I wasn't expecting this movie to be any good. I heard that the movie was supposed to be lacking in action and basically be the Naruto version of how I met your mother - Boruto: How I Met Your Mother, but I went into it with an open mind and it turned out to be an overall positive experience. However, there are a few things that I didn't like or understand but nothing major.
Location, Location...
Instead of watching it online I went to see the movie in theaters at The Downtown Independent (The white building in the bottom left corner) in Los Angeles, CA on Feb 20 - the release date . We got there are about 3:00 and the line was unsurprisingly already wrapped around the building. It was a pretty glorious scene, seeing people of all colors, ages and backgrounds queuing up to see their favorite anime. Just a reminder that anime is something that can bring people who normally wouldn't interact with each-other, together. Some of the people in line were also cosplaying. Most notable were a kid with Pain piercing, headband and hair, another dressed as Naruto and a woman dressed as Kushina.
The Movie
I'll attempt too keep this as spoiler free as possible but no promises. The basic plot of the movie is that the moon is on a collision course with earth and it begins right around the time a mysterious faction of "shinobi" appear and attack several members of the Hyuga clan. Oh and by the way I lied, Tactical spoilers inbound!
The Plot
If my memory serves me correctly then this should actually be the first cannon Naruto movie, meaning it had to tie into the Manga. The way they worked it in was pretty flawless, almost as if they wrote the final arcs of the manga around this movie. I thought it was strange that Hamura Ĺtsutsuki was introduced in the final arc of the Manga and just never referenced again. The movie expands on his character, clarifying that he was the head of the Otsutsuki clan and the Guardian on the moon - A.k.a the body of the 10 tails. It also sheds some light on what actually happened to the main Otsutsuki clan bloodline before it separated into Senju, Uchiha, Hyuga and Uzumaki, For those of you that didn't catch it while watching the movie, the majority of the clan died while trying to secure a dangerous artifact, the one the antagonist and lone survivor of the main bloodline, Toneri Otsutsuki is using to move the moon towards earth. If I understood correctly then Toneri misinterpreted his teachings and decided to destroy earth after Madara, probably with the help of Black Zetsu, figured out how to steal the Gedo - Body of the Ten Tails from the moon. Toneri also wants to take Hinata as his wife in-order to rebuild a new world after earth is destroyed. In other words he wanted to restore his clan, which sounds all too familiar but Naruto isn't letting that shit happen.
Overall, 10/10 for the plot. I like how it broke the combo and didn't come out of left field with some random, unbelievable bullshit that's never going to affect the main story line. It ties in really well and I've tried to poke holes in it but as far as Naruto as a series is concerned, its solid.
The Action
As I said before I wasn't expecting much action. I thought this movie was going to be 90% love story and 10% action. It turned about to be about 60/40 which I think is appropriate, This movie should be more centered on watching the feelings between Naruto and Hinata mature rather then a quick action fix. However, the action wasn't too lacking. The fight scenes were dope! You can really see how Naruto's skills have matured in the time skip. Something I noticed is that Naruto isn't against killing his opponents like he was before. When Hinata was being attacked he used his Rasenshurikin to cut several enemies in half. Of-course later we find out they are puppets but...he didn't know that! :). Also, was it just me or did his hand to hand skills kind of remind you of Madara? I'm specifically speaking about the roof time scene where hes just knocking the enemy out effortlessly. Wonder who would win in a hand to hand between him and Madara now.
Overall 9/10 for action. The ratio was perfect and the action scenes were exciting but I feel like Hinata was downplayed a bit. I would have liked to see her fight a bit because it almost seems like shes gotten weaker since the end if the Manga, which isn't true. As much as I hate to admit it, the 10 seconds that Sauske showed up and blew up a meteor was pretty cool.
Also, Seriously Raikage, where the hell was that giant Doom Cannon when the Ten Tails was wrecking face? no really wtf bro not cool..not cool...
The Feels
I'm going to come out and say it, I almost cried multiple times during this film and its not easy to get me to that point. I mean...I loved Gantz and that's saying something. This movie really pulls on your heart but then again it would be easy for it to, right? I mean you aren't going to be watching the movie for no reason. The movie assumes you're emotionally invested in the characters, which if you're still watching this by the end of the series you should be. The movie does its best to take advantage of that at all the right times.
Hinata was without a doubt the most important element of The Feels category because she is someone we can all identify with. Like when she first knits the scarf for Naruto and shes afraid to give it to him while confessing her love. Then she seems him wearing another scarf, That feeling of working as hard as you can toward something only to be discouraged half way through or near the end, that's something I feel all the time and we all feel like that every one in a while. Being able to see it from the outside looking in and knowing that most of whats holding us back is just in our heads is a powerful lesson and it rough to see Hinata struggling to overcome that illusion.
ALSO! One thing I found that really stayed true to the the Naruto series. Hinata knows that Naruto understands her feelings before she leaves to "marry" Toneri but leaves Naruto hanging clueless in the dust. Why? Because its her duty. She knows that her duty as a shinobi, a protector comes before herself and her feelings. The Will of Fire is strong and has been inherited by many, including the Audience! Shikimaru said it best when he told Naruto, " I don't care what happens between you and Hinata, you need to remember you're a Shinobi!" 1,000/10 points to Hinata, seriously though.
annnnnnd Of-coruse when Naruto tells Hinata that he loves her and he would spend his last day on earth with her, then the wedding scene in the credits....I tried so hard not to cry during that.
20/20 for feels, nuff said.
Charter Use
This is a category that's easy to mess up. Which characters do you put in this film, what are their roles and how do they contribute? Right now we are speaking of supporting characters and everyone that's not Hinata, Naruto or Toneri falls into that category.
Sai, Sakura, Shikimaru was the team chosen along with Naruto and Hinata on the mission. Sai was a good pick because on this mission he acted as comic relief oftentimes. Its nice because hes subtle and doesn't over do it/steal the show. He's also useful in combat and enables our characters to get to places they normally couldn't by flying. Sakura because shes Sakura and it wouldn't be a Naruto movie without her and she plays the middle man between two hearts. Shes familiar with both parties and their feelings so its the perfect choice. Then Shikimaru plays the voice of reason in every situation. The character choice creates the perfect balance between love, understanding, misunderstanding, comedy and the mission objectives.
I'm happy that Sauske was in the movie for less than 2 minutes all together. I'm happy because this movie isn't about him and shouldn't be about him. There's too much mystery around Sauske and what hes been doing since the Valley of The End fight so I feel like too much attention would have been on him.
The other characters like the Kage, Bee and other supports were used perfectly- Side note, shout out the all the Neji fans out there, he wasn't forgotten. -1,000,000
10/10.
Issues and Criticism
I don't understand how they were able to breath in space. It was never explained or addressed at all and it was just weird. They could have at least made Naruto give everyone the demon cloak to justify or something. Maybe they could have said that Hamura created an artificial atmosphere in-case someone from earth had to go to the moon for 10 tail reasons. I don't know but they could have tried.
My single biggest issue with this film was how Hinata was somewhat portrayed as weak and unable to defend herself. I know it was used to progress the story along but still, Hinata doesn't need senpai for everything. -1 point
Lastly, Raikage....wtf bro you totally T-boned us by not using that cannon on the 10 tails. Bruh really bruh?
Conclusion
I give The Last: Naruto the movie a 48/50 which is a 96%. By far my favorite Naruto movie yet. I'm glad I went to see it in a theater because the crowd was amazing and they made the experience that much better. The only downside was the subtitles and unlike watching online, you can't stop or rewind to reread something. By the way the movie title is misleading because this isn't the last movie from the Naruto universe although it may be the last movie where Naruto is the main character. Boruto the movie is coming out in 2015 which is a story about Naruto's son. If you have the chance to watch it in a theater I whole heartily recommend it. Worth it.
Anyway, Grade A - Would watch again, Will watch again, Would buy again, Will buy again
~Reign
