Learning that Heavenly Sword was being turned into a CGI movie was a pleasant surprise, especially seeing as the original game was released way back in 2007. As any fan of the PS3 game could tell you, it’s cinematic potential is huge.

New details have been revealed recently, but they’re not exactly fan-pleasers. Andy Serkis (of The Lord of the Rings‘ Gollum fame) put in an excellent vocal and facial motion-capture performance for the game, but has been replaced by Alfred Molina. No disrespect to Molina, but this was a role Serkis owned.

As with any film based on a game, it would seem there’s been a bit of unnecessary creativity with the story, namely an introduction of a brother (played by Thomas Jane) for Nariko, which just about derails the story from the start. In the game, a prophecy foretold the birth of a boy to save the world from evil, but Nariko was born instead and largely shunned by her tribe. At least Anna Torv (Fringe) reprises the lead role as Nariko.

The above concerns would be easier to overlook if the film’s visuals didn’t look so bland. Is it just me or do the cutscenes and characters in the game look a hell of a lot better (see image below) than the following trailer? It’s not exactly troubling the current visual benchmark of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is it?

The film is being produced by Blockade Entertainment and will get a release at selected cinemas (US only we imagine), on DVD and through PSN in Spring 2014.