As the film that is supposed to be the culmination to Naruto's journey, it left a lot to be desired. The main thing that brings this one down is that the love story between Naruto and Hinata, the core of the movie, is fundamentally flawed in the way that it was executed.
The romance plot could have been a lot better if there had been some signs of a relationship naturally building between Naruto and Hinata in the TV show. Instead, it all just happened in this movie, and in very questionable ways. They expect us to believe that Naruto didn't understand the difference between romantic love and love for ramen noodles despite him being quite smitten with Sakura for most of the series? Naruto develops romantic feelings for Hinata only after just finding out about her crush on him? Sakura is actually giving relationship advice to Naruto? PUH-LEEZE!
I actually thought that the sub-plot involving Konaha trying to save the world from colliding with the moon was pretty interesting. Unfortunately, the film didn't really give it that much attention and instead made the love story the focus.
The handling of the characters wasn't really the best, either. Hinata was too much of a damsel-in-distress, her sister ended up feeling like a plot device, and Naruto's other allies didn't contribute much of anything. On top of that, the main villain was pretty flat and uninteresting.
To the film's credit, though, the animation is actually pretty stellar. Even by the standards of these movies, this is a great-looking film. There is a really eye-grabbing tint and polish to nearly every scene. The action scenes are intense and well-choreographed.
It's just disheartening how the whole project was handled. The romantic scenes between Naruto and Hinata actually could have been quite strong if the build-up had been better. If they had done that as well as make Hinata less of a damsel-in-distress, give more focus to the "saving the world" plot, and had a more engaging villain, this film could have been something really special. As it stands, it is a big disappointment and one of the weaker "Naruto" movies.
RATING: C
The romance plot could have been a lot better if there had been some signs of a relationship naturally building between Naruto and Hinata in the TV show. Instead, it all just happened in this movie, and in very questionable ways. They expect us to believe that Naruto didn't understand the difference between romantic love and love for ramen noodles despite him being quite smitten with Sakura for most of the series? Naruto develops romantic feelings for Hinata only after just finding out about her crush on him? Sakura is actually giving relationship advice to Naruto? PUH-LEEZE!
I actually thought that the sub-plot involving Konaha trying to save the world from colliding with the moon was pretty interesting. Unfortunately, the film didn't really give it that much attention and instead made the love story the focus.
The handling of the characters wasn't really the best, either. Hinata was too much of a damsel-in-distress, her sister ended up feeling like a plot device, and Naruto's other allies didn't contribute much of anything. On top of that, the main villain was pretty flat and uninteresting.
To the film's credit, though, the animation is actually pretty stellar. Even by the standards of these movies, this is a great-looking film. There is a really eye-grabbing tint and polish to nearly every scene. The action scenes are intense and well-choreographed.
It's just disheartening how the whole project was handled. The romantic scenes between Naruto and Hinata actually could have been quite strong if the build-up had been better. If they had done that as well as make Hinata less of a damsel-in-distress, give more focus to the "saving the world" plot, and had a more engaging villain, this film could have been something really special. As it stands, it is a big disappointment and one of the weaker "Naruto" movies.
RATING: C
