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Gekijô-ban Naruto: Daigekitotsu! Maboroshi no chitei iseki dattebayo! (2005)
A fun adventure for the fans.
Naruto the Anime TV Series has so far spawned 2 feature length theatre movies, and a third one is coming our way this summer.
The first one, which was released in the summer '04 was a fun adventure featuring the main characters of Naruto in an exciting adventure. However, one must be a blind, deaf and one legged chicken to deny that film's faults. Whilst the first was most definitely enjoyable, there were a lot of things that could be improved on. Naruto Movie 2, however, takes all of these aspects and excels upon them.
The action first of all, was incredibly cinematic. The lighting, setting and style was three fold as effective as in the first movie. In the first we were given basic action, well animated and choreographed animation, but nothing eye popping, however this movie's cinematography was exceptional, the use of shadows and lighting combining together to make the action all that more intense was very effective and added to the force of the fighting.
The animation was very good. It rivalled Disney, however since this is a movie about TV characters, there was nothing exceptionable about the character design or detail to the actual characters, however, the animation was incredibly fluid and realistic. I think they even used twice the amount of cels for each second because there was absolutely nothing jittery about the animation at all, it was incredibly fluid.
The music... I think that's where this movie fails. The original composer/conductor for the TV show was used for the film, and I don't really feel that he did that good of a job. The music mostly reminded me of a lot of pieces used in old SNES games. The composer is very good, but the synthesisers used for the film couldn't convey the tune very well. However they didn't fail the film at all, adding as a good accompaniment to the action. But, except for a few violin/string pieces towards the end and some choral work, the music didn't excel any boundaries or act as anything special.
The story was fun. It was a reasonably typical storyline for Naruto and was very similar to the first movies, except, again, it took everything that had been wrong with the first film's story and improved upon them. The characters were a lot more interesting and the way the story progressed was what kept me watching throughout the entire film. It kept making you think the film would be ending any second now, but then it would move on, but instead of feeling dragged out, the action and characters made everything still feel fresh and exciting.
Overall, this film is a goodun, but however good it might be, it is most definitely one for the fans. I enjoyed the film, but thats because... I'm a fan! But I can see, just like with Final Fantasy's Advent Children, it doesn't excel as a movie, but merely acts as a fantastic serve of fan service for a good hour and a half. Though I think this film does act as a good introduction to the series for current non-watchers, it won't give a full effect for anyone other than those glued to Naruto screens. However, despite all this, it was a fun movie to enjoy during this depressing period of upsetting fillers.
Blood+ (2005)
Immense
So far, only 5 episodes of the new show "Blood+" have been released, I've seen up to episode 4 and I must say that this is one incredible show! With a design that merges CGI and Hand drawn animation so seamlessly and a storyline that is more exciting than Buffy and more addictive than anything else I've ever seen (Except maybe Naruto) this is one immense show that is a definite tribute to the film.
Originally, back in 2001, the creators of Ghost In The Shell decided to create a 6-episode OVA series about a vampiress who kills vampires. The first episode was made, being one of the first to blend CGI and hand animation so brilliant, and also becoming an instant success over here in the western world. However, the cost of the first episode was too much, and there wasn't enough money to support the 45 minute episodes, so the show was cancelled after the first ep. The first episode was then re-released onto DVD, simply entitled as "Blood: The Last Vampire" and took itself as a 45 minute film.
But, with the success of DVD sales for the film, the company started up on the project again, this time creating a 52 episode series entitled "Blood+" which was created to give a bit more background to the series and also to add more characters and more story, allowing the original story to be developed even further than the original 6 episode plan could have done. The show is still just beginning, but it is already incredible, within the first 2 minutes of the first episode I was hooked. This show also does that evil technique of ending each episode with a cliff-hanger (Much like Naruto) and as each cliff-hanger is sooo exciting, you watch the next episode the following week to find out what happens.
This show is still finding its ground, but thanks to the roaring success of the Film, the gorgeous action, interesting and believable characters (ignoring the fact 1 of them is a vampire...) and an attractive story, this TV show should become one of the great anime-classics such as Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin. I have a whole year until this show is completed, and I will watch as a devoted fan. I hope you all do too as this show is just INCREDIBLE!
Gekijô-ban Naruto: Daikatsugeki! Yukihime ninpôchô dattebayo!! (2004)
Fun Movie
This movie is a theatrical side story of the acclaimed any TV show, Naruto. Naruto is the story of young ninjas training to become better at their skills. Each character has their own history and story to tell, main character amongst these is Naruto, the boy cursed with a demon sealed within his body and forced to live a bullied life because of the discrimination against him.
However, Naruto is strong willed and determined to prove the towns people of Konoha wrong, quite often causing many other people to be enlightened by his fiery spirit. In this story, Naruto and his two team mates; Sasuke and Sakura along with their instructor, the famous master of over 1000 techniques, Kakashi have been assigned to be a bodyguard for a famous actress as she travels the world filming.
However, there is trouble afoot when a band of dangerous and powerful ninjas attack the film crew claiming that the actress is in fact a princess of the land of forever snow where they have had the misfortune of arriving. The Ninjas are working for the actress' Uncle, who turned traitor to her father 10 years ago, who is after something called "The Hexagonal Crystal", claiming the princess knows where it is.
The princess is as cold as the snow where she was born and refuses to be moved by anyone not even as those who protect her fall into more and more serious danger, Naruto knows she has the will to defeat her uncle if only she would stop running away from her fears. But can he convince her to change, and what will happen in the meantime, how many more innocent lives will be stolen by her vicious Uncle.
This is a fun and exciting movie that acts well as a fun side story for the Naruto TV show. It harnesses nothing particularly amazing but is definitely a fun film that is greatly enjoyable with a good blend of emotions, action and special effects.
The Girl in the Café (2005)
A heartbreakingly realistic love story
Bill Nighy gives another brilliant performance as Lawrence, a middle-aged, lonely politician who one day, while sneaking out of work for a short coffee break, comes across a young girl in the café. Cramped conditions lead to him having to share a table with this girl, leading to an awkward series of uncomfortable conversations. A series of conversations, that both however enjoy. Nighy's shy and nervous Lawrence manages to pluck up the courage to invite this young girl, Gina, out to lunch. And so the strange relationship ensues, Attracted by his sweet naivety in relationships and women, Gina soon falls for Lawrence, as he does with her. However, things are not what they seem, many problems begin to occur. Lawrence's job as a member of the G8 conflict with Gina's personal opinions. And when Lawrence invites her to join him when he goes to the g8 conference, many more conflicts happen, soon resulting in Lawrence having to choose between his love, and his job.
This is a fantastic film, a total surprise for me, as I, in fact, was not expecting much when i was first told to it, but by the end of the film i was loving every character. This is a surprisingly dramatic film that plucks at the heart strings of anyone who has ever felt loss in their life.