I was quite interested heading into this movie because it has a rather negative reputation, and it turns out there's a reason for that. This installment in the "Naruto" movie series was mostly kind of a bore. Most of this film is either wasted potential or stuff that we have seen before in previous films. If you read my reviews, you might remember that I said the same thing about "Bonds", but even that film had more to offer than this one did.
The thing that got me most excited is the fact that Naruto goes to the past and meets his father, Minato. This potential was completely squandered, however, because they did almost nothing with the character of Minato. Him and his teammates had no relevance to the plot aside from helping out in the battle scenes. They did so little with this idea that the movie would have been no different if they didn't include Minato at all.
Sara is nothing special as a supporting character. Basically, she was yet another princess character who has been deceived by the person closest to her for many years and comes to her senses when Naruto gives her the obligatory "do the right thing and believe in yourself" pep talk. In fact, there are many ways that this movie is a rehash of the pervious films. These elements started getting old a few movies ago, and it was particularly stale here.
Mukade is yet another bland and boring "Naruto" movie villain. I'd say he gives Shabadaba from "Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom" and Shinno from "Bonds" a run for their money as the worst one yet.
There were a couple of action scenes during the film that were pretty good, I guess, but things really started to drag during the third act. The climax was very repetitive and boring, and I just didn't really care about what was going on. The animation was okay, but nothing overly special aside from doing a really good job of selling the scale and scope of the city of Roran.
After the fantastic "Inheritors of the Will of Fire", this film was a huge let down. I really thought that the interactions between Naruto and his father would give this movie some value, but the wasted potential just really disappointed me. The whole endeavor was rather boring for the most part, and I would caution "Naruto" fans to not expect too much from it.
RATING: D+
The thing that got me most excited is the fact that Naruto goes to the past and meets his father, Minato. This potential was completely squandered, however, because they did almost nothing with the character of Minato. Him and his teammates had no relevance to the plot aside from helping out in the battle scenes. They did so little with this idea that the movie would have been no different if they didn't include Minato at all.
Sara is nothing special as a supporting character. Basically, she was yet another princess character who has been deceived by the person closest to her for many years and comes to her senses when Naruto gives her the obligatory "do the right thing and believe in yourself" pep talk. In fact, there are many ways that this movie is a rehash of the pervious films. These elements started getting old a few movies ago, and it was particularly stale here.
Mukade is yet another bland and boring "Naruto" movie villain. I'd say he gives Shabadaba from "Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom" and Shinno from "Bonds" a run for their money as the worst one yet.
There were a couple of action scenes during the film that were pretty good, I guess, but things really started to drag during the third act. The climax was very repetitive and boring, and I just didn't really care about what was going on. The animation was okay, but nothing overly special aside from doing a really good job of selling the scale and scope of the city of Roran.
After the fantastic "Inheritors of the Will of Fire", this film was a huge let down. I really thought that the interactions between Naruto and his father would give this movie some value, but the wasted potential just really disappointed me. The whole endeavor was rather boring for the most part, and I would caution "Naruto" fans to not expect too much from it.
RATING: D+