk, while humans fight off some mummies, knocking off some of their heads and other body parts with resultant animated goo. Some of those scenes, other moments of peril and the sight of some of the ferocious and/or menacing looking monsters might be unsettling or scary to the very youngest of viewers, but probably not at all to most everyone else. Some colorful phrases and other potentially imitative behavior are present, as are some bad attitudes. There's some brief, crude humor and one character briefly drinks. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE After a nightmare, Pegasus says, "No more white wine spritzers for me." However, we later see him having one. BLOOD/GORE A card creation is told to regurgitate and we see a massive stream of purple vomit hitting another card creation, destroying it. When Tristan states that he smells trouble, Joey says, "Actually, that's me, sorry about that" (presumably a fart joke). Tea kicks the head off one mummy that's coming after them, resulting in some animated goo coming out (we see the severed head as well). One of the guys tries kicking another mummy in the stomach, but his foot goes all of the way through it (with a little bit of resultant goo). More mummies are then hit and decapitated (with more non-red goo). We see a monster melting away into a huge puddle of goo. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Kaiba will do anything to defeat Yugi in a card competition. Anubis is the god of the dead who wants to complete his conquering and/or destruction of the world. Some viewers might not like Yugi having various "god" cards, but they seem to be of the ancient Egyptian monster variety. A crowd of people taunts Joey and Tristan, stating that they're nobodies. Influenced by Anubis, Kaiba has a bad attitude in not listening to Yugi's warnings about the consequences of their game play. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed here as well as under "Violence" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to very young viewers, but probably few if any others. We briefly see some sort of spirit drift up behind Yugi. Later, various menacing looking monsters are in the room with them, but by channeling the ancient pharaoh, he orders them away and they vanish. At the very beginning of the film (and then later when more of them are "alive"), we see a mummy with hollowed out eyes and a mouth that's agape with a few sharp teeth (that might be scary to very young kids, but no one else). Some men become trapped in Anubis' large tomb, with rocks and other matter falling toward them. Those men and a vehicle then fall into a body of water or dust and are gone. A ghostly figure enters a room as we hear an echoey voice. Various card-based monsters that are conjured up (some with sharp teeth and otherwise menacing looking features) might be unsettling or scary to some younger kids. We hear that Anubis is the lord of the dead. Joey and Tristan's souls seemed to be pulled from their body and sent to Anubis' temple (where the two act like themselves). The same then happens to Yugi (some kids might think they've been killed). Kaiba introduces a "dark clown" card creation that holds a knife. We then see a silhouette shot of that clown completely driving the knife through a non-real representation of Yugi (we see it come out the other end, but only in that same silhouette). We see several sarcophagi lids opening and then see various menacing looking mummies with sharp teeth that are "alive" and coming after Yugi. We see that with each defeat of one of his cards during a battle with Kaiba, Yugi progressively gets weaker (kids may worry about him and his well-being). A large structure starts to collapse and Pegasus arrives at the last minute to rescue several characters from apparent doom. We see more menacing looking mummies while hearing evil-sounding laughter. A "normal" looking woman's face on a sphinx creature suddenly turns monstrous. The group is surrounded by and then struggle with various mummies. We see more card creation monsters that might be unsettling or scary to younger kids. A large piece of roof nearly falls onto the group, but two card creations catch it in midair, allowing them to escape (it falls onto the card creations, seemingly crushing them, but they then vanish). GUNS/WEAPONS Swords/Knife/Canon: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill other card creations. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Give me a break," "Pipsqueak," "You pompous windbag," "Your sorry behind," "Nobody (as in "You're a"), "The king of lame," "Ladies first" (said to guys), an incomplete "What the..." "Say it, don't spray it," "Ah, nuts," "Idiotic," "Do you ever shut up?" "You snake," "I'm gonna blow chunks," "Freaky," "Shut up," "Not more freaky magic," "Zoinks," "Freaks," "What the heck is going on?" "Beaten the crud out of," "You're going down," "You little ingrate," "This place is crawling with stiffs," "Heads up you freak," "Creep" and "Spare me all of your bull." It's possible the film could get some kids riled up into acting violent toward their siblings, playmates, pets, etc. A card creation blows a "raspberry" with its mouth. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A moderate amount of dramatic and suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY None. SEX/NUDITY We briefly see some buxom female card creations that show a little bit of cleavage. Young Tea wears a very short skirt. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES None. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Ancient Egypt. Competition in game playing. VIOLENCE Most of the following involves imaginary card-created beings and creatures briefly attacking other such beings that, for the most part, quickly vanish upon defeat, thus lessening the realism of what's presented. In a simulation, we see energy beams from various card-based creatures colliding and one dragon shatters into nothingness. A card creation rides a huge syringe that then flies down and hits Joey, apparently in the clothed butt. An electrical charge dissolves a card creation. We see Joey and Tristan lying on the ground with dazed looks in their eyes and footprints on their bodies (suggesting a mob of people ran over them). Two female elf card creations kick Kaiba. Another female character then hits them and they vanish, only to be brought back later. A card creation character fires a canon of sorts that vaporizes another card creation and knocks down Pegasus. We see an image of large being picking up Kaiba by the head. A card creation drives a sword into another, causing it to fracture into nothingness. A card creation shoots flames out onto another card creation. A huge energy shield causes three card creation beings to shatter away into nothingness. Kaiba introduces a "dark clown" card creation that holds a knife. We then see a silhouette shot of that clown completely driving the knife through a representation of Yugi (we see it come out the other end, but only in that same silhouette). A card creation fires an energy beam into another, destroying the latter. More card creation characters are vaporized. A dragon-like card creation fractures into nothingness and several more card creations are vaporized. We see scenes of potential future destruction, including a naval warship being blown up, etc. Tea kicks the head off one mummy that's coming after them, resulting in some goo coming out (we see the severed head as well). One of the guys tries kicking another mummy in the stomach, but his foot goes all of the way through it (with a little bit of resultant goo). More mummies are then hit and decapitated (with more non-red goo). Anubis picks up Kaiba by the head and then tosses him aside. Another mummy head is kicked off its body. More card creations fracture into nothingness. An energy beam hits Anubis. A reportedly real monster (compared to the card creations) fires an energy beam at some humans, but hits a wall instead. A large piece of roof nearly falls onto the group, but two card creations catch it in midair, allowing them to escape (it falls onto the card creations, seemingly crushing them, but they then vanish). We see a monster melting away into a huge puddle of goo. Reviewed August 7, 2004 / Posted August 13, 2004