Goetia
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Back again with one of these...last one I did was for the last. Bored as shit, so I thought I'd do one for Boruto. And real quick before I get started, here's a photo of a poster for the movie at the venue.
There were cosplayers there as well. For Sasuke, Sakura and Sarada...anyway, onto the review.
*Disclaimer*
I'm gonna try and keep this spoiler free as possible, but there will be some stuff related to the plot within the thread. So if you don't want to be spoiled, you can just scroll to the bottom of my post and there will be a TL;DR/spoiler free summary of my thoughts.
Review
I'll start off by saying that this movie was good. The best Naruto movie to date. As you can expect, it's a movie about Naruto's son Boruto and how he develops as a ninja and a person. This is a breath of fresh air in a sense that you get to see different people fighting for the most part, but as you can imagine, watching Boruto fight is similar to watching Naruto fight. They have the same behaviour, mannerisms, thought patterns and general style. However, one thing I found very interesting about Boruto is that he was able to utilise a technique known as the Vanishing Rasengan. For those that don't know, I'll explain:
Put simply, it is a smaller Rasengan that, by the use of Wind Release, can be thrown just like the Rasenshuriken. Already, Boruto is displaying incredible talent and aptitude by being able to do something such as that. But mid-flight, the Rasengan will vanish. To be more exact, it is invisible to the naked eye. The Rasengan itself is still there, but someone with a Dojutsu will be able to see the technique. Still, to anyone that does not have any means of detecting or keeping a tab on that Rasengan, it will be lethal.
On this note, I'll talk about Boruto and my thoughts on him as a character.
The character of Boruto himself, really, is exactly what Naruto would be if Minato and Kushina lived and he did not have the Nine Tails inside of him. He's also an accurate representation of many, many people in today's world. A child who has inherent talent and potential, but fails to perform. And in an effort to get his father's notice and praise, he essentially employs a method that requires no effort at all to cheat his way into getting what he wants. As a result, in the movie, he earns only disappointment. While he isn't very likeable as a character to me, his mentality and mindset are understandable at certain points. As he is supposed to be the spitting image of Naruto, Boruto is bratty and and an ingrate, but he is a kind person at heart and only wants to be noticed and loved. Boruto's character development comes from his experience with cheating and from Sasuke's words about Naruto. As Boruto learns through his mistakes that hard work is always of more merit than cheating to achieve an equal or better result, as well as hearing about Naruto through Sasuke and actually watching him, he comes to appreciate everything that those of the previous generation tell him.
Now, the movie itself.
It was enjoyable to watch. Animation was good, music was good, story was alright. Not much to say about these three categories. In particular, the movie shines when it focuses on the character dynamics and interactions between Boruto, Sasuke and Naruto respectively. Things are the same as ever between Naruto and Sasuke, but when the two converse with Boruto, this is where the effort put into the characters is evident. The fight scenes are...passable. The exam fights and stuff aren't anything special, they're just to assist Boruto's character development to be honest. The fights between the protagonists and the villains is where things change up a lot. First off, animation quality does get better. So does the choreography. But the fight can be a real mess at some points. Especially in the final fight when Naruto and Sasuke start going all out Taijutsu. It's cool to watch at some points, and at others you can't tell what's going on because everything is so damn fast. Overall, the quality was good.
The cast was a lot bigger this time around. You've got a decent mix of both the old and new generation, but there's a bit more focus on how the two generations and eras contrast really. Character roles in the movie are particularly narrow as well, the only characters that actually matter in the movie are as follows:
Naruto
Sasuke
Boruto
Momoshiki and Kinshiki
That dumbass scientist prick who invented the jutsu tool
That's it. Not kidding. But really, it's all that's necessary.
Other than that, there really isn't that much else to say. It's a fun movie that expresses good control over the pacing and storytelling. But most importantly, it handles the characters well and makes the more story-based parts enjoyable and interesting to watch as well. It deserves the title of the best Naruto movie made, and it is certainly better than Naruto: The Last. Is it amazing? No. Is it great? No. But it is good. I will give it credit where it is due.
TL;DR
Good movie, and Orochimaru is the real MVP.
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There were cosplayers there as well. For Sasuke, Sakura and Sarada...anyway, onto the review.
*Disclaimer*
I'm gonna try and keep this spoiler free as possible, but there will be some stuff related to the plot within the thread. So if you don't want to be spoiled, you can just scroll to the bottom of my post and there will be a TL;DR/spoiler free summary of my thoughts.
Review
I'll start off by saying that this movie was good. The best Naruto movie to date. As you can expect, it's a movie about Naruto's son Boruto and how he develops as a ninja and a person. This is a breath of fresh air in a sense that you get to see different people fighting for the most part, but as you can imagine, watching Boruto fight is similar to watching Naruto fight. They have the same behaviour, mannerisms, thought patterns and general style. However, one thing I found very interesting about Boruto is that he was able to utilise a technique known as the Vanishing Rasengan. For those that don't know, I'll explain:
Put simply, it is a smaller Rasengan that, by the use of Wind Release, can be thrown just like the Rasenshuriken. Already, Boruto is displaying incredible talent and aptitude by being able to do something such as that. But mid-flight, the Rasengan will vanish. To be more exact, it is invisible to the naked eye. The Rasengan itself is still there, but someone with a Dojutsu will be able to see the technique. Still, to anyone that does not have any means of detecting or keeping a tab on that Rasengan, it will be lethal.
On this note, I'll talk about Boruto and my thoughts on him as a character.
The character of Boruto himself, really, is exactly what Naruto would be if Minato and Kushina lived and he did not have the Nine Tails inside of him. He's also an accurate representation of many, many people in today's world. A child who has inherent talent and potential, but fails to perform. And in an effort to get his father's notice and praise, he essentially employs a method that requires no effort at all to cheat his way into getting what he wants. As a result, in the movie, he earns only disappointment. While he isn't very likeable as a character to me, his mentality and mindset are understandable at certain points. As he is supposed to be the spitting image of Naruto, Boruto is bratty and and an ingrate, but he is a kind person at heart and only wants to be noticed and loved. Boruto's character development comes from his experience with cheating and from Sasuke's words about Naruto. As Boruto learns through his mistakes that hard work is always of more merit than cheating to achieve an equal or better result, as well as hearing about Naruto through Sasuke and actually watching him, he comes to appreciate everything that those of the previous generation tell him.
Now, the movie itself.
It was enjoyable to watch. Animation was good, music was good, story was alright. Not much to say about these three categories. In particular, the movie shines when it focuses on the character dynamics and interactions between Boruto, Sasuke and Naruto respectively. Things are the same as ever between Naruto and Sasuke, but when the two converse with Boruto, this is where the effort put into the characters is evident. The fight scenes are...passable. The exam fights and stuff aren't anything special, they're just to assist Boruto's character development to be honest. The fights between the protagonists and the villains is where things change up a lot. First off, animation quality does get better. So does the choreography. But the fight can be a real mess at some points. Especially in the final fight when Naruto and Sasuke start going all out Taijutsu. It's cool to watch at some points, and at others you can't tell what's going on because everything is so damn fast. Overall, the quality was good.
The cast was a lot bigger this time around. You've got a decent mix of both the old and new generation, but there's a bit more focus on how the two generations and eras contrast really. Character roles in the movie are particularly narrow as well, the only characters that actually matter in the movie are as follows:
Naruto
Sasuke
Boruto
Momoshiki and Kinshiki
That dumbass scientist prick who invented the jutsu tool
That's it. Not kidding. But really, it's all that's necessary.
Other than that, there really isn't that much else to say. It's a fun movie that expresses good control over the pacing and storytelling. But most importantly, it handles the characters well and makes the more story-based parts enjoyable and interesting to watch as well. It deserves the title of the best Naruto movie made, and it is certainly better than Naruto: The Last. Is it amazing? No. Is it great? No. But it is good. I will give it credit where it is due.
TL;DR
Good movie, and Orochimaru is the real MVP.
