I'm a little torn about this one. My opinion of the plot swung between it being bad... to it just being unnecessary. I know, Naruto is not exactly known for subtlety, but the main point of this movie-- really showcasing the will of fire and what it means to their village-- was just further expounding on something that the series proper had already handled very well. This is one of those movies that's pretty heavy on the flashbacks. It felt a little like it was meant to be a recap of all the major points that had already taken place in the anime itself. It very much had the feel of some guy standing off to the side of a theater after a big plot reveal going, "Did you get that?!"
On top of that, the conflict between our protagonists felt really forced. I could appreciate that it would be a legitimate conflict in their ninja society-- sometimes it's not possible to follow orders and follow your heart at the same time. And I did kind of like the idea of the heroes turning on each other over conflicting ideals, but it felt all too obvious that they would all eventually side with Naruto-- and not just because he's the main protagonist and that's how the story works, but because it's also just who the other characters are. In fact, Shikamaru really walked the line of being out-of-character. I get it. This movie came out right after Asuma's death, which was a crucial point in Shikamaru's growth as a character, and he was still learning to live with his new motivation to uphold Asuma's beliefs at this point... But they really pushed that past making a point. There's a time where Shikamaru literally says, "I'll stop Naruto... even if I have to kill him." Um, Shikamaru? Calm down, buddy. Let's not go off the deep end, if you don't mind. Our villain is already playing that role. And speaking of...
So the plot was kind of dumb and unnecessary, but this movie's lowest point was definitely with its villain. Don't get me wrong, Todd Haberkorn's portrayal of him was excellent, and near the end, Hiruko was genuinely creepy in an insane way, but his story and motivations were bullshit. To put it lightly. Personally, I think the best anime movies are the ones that technically could have taken place within the series itself. And then there are movies like this one... where the writers couldn't bother to develop their character well enough to give us a reason to like the villain, so they just tacked him onto another character's backstory as a sad attempt to make the viewers care about him. In my experience, this rarely works, and it destroys any hope of allowing us to believe the movie could be canon. So overall, the story was pretty weak in this one.
But even so... There was something I really liked about this movie. There was something cheesy and heartfelt about it that was just... fun. I really liked that all of the Konoha Eleven (plus Sai) got some screen-time. They all had a role to play, and it just felt... right. Also, some of the fight scenes were actually quite well-done, while managing to give everyone a place. Lee and Neji combining their jutsu sounded ridiculous in theory, but turned out to be quite clever, and kind of hilarious to see. Like I said, a lot of this movie was just fun.
And on one last, totally unrelated note... Is it just me or was Sai especially adorable in this movie? I've always had a soft spot for Sai and how his naïve earnestness gets him into trouble, but it just really shined through in this movie. I was particularly fond of the scene where Naruto basically dragged a protesting Sai out of the hospital to attend a party on their behalf. And I had to laugh when Naruto of all people told Sai he'd had a dark childhood. It was little instances like that, where the movie was almost mocking itself, that really won me over.
