NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: BONDS, 24/05/20

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: BONDS

Trailer  

Synopsis

A group of mysterious ninja from the Land of the Sky suddenly make a surprise attack on Konoha, owing to the latter nearly destroying them during the last Shinobi World War. The country survived and is now targeting Konaha and their ally, the Fire Country, for revenge.

Cinema

Streaming (Japanese with English Subtitles) / Netflix

Run Time

One hour, Thirty three minutes (1h, 33m)

Movie Rating

77%

Age Rating

12 (Action / Animation / Fantasy)

Cast

Naruto Uzumaki – Junko Takeuchi
Sakura Haruno – Chie Nakamura
Sasuke Uchiha – Noriaki Sugiyama
 Kakashi Hatake – Kazuhiko Inoue
Sai – Satoshi Hino
Neji Hyuga – Kōchi Tōchika
Shino Aburame – Shinji Kawada
Hinata Hyuga – Nana Mizuki
Shikamaru Nara – Showtaro Morikubo
Choji Akimichi – Kentarō Itō
Tsunade – Masako Katsuki
Shizune – Keiko Nemoto
Jiraiya – Hōchū Ōtsuka
Orochimaru – Kujira
Kabuto Yakushi – Nobutoshi Canna
Yamato – Rikiya Koyama
Amaru – Motoko Kumai
Shinno – Unshō Ishizuka

Movie details

Mid – Credits: Not really

End – Credits: Yes (Non sequel related)

Before the Review: The trailer is in English as the Japanese one contained Chinese subtitles. More to the point, Coronavirus continues to dominate the news and impacting people’s lifestyles, people are still panic buying and unfortunately, the cinema remains closed. Moving on again, Moderna, an American biotech company, has successfully completed “Phase 1” of human trials, whereby people developed antibodies against COVID-19, however another pharmaceutical company, Astrazeneca, is looking to “upstage” them, pending successful phases, to begin shipping the vaccine in September. Lock-down is being eased but with some governments being wary of a second wave and a burglar was caught and arrested after breaking wind from his hiding place... *Eye-roll*

Review:

This time, Sasuke Uchiha is on the cast credits because he does, in fact, appear in the movie, and does play a substantial role. He reminds me of Vegeta (of Dragonball Z / Super fame) in that he continually pushes the main character to become stronger, and even though they may be rivals, it is healthy and the endgame usually serves both interests, in a positive manner.

Shino Aburame is another character I can sometimes relate to (minus being a bug user), in terms of his over thinking personality, which given the current global situation, quite a bit of people could be doing a lot of as well. Although Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi have been around since the first Naruto series, this movie marks their first appearances, although how the events of the movie tie in to their future appearances remains to be seen.

Like you see on some television shows and movies, some characters are created exclusively for them (for example, Chloe Sullivan from Smallville), so their continuity is usually short lived and unique in itself. Quite a few characters again are reduced to "extra" status. The movie was quite confusing at times and at one point, I thought it would develop a plot hole, but this was cleared up in the end – credits. 

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: THE MOVIE, 17/05/20

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: THE MOVIE

Trailer         

Synopsis

Whilst trying to escape a prediction relating to his own death, Naruto must protect Shion, a priestess, and help her fulfil a mission to defeat an evil demon and save the world, whilst also having to contend with a mysterious group of ninja with assassination plans.

Cinema

Streaming (with English Subtitles)

Run Time

One hour, Thirty five minutes (1h, 35m)

Movie Rating

84%

Age Rating

12 (Action / Adventure / Animation / Anime  / Family / Fantasy)

Cast

Naruto Uzumaki – Junko Takeuchi
Sakura Haruno – Chie Nakamura
 Kakashi Hatake – Kazuhiko Inoue
Rock Lee – Yōichi Masukawa
Neji Hyuga – Kōchi Tōchika
Tsunade – Masako Katsuki
Shizune – Keiko Nemoto
Might Guy – Masashi Ebara
Shikamaru Nara – Showtaro Morikubo
Temari – Romi Park
Shion – Ayumi Fujimura
Miroku – Fumiko Orikasa
Taruho – Yoshinori Fujita
Moryo – Seizō Katō
Yomi – Hidetoshi Nakamura
Gitai – Kishō Taniyama
Setsuna – Katsuyuki Konishi
Susuki – Daisuke Kishio
Kusuna – Tetsuya Kakihara
Shizuku – Miyuki Sawashiro

Movie details

Mid – Credits: No

End – Credits: Yes

Before the Review: Coronavirus continues to dominate the news and impacting people’s lifestyles, people are still panic buying (One customer in Lidl bulk bought UHT milk) and unfortunately, the cinema remains closed. Moving on again, a Swiss pharmaceutical company (Roche Group) has developed a 100% accuracy antibody test to see who has developed immunity against Coronavirus, lockdown measures are easing in the UK (although if it is safe to do so, only time will tell), protests seem to be breaking out against the lockdown, Brexit talks seem to have stalled, again and The Sun (Star seen in the sky, not the newspaper) is currently in a phase of solar minimum, according to NASA...

Review: The third Naruto movie swaps Sasuke Uchiha with Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee, to round off Team 7. Contrary to other sources, Sasuke Uchiha does not make an appearance in the movie. Aside from Rock Lee and Neji Hyuga and Sakura Haruno, the other characters from Konoha who round off a much larger cast have roles akin to extras in the movie. Rock Lee's fight scene is one to watch out for.

The first movie entry in the Naruto Shippuden series starts with a bang and continues throughout. Similar themes are used in which Naruto takes issue with some characters decision making within the movie and this is then used to uplift the individual(s) to influence an outcome. There were moments which felt like Sasuke Uchiha may have made an appearance, but ultimately, he did not.

By Shippuden’s beginning, Sasuke Uchiha had already left Konoha. It is good to see other characters from Konoha finally getting some screen time. The up-tempo feel of the movie somehow manages to draw you in with some twists and turns along the way. The end credit scene seems to also hint at Naruto’s cluelessness at certain requests, much to the annoyance of others, albeit quite humorously.

NARUTO THE MOVIE: GUARDIANS OF THE CRESCENT MOON KINGDOM, 10/05/20

NARUTO THE MOVIE: GUARDIANS OF THE CRESCENT MOON KINGDOM

Trailer         

Synopsis

Naruto and a makeshift Team 7 make their way to the Land of the Moon, where the mission is to protect the prince.

Cinema

Streaming (with English Subtitles)

Run Time

One hour, Thirty five minutes (1h, 35m)

Movie Rating

76%

Age Rating

12 (Action / Adventure / Animation / Anime  / Manga)

Cast

Naruto Uzumaki – Junko Takeuchi
Sakura Haruno – Chie Nakamura
Rock Lee – Yōichi Masukawa
Kakashi Hatake – Kazuhiko Inoue
Hikaru Tsuki – Kyōsuke Ikeda
Michiru Tsuki – Akio Ōtsuka
Korega – Kenji Hamada
Amayo – Marika Hayashi
Shabadaba – Umeji Sasaki
Ishidate – Masashi Sugawara
Kongō – Hisao Egawa
Karenbana – Haruhi Terada
Kakeru Tsuki – Rokuro Naya

Movie details

Mid – Credits: Not really, just a continuation of events that were mentioned towards the end of the movie

End – Credits: Yes (Non – sequel related)

Before the Review: Coronavirus continues to dominate the news and impacting people’s lifestyles, people are still panic buying (One Tesco’s employee bulk bought about eight Dove deodorants) and unfortunately, the cinema remains closed. Moving on again, some Americans are demanding an end to lock-down, even with the highest death rate in the world, having children “chipped” to enforce social distancing is being debated and a driver ran a red at temporary traffic lights, only to stop for another red at a junction? Strange...

Review: The third Naruto movie swaps Shikamaru Nara with Rock Lee to complete Team 7, as they are known in the anime series (Sasuke Uchiha is however, absent... again). The movie starts out with the characters (not Team 7) out of sorts and develops them over the course of events taking place. And as always, it is not so much Naruto’s actions or skills as a ninja which influences others, but his beliefs to instil an empowered sense of righteousness for people to rise up to.

A feel good movie with high tempo moments and again, with flashes of the powerfully sealed Nine Tails Fox within Naruto (from the anime) seeping through inside him as he continues to learn to hone his abilities. Some of the supporting cast oftentimes have their own character developments to overcome overwhelming odds to help progress the story.

CODE 8, 02/05/20

CODE 8

Trailer         

Synopsis

Set in a world where 4% of the population is born with supernatural abilities, a desperate young man possessing special powers who works in construction suddenly finds himself working with a group of criminals to raise money to help his sick mother. As a result, he clashes with the police force after committing a crime.

Cinema

Netflix

Run Time

One hour, forty minutes (1h, 40m)

Movie Rating

75%

Age Rating

15 (Language / Action / Crime / Drama)

Cast

Conner Reed – Robbie Amell
Garrett Kelton – Stephen Amell
Park – Sung Kang
Mary Reed – Kari Matchett
Marcus Suttcliffe
Rainer – Alex Mallari Jr
Davis – Aaron Abrams
Nia – Kyla Kane
Maddy – Laysla De Oliveira
Freddie – Vlad Alexis
Wesley Cumbo – Peter Outerbridge
Dixon – Shaun Benson

Movie details

Mid – Credits: No

End – Credits: No

Before the Review: Coronavirus continues to dominate the news and impacting people’s lifestyles whilst in lockdown, people are still panic buying (One father and son were stocking up on icing?) and the cinema remains closed. A couple was fined after driving a 530 mile round trip from Surrey to Cornwall for “an hour by the sea”, a man in a high-viz jaywalked across the road and then became aggressive after the driver blared their horn at him after slowing down abruptly to a halt from 40mph and a car ran through a red light at temporary traffic lights, only to stop for another red at a junction. Strange.

Review:  I was actually looking on Netflix for an episode from the Arrowverse’s Arrow TV Show where Bruce Wayne was mentioned by Oliver Queen. This was part of the Easter eggs hinting at Gotham City appearing in the The CW’s joint multiverse of WB/DC shows. This eventually led to the release of Batwoman during the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event. Whilst the TV Show is not yet available on Netflix, it did lead me to CODE 8.

I was really sceptical about Justin Hartley’s (Smallville) Green Arrow being replaced by Stephen Amell, but he managed to pull it off. Personally, it was only a matter of time before he found his way into another movie / TV show whilst remaining in the make shift superhero genre. However, what really draws me to him is that his character of Oliver Queen usually acts as a mentor to others. So seeing Robbie and Stephen Amell (First cousins) sharing screen time felt a little nostalgic. Robbie Amell played Firestorm in the same universe but in another show, The Flash.

The movie has a very dystopian feel to it, 1984 and Equilibrium come to mind, although they are more suppressed than actually being forced into a way of thinking. Although not completely totalitarian in nature, it was more like Marvels Civil War Superhero Registration Act had already been passed and people are trying to simply live normal lives, whilst being treated like second – class citizens. Stephen Amell’s Garret Kelton, although not the lead character, will be one to watch.

EXTRACTION, 25/04/20

EXTRACTION

Trailer         

Synopsis

A mercenary operating within the black market with nothing to lose, is hired to rescue an international crime bosses son. Within the murky underworld of weapons dealers and drug traffickers however, an already deadly mission seemingly approaches the impossible.

Cinema

Netflix

Run Time

One hour, fifty seven minutes (1h, 57m)

Movie Rating

63%

Age Rating

15 (Language / sexual references / Drug use / Violence)

Cast

Tyler Rake – Chris Hemsworth
Ovi Mahajan Jr – Rudhraksh Jaiswal
Saju – Randeep Hooda
Amir Asif – Priyanshu Painyuli
Nik Khan – Golshifteh Farahani
Ovi Mahajan Sr – Pankaj Tripathi
Farhad – Suraj Rikame
Gaspar – David Harbour
Yaz Khan – Adam Bessa
Colonel – Shataf Figar
Neysa – Neha Mahajan
Gaetan – Sam Hargrave

Movie details

Mid – Credits: No

End – Credits: No

Before the Review: Coronavirus continues to dominate the news and impacting people’s lifestyles whilst in lock-down, people are still panic buying and the cinema remains closed, for good reason. Moving on again, the human trials for a possible vaccine in the UK has yielded no results as the world eagerly watches the malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, intended to help fight Coronavirus after studies by the FDA currently show no benefits. A van driver almost ran through road traffic cones after spotting them very late after looking up from his mobile phone. Yikes.

Review:  When I last saw Chris Hemsworth, he was Thor and boarding Benatar, heading out towards the stars with the Guardians of the Galaxy (Minus Gamora). He actually ended up in the underworld of weapons dealing and drug trafficking where he is a mercenary, but with a job to do and inadvertently builds a connection with the one he is extracting.

So during the lock-down, I was watching The Graham Norton Show where one of his guests was Chris Hemsworth. That was when I found out that Extraction was available on Netflix, and here we are. The mention of the twelve minute long sequence was enticing to watch and after doing so, brought back a similar experience in the movie 1917, even if for what felt like a fraction of the movie.

I thought I would struggle with Chris Hemsworth playing the role of a mercenary after watching Thor 3: Ragnarok, where the humorous segments were expanded, but he surprising pulled it off, barely. Some character development, for a mercenary with whom he is supposed to be extracting was a different experience personally. The movie won’t be for many, but would be enough for those seeking escapism for the situation currently gripping the outside world.

NARUTO THE MOVIE: LEGEND OF THE STONE OF GELEL, 11/04/20

NARUTO THE MOVIE: LEGEND OF THE STONE OF GELEL

Trailer         

Synopsis

A make shift team of Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura must protect a powerful stone from being misused by the forces of evil.

Cinema

Streaming

Run Time

One hour, Thirty seven minutes (1h, 37m)

Movie Rating

79%

Age Rating

12 (Moderate Violence / Threat)

Cast

Naruto Uzumaki – Junko Takeuchi
Sakura Haruno – Chie Nakamura
Shikamaru Nara – Showtaro Morikubo
Gaara – Akira Ishida
Kankuro – Yasuyuki Kase
Haido – Akio Nojima
Temujin – Gamon Kaai / Yūko Katō
Fugai – Urara Takano
Kamira – Sachiko Kojima
Ranke – Houko Kuwashima
Emina – Tomoka Kurokawa
Kahiko – Nachi Nozawa

Movie details

Mid – Credits: Yes (Non - Sequel related)

End – Credits: No

Before the Review: Coronavirus continues to dominate the news and impacting people’s lives. People are still panic buying and unfortunately, the cinema remains closed, but for good reason. Moving on again, whilst at a supermarket, one entitled customer wanted to go over limit and was challenged by security. A mini van driver was speeding through and cutting in-between lanes, only to join a queue and turn left at the traffic lights. One driver in a hurry drove up a priority direction (not theirs) and ended up causing heavy congestion. Some people just don’t care!

Review: The second Naruto movie swaps Sasuke Uchiha with Shikamaru Nara, with appearances by Gaara, alongside his brother Kankuro. Gaara, personally, is becoming a more important character in the Naruto series due to his age being similar to Naruto’s and a former fellow jinchūriki (Humans housing tailed beasts within themselves), which is more or less the main plot line of the series regarding Naruto himself!

I get the impression that the movies are not as grounded as the television series as they explore a different direction. For example, the Stone of Gelel is a powerful artefact and within the television series, there are also powerful artefacts like Benihisago (Gourd), but not as powerful, although they are developed more for a better understanding of what they can do. For what did not appear in the series, usually finds its way to the movies, and hopefully these can be explored a bit more.

The movie itself I thought was a dood effort. It is usually Naruto’s will and determination that shines through and tends to influence the direction of the movie. There was added humour and talents like Shikamaru’s strategic mind were showcased in the movie. It was nice to see Gaara and his brother, Kankuro getting more involved as the movies try to align with the television series, making for a decent effort.

NARUTO THE MOVIE: NINJA CLASH IN THE LAND OF SNOW, 05/04/20

NARUTO THE MOVIE: NINJA CLASH IN THE LAND OF SNOW

Trailer         

Synopsis

Naruto and Team Seven set out to guard Yukie, a popular actress, from being captured.

Cinema

Streaming

Run Time

One hour, Twenty two minutes (1h, 22m)

Movie Rating

85%

Age Rating

12 (Moderate Violence / Threat)

Cast

Naruto Uzumaki – Junko Takeuchi
Sasuke Uchiha – Noriaki Sugiyama
Sakura Haruno – Chie Nakamura
Kakashi Hatake – Kazuhiko Inoue
Sōsetsu Kazahana – Hidehiko Ishizuka
Yukie Fujikaze – Yūko Kaida
Nadare Rōga – Hirotaka Suzuoki
Sandayū Asama – Ikuo Nishikawa
Fubuki – Kakuyoku – Jun Karasawa
Mizore Fuyukuma – Holly Kaneko
Dotō Kazahana – Tsutomu Isobe
Director Makino – Chikao Ōtsuka
Assistant Director – Akimitsu Takase
Kin / Buriken – Yataka Nakano
Hidero – Kan Tanaka

Movie details

Mid – Credits: Not really

End – Credits: Yes (Non – sequel related)

Before the Review: Coronavirus continues to dominate the news and impacting people’s lives, who are still panic buying and unfortunately, the cinemas remain closed, for good reason. Moving on, I was cut off approaching a duel carriageway on my back from work by a driver confusing himself in which lane was best for him, couldn’t make up his mind, and then ran a red light for his troubles. *Eye-Roll*. Social distancing and product limits had been introduced and enforced, but not everybody got the memo. A customer in Tesco’s felt entitled to buy two products over the limit, and was swiftly challenged by security. Also, an escalator broke down, so a very lengthy queue for the one trolley per lift limit beckoned.

Review: A few years ago at work, I had just started a new job. Whilst getting to know my colleagues, I happened on one of them watching an anime called Bleach. Fascinated that I had found someone with something in common with regards to anime, we got to talking and I mentioned DragonballZ and Dragonball Super were my favourites, which he asked if I’d seen Naruto, for which I declined. But I was intrigued and started watching the series, about six episodes a week. I then moved on to Naruto Shippūden.

Realising I was a bit behind with the movies, I finally found time to make a start on them, which has led me to the first movie. I was advised to stick to Japanese with English Subtitles as the English dub of multiple anime series is pretty much watered down for the younger viewers, which I subsequently found out when Majin Buu dropped a few F-Bombs in the Japanese version when dabbling into the series as I got older. Imagine my surprise, haha.

There are a few takeaways from the movie itself. It maintains the fluidity of the series and of Team 7 which is replicated onto the big screen. Although we’ll see some things in the movie that did not appear in the series, I will chalk them down to minor changes, for the purposes of the movie. Although there are points in the story that may be questionable, this is still a good entry if you are starting out with the series, filler free.