The Last: Naruto the Movie wraps up the popular anime property as it prepares to move on to an entirely new generation of stories. But it does so in a pretty curious way. Though it features the requisite ninja showdowns and world-ending threat, the film is almost entirely focused on building the romantic relationship between two characters. It’s a surprisingly sweet little film, building off years of character development. But the film doesn’t fully commit to this romantic conceit, and ends up splitting its time between the small character drama and an obligatory villainous plot that makes much of the leadup to the climax feel tedious.
The film takes place two years after Naruto saved the world from destruction. The first is mainly concerned with Hinata trying to work up the courage to finally admit her feelings to Naruto. But before she can do that, her younger sister Hanabi is kidnapped by a mysterious group of ninja. To make things, it appears that the moon is falling towards the Earth, and is threatening to destroy everything. Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Shikamaru and Sai are sent on a mission to rescue Hanabi, whose captor may have something to do with the moon crisis.
Fans hoping to see all of their favorite characters might be disappointed. The film is very much focused on the story between Naruto and Hinata, and doesn't offer much screentime for many of the fan favorites. The romance itself is a little repetitive, but generally well done. The film builds off the emotion of years of stories. This is pretty standard anime fare, the whole thing built around two characters who are struggling to just admit that they like each other. But the film does a good job of capitalizing on the history of the characters, and builds to some really sweet moments.
Even people unfamiliar with the series will likely find some of this stuff charming. What’s harder to swallow is the film’s villainous threat, which involves a lot of backstory and a convoluted plan that keeps changing as the plot goes on. It’s never clear, for example, why this Toneri character seems to want to marry Hinata. It feels like the character was contrived solely to create the illusion of conflict in the burgeoning relationship between the primaries. Heading into the third act, the movie becomes bogged down in explanation and exposition, and none of it is remotely entertaining.
Fans would probably revolt, but it would likely have served the story better if the film were more willing to let go of the perfunctory of elements of a Naruto movie. Maybe it didn’t need a world ending threat. Maybe it could have committed fully to being a romantic story, just using a world to explore a very different kind of storytelling. Of course, a lot of people are in this for the ninja fights. There are fewer in this film than most people are probably expecting, but the ones that are there are pretty well constructed.
The Last: Naruto the Movie gets tedious as it heads into its climax, the villain and his convoluted backstory filling up time that could be spent either fighting or focusing on the relationship. The film does pick up a bit before reaching its resolution, but the damage is done. Overall, the film is kind of an interesting experiment in what can be done with a property that is mainly known for its fighting. In some ways, this film is pretty brave to give so much focus to a love story. In some ways, though, it feels like it isn’t brave enough.
My Rating:
