The beginning was a little slow, as with some other parts in the movie. However, other parts of the movie went by incredibly fast, with new elements shoved in with almost no explanation. I feel like the pace could have been a lot more balanced, for those of us who had no prior knowledge of the Haruhi universe.
Also, I think that Nagato could have used a lot more screen time. Her story is so complex but the movie seems cluttered with unrelated events and narrations, making the plot extremely confusing. The entire movie has such an amazing story, and it was ok that parts of it were complicated and confusing, but it needed a better ending to tie all the bits and pieces together. In the end, I did eventually figure the plot out, but that was after the movie had ended. So while the story was superb, the story-telling definitely could have been better. But I would still recommend it!
