The Last: Naruto the Movie (2015)

Admirable film.

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Naruto as a whole has a very special place in my heart. Having followed it and the incredible journey that both Naruto and the rest of the cast has made during the last 15 years has for the most part one filled to the brim with joy, anger and tears. Sure, the quite large amount of fillers that has plagued the series has quenched my thirst for more Naruto from time to time, but when the filler arcs reached their end and the canon episodes began once again, never did I not feel the urge rush right back. I have watched him and the rest of the ensemble grow up right along myself and my non-anime, actual real friends. That sort of commitment will undoubtedly create some sort of bond. Conflicts has sprung to life and ended, sometimes they ended up happily and sometimes the didn't. At the center of all conflicts, the main event, the main plot has although pretty much remained the same for the duration of the series, I am of course referring to the rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke. When Shippuden reached its end, that feud finally came to a close and in a quite beautifully way if you ask me. And although most other plots was resolved by that time, one still remained. The unspoken love that Hinata felt for Naruto. That is was this movie is about, to at last see this subject come to fruising. As the Title suggests, this movie marks the last chapter of Naruto's journey as the main character, it is also the first of the Naruto movies considered to be Canon which is about time if you ask me. Come to think of it, The title is in my mind a pretty stupid title. I would much more prefer it if the changed it to "At last" instead, since it carries a lot of "at last" moments.In many ways, this is more of a romantic movie than a action oriented one. Sure there are fighting sequences spread out across the two hour duration, there is a villain, but sadly he was profoundly underdeveloped and his motivations were nearly as bad The Thousand Years of pain technique is strangely effective. But all that stuff is just a backdrop for the main focus, which is without a doubt the love between Naruto and Hinata. However, the way it plays out differs for the two characters. For Hinata, it's all about finally mustering the courage to tell Naruto how she truly feels while Naruto comes to the realization about Hinata's feelings and therefore needs to evaluate how he in turn feels towards her. These sections of the movie is when it shines the brightest while the actual conflict remains quite generic, stuffed with anime tropes. Since it shifts focus in regards to the other movies, At Last has a different tone. It has a more dream-like feel to it, almost surrealistic, striving more to visualize how Naruto and Hinata perceive the world as they contemplate their emotions towards one another. As you might imagine, this gives the movie a slower and gentler pace compared to both most of the series and the rest of the movies. It is for the most part refreshing to behold, but sometimes these moments outstay their welcome and as such, invite restlessness and boredom. It would have been easy to make Naruto react in his often childish ways, but I am glad to say that they have allowed him to process these emotions and revelations in a mature way while still retaining what makes Naruto Naruto. The growth that he goes through is done in a very convincing and satisfying way and is definitely the highlight of the film. Another aspect that I liked but that also exposed one of the movie's biggest faults was the fact that the movie almost gives Hinata as much screen time as Naruto. I would like to change the title a tad more and instead call it Naruto and Hinata: At last, which is good as a romance is very seldom a one way street. This does however lead me to my biggest BUT. Giving Hinata more screen time is a great move, but it is not utilized in a good way. Hinata's greatest moment in the series is easily when she leaps to Naruto's rescue mere seconds before he would meet his demise at the hands of one of Naruto's greatest villains, Pain. At that moment she stops being her usual scared self. She stands proud and is certain of what she must do. Her words and actions does not carry even an ounce of insecurity. In short, she's badass. This movie presents a great opportunity to show of more of that badassness. To show us how Naruto comes to see her, as this incredibly strong and selfless person who is willing to sacrifice all for the one's she cares about. regrettably, none of that comes to pass. She remains a damsel in distress from beginning to end, incapable to do anything but wait for Naruto to come to her rescue. If not for this rather important factor, this movie could have been so much more. If Hinata instead got to show her true strength, if it let her save Naruto instead, Naruto and Hinata: At last would have been great instead of just good.I watched both this and Boruto: The Naruto Movie last night, beginning with this one, and as the credits rolled began to roll I came to the conclusion that this was the best Naruto movie I had seen thus far. The Animations were top-notch, the music both grand and befitting. This movie marks the end of and era and the birth of a new, hopefully the next generation of stories that unfold in the Hidden Leaf village understand that Damsel in distress is a thing of the past.

This is the ending act of the Naruto Shippuden, it was released in 2014 because the manga's ended in 2014, whiles the anime series ended in 2017. Although it doesn't spoil the actual story of the anime/manga series, it starts off right after climax at the end of the Fourth Ninja War, so be wary if you're still in the middle of the series, I highly recommend watching this after the said events.The film is mainly about the romance between Naruto and Hinata, with plenty of actions faithful to the original story, the good thing is, it feels like a canon rather than a filler which is rare for side stories like this. If you have been following the Naruto's story, you should know that Hinata's love was never answered and it almost seem one sided, how the series ended with Naruto getting married almost made no sense. This movie filled the gap and had all the questions answered.To sum it up, it's a great story, with plenty of actions and a lot of fan services. However, it may not be a film to watch for people who have never read or watched Naruto because it is what it is, an expanded ending act and the fans should not be disappointed.

This is pretty much the unofficial ending to the Naruto saga because the makers of the anime are seem to be dragging their feet on actually ending the series before handing it off to Baruto. This film is like most Naruto films (and most animated films based on animated series for that matter) in other words it mostly fluff, fillerish. I mean, it isn't that bad. Frankly, the soundtrack is down right excellent. The movie is about Naruto teaming up with a few people in order to rescue what's her name's sister and save the earth by doing battle in space. Kind of funny if you think about it. This film is more or less a love story. But like I said before, they killed it when it comes to the soundtrack.

If you take it for what it is this movie isn't half bad. There is action, a bit of comedy and plenty of, you guessed it, NaruHina. Basically this is your typical run of the mill anime flick and a poor attempt of a Shojo. That is entirely fine. The film is based off a Shonen and they are two completely different genre's. The author himself, Masashi Kishimoto, even stated that he was bad at writing romance. You can also blame Studio Pierrot, since they made the film.However there is one huge problem with all of this. The purpose of The Last, was to clear up the events between chapter 699 and 700. Unfortunately the only thing The Last showed us, was a shoddy romance between Naruto and Hinata. This is fine as well, there is no way that they would be able to fit all of those events in a single film. Instead they instead chose to focus on the main pairing. The problem was that they did a poor job of it. The movie should have shown mutual chemistry between Naruto and Hinata. I don't care how it happened, just that it would actually be believable. What we got was a Retcon in the form of a Genjutsu. There was no prior indication that Naruto had forgotten Hinata's confession. What makes it worse is that the movie also r-conned Naruto's feelings for Sakura,"Sakura tells Naruto that his feelings for her were caused by his jealousy of Sasuke". Let me put this into prospective for you. What does Sakura know about love? Her initial attraction to Sasuke was based solely on his looks and status as the last Uchiha. This is laughable at best. Also is what Naruto and Hinata have really love? The film only shows how Naruto is guilt tripped into loving Hinata. It is not mutual love, it is one sided love. Sure Hinata knows a lot about Naruto, but what does Naruto know about Hinata? Besides the fact that she is kind and loves him. It is obvious that even in the film, this pairing was rushed.To conclude; music 10/10, action 8/10, romance 1/10, animation 9/10 Sasuke? 1/10. The Last isn't a bad film and if the reviews are anything to go by, it was generally well received. However as a long time fan of the series The Last Retcon was a complete disappointment. It doesn't explain anything and it is completely unnecessary as a film. Naruto is not and never was a romance. It was a series about bonds, friendship and surpassing the old generation. This movie was garbage and pure fan service. Chapter 700 wasn't the ending that i wanted, but it was a decent ending. It didn't need to be explained and it certainty didn't need The Last Retcon.