Review: Naruto Shippuden Movie - The Will of Fire

When over to Suncoast (aka Fye) this weekend and they had out the latest Naruto Shippuden Movie, 'The Will of Fire". After my son saw it, I was nagged to pick it up. I was deciding over a DVD or Blu-Ray version and went with DVD. It was $5.00 cheaper and fit better into my budget.

Here is the summary ripped from the web:

Four ninjas with kekkei genkai who have been guarding the Hidden Villages of Cloud, Stone, Mist and Sand disappear from their respective villages. The Land of Fire comes under suspicion as it is the only country to have suffered no loss. Mounting suspicion among the four countries almost brings about a 4th Great Ninja War. In the Hidden Village of Leaf, Tsunade orders her men to keep strict guard against War and to try to find out what really happened. At the same time, it turns out that Kakashi has left the village. The bad news deeply disturbs Naruto and his friends.

********** SPOILERS ALERTS *********
WHAT ROCKED
It’s a Naruto movie – what else do you need to know.

The battle scenes are always over the top and explosive. Just when you think it is the end for our heroes, something happens to turn the battle around. Seeing all the popular Hidden Leaf Village characters actually battling is awesome. We get to see Choji expand to his larger size and Tenten with her scroll of weapons is the best to me. There are some stressful times where you are wondering if the Sand and Hidden Leaf Villages are going to battle (side story). Gotta love Jiraiya when he summons his Great Toad - epic.

The final scene where Naruto takes out Hiruko is great. But then again, when the battle climaxes, Naruto takes to the next level. My son got really excited when he used his Wind Shuriken Resengan and Hiruko couldn’t suck it up. It was then that you know he was done and he was. You always get a kick when Naruto uses one of his massive kick ass weapons to take an opponent out.

I enjoyed the fact that the ending also gave you a view of Kakashi’s past. It seems that Hiruko was very much like Naruto growing up, but ended up taking the dark path. It gives you a glimpse to how others perceive life’s challenges and how their answers are not always the best ones. We find that all he ever wanted was to have friends – very sad.

We also find out also how Kakashi got his Sharingan if you didn’t already know

WHAT SUCKLED
I think the battles were a bit choreographed sometimes. Why would the Sand Village ever expect that the Hidden Leaf Village would attack them? You would think that Gaara would know better and not have a standoff on the cliffs with Tsunade and the Leaf Village. Where the hell did they get those HUGE Shurikens and Missiles anyway? Seems like a waste of metal and resources to me. It is a side story that is a dud and not needed in this show. Only reason I can see is to have Gaara in the movie since he is so popular too.

Now we all love the huge battle scenes and use of the various jutsu styles. Then again, 3 good guys against 1 bad guy shouldn’t be that hard of a battle. You would think with their unique jutsu that they could easily overcome any villain if they gang up on them. Not happening especially when the villains use their Summoning Jutsu to combine – kind of gross. There are some interesting times when you think the Leaf Village Ninja’s is going to get their asses handed to them. Nope, everyone shows up at the right time and it is a gang up on the poor bad guys (lol).

The theme is the same in each and they need to push beyond that. An evil or crazed person(s) is trying to take over the world. Naruto goes rogue to make everything right while all his buddies think he has gone off the deep end again. At the end, we all learn a life lesson (which isn’t bad in its own right as all anime does this). Naruto is always right though the path he took may be jaded. Each movie makes Naruto out to be this Gandhi Warrior while all his buddies seem like haters. Look, we all love Naruto, but what the heck, let focus on someone else (yes, it is called Naruto for a reason).

Where was the Nine-tails throughout this? – must have been his nap time.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
I think this is a good movie and my son seemed to very much enjoy it. I think if you get past the simplicity of the design, it is just good entertainment. This is all anyone wants anyway. I enjoyed the show, but parts seemed to drag on too long for me. I am sure my son will watch it repeatedly since all the popular characters are battling. He likes the Fang over Fang style.

OVERALL GRADE: C

KEEP or THROW:
My son has already added this to his DVD collection with his other Naruto series, so it is a Keep for him. As for me, I would rather return it. In this case, it is a Throw – too much of the same, same to me.

MOVIE PREVIEW

What do you think of this Full Length Movie?