=SPOILER WARNING=
No, seriously. If you haven't watched the anime, why are you here? Go watch it. You'll need crucial information from it in order to understand this movie. It's the End of Evangelion effect EXCEPT tripled.
So, the story tries to pick up where the series left off. The only issue is, Madoka is around, Sayaka is alive (oops) and remember that big, giant worm-thingy that bit Mami's head off in episode 3 or 4? Yup; alive and kicking. The entire gang minus Homura are around and when she joins in, things get a bit crazy. Homura picks up on the problems and jumps into finding out what's going on and why. I can't tell you much more without ruining the rest of the story, but let's just say that Kyubey doesn't walk away like the smug little shit he's been up until now.
The music and animation are still great, with the opening being the "hype machine" it was in the anime. ClariS is back to give us "Colorful" which does what the anime theme did, except in spades. Of course, one of the better musical bits is the "Cake Song" in the movie itself (performed by the voice actresses themselves, and it's levels of CUTE you'll find enjoyable), which tops off the soundtrack itself quite beautifully. The animation for the two wraiths we get is on par with the Witch labyrinths we enjoyed in the anime. Really, I can't say much more that I haven't said about the series in my other review.
Where the movie falls short (HA!) is in the story. While the summary does little to explain all the mindfuckery you'll encounter without knowing the series beforehand (and even then, the twists would make a pre-Avatar Shyamalan re-evaluate his career choice) and while it is enjoyable, it's also a bit convoluted in places and wholly unnecessary. The final 20 minutes are satisfying, though; everything is tied up nicely and Kyubey isn't exactly left to his own devices. Not a bad story, but also kind of unnecessary.
If you're ever bored and need a good movie to watch, or want to see more Madoka content, check it out. I would toss it into the "skippable" pile otherwise, despite being fairly good. If SHAFT ever do follow it up with a 4th movie, I would probably put this in the MUST SEE bin. Otherwise, a nice little after story that isn't really all that necessary, but still worth seeing.
