Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc

Writing this review to compile my thoughts on why I felt surprisingly disappointed after leaving the theatre. I had left the cinema feeling very underwhelmed and surprisingly so - as I was expecting to at the very least, enjoy the action scenes. The first half is basically Denji and Reze going on multiple dates which is fine to establish the relationship - unfortunately there was never really any chemistry or real connection for me to truly care for them. I think the issue is I've watched hundreds of better romance sequences and the first half is just a budget romance sequence with half of the heart.And the second half was the action bits which started with a bang and kept going, and going, and going and ......you get the idea. The animation was cool but the fights started to lose any real meaning by the end as one can only take so many explosions before realizing there is never any sense of danger. A good fight sequences has to have hard hitting choreography where there is a feeling of two opponents getting into it. Watching the Reze arc film fight sequences was basically someone pressing the explosion buttons 40 times and seeing Denji reappear out of the smoke. Minor positives, it looked nice, and sounded good in IMAX at least.

Quick little review because I feel my perspective’s unique, and just why not? As someone who greatly appreciated the muted, more contemplative general ~vibe~ of S1, I just can’t help but feel utterly whelmed by this film. The only reason I wouldn’t say I was UNDERwhelmed is because I don’t typically allow myself to fall prey to hype, and I try to maintain a healthy air of skepticism when something comes out and ends up almost unanimously loved; there’s a good chance these things will bounce right off my weary little heart. CSM: The Reze Arc, unfortunately, is one such example. While the, let’s say, end productis no doubt technically stunning, I question the wisdom behind making this a movie *at all.* It feels like a stopgap; a movie made just to quench fans’ thirst for more animated CSM in lieu of a (what I feel most would agree–maybe I’m wrong, I know *why* these things take time but still) time-wise reasonably released S2. The first half of the film is replete with scenes that are individually effective, but as a whole… How do I say this? It insists upon itself. While the audio/visual aspects work overall (and overtime, one could argue) for what Denji’s feeling and, thus, most of what the film’s trying to convey, it eventually falls in on itself and becomes tiring. After a point, it feels like it’s trying more to impress than engage. It's like how the old DBZ movies were just an excuse for the writers to bullshit and the animators to flex, except I'm obviously going to hold this to a higher standard holistically. The second half of the movie, simply put, is: BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM and so on and so forth. I wish I were able to just increase the font size and continue the booms ad infinitum; only then could the magnitude (and tedium) of what I’m talking about be fully appreciated. Half the time, this shit is only just barely more coherent than the Michael Bay Transformers movies–which is to say that while it IS fun, it’s basically just the evolved version of when your parents would jingle their keys in front of your stupid baby face. The movie ends, without spoiling things, meh-ly. Maybe spoiling things a little now, it’s hard for me to only care about a character (especially CENTRAL) in retrospect; it’s a failure in writing when what’s supposed to have me misty-eyed, instead, leaves me stone faced. Though that’s hardly a fault exclusive to the movie; the manga never made me care especially for *that character* either. And then there’s the new art style, which uggh… Sure, it looks more like Fujimoto’s drawings, but it also looks more like every other GD anime under the sun, too. That’s not to say that Fujimoto’s style = general contemporary anime design trends; two things can be true and *not* correlative, but I just think the middle ground here is, again, whelming. Look Back achieved a better balance. Also, bad comedy. There’s more traditionally “XD honto ni kawaii/kowai/sugoi!!” type jokes, and I just think they’re lame and dumb and stupid and not befitting CSM. In summary, I’m just not seeing what y’all are. Dissenting opinion or ragebait? How you respond to that is a measure of your own maturity.

An ARTISTIC MASTERPIECE The one thing that make this movie stand out from other high budget animation Shonen movies for me, is it artistic presentation and directing. It's not just banger animation, there's lots of symbolism and correlation in story telling that it's such a masterpiece of joy to watch. Not only that but literally every other thing is perfect. -- Recommend for: Directing, Artistic symbolism, Animation, Action FULL REVIEW: First of all, the artistic story telling. Without going into spoiler, this anime movie did this to such level that I would say on par with the Makoto Shinkai films (Comix wave film like Your name), which I barelysee in main stream action show let alone a movie. Use of idioms story telling, and symbolism with background objects, is such a good touch. There's a lot of scene that's just set the mood, show the scenery, some little details then and there that really instill the feel of realism into this film. Next is the directing. This film is definitely isn't like a typical Shonen movie. It's not like demon slayer or others, and while the animation is God tier, there's a lot of other parts that's also very nice pace of normal life and the world. Really putting in the works of building this very interesting world of how normal people deal with devils, and the life of our main characters overall. Make the world much more appreciated and a joy to cheer on and follow along. Now the animation and action. You won't be disappointed that's it, no matter how much you expected. It's god tier by MAPPA, and it's really good and the top tier of the industry. Even with the arrival with lots of good Chinese anime, this still really remind what MAPPA is capable of, and there's quite a satisfying amount of action you can enjoy. Lastly in other aspects. Pacing is phenomenal for a Shonen anime, not excessive flashbacks, just enough character development to enjoy. Characters are amazing, character change their thoughts, have other colors and intentions, not a straight line, overall superp. Lastly the plot. There's a nice mystery if you went in blind (which i do) and there's twists you will enjoy, but overall the plot is ok and does it job. My rating as a Shonen action: 9.72/10 My rating as an overall anime: 9.4/10

This film is a testament to the fact that you don't need detailed backstories and long flashback sequences to make you empathize with a villain. What makes this film so special to me is the fact that there are so many little, seemingly mundane moments, scattered throughout, that tell so much about certain characters. So much emotion and heart and authenticity all packed into one big bundle of chaos and ridiculousness. This is why Fujimoto is such a masterful author. But here I wanna also mention that the director for this film, Tatsuya Yoshihara, did a BRILLIANT job. THIS is how you do an adaptation.THIS is how you elevate a source material and take it to heights unseen before. They added some scenes here and there and made some interesting directing choices, but those not only did justice to the manga but actually made the story even better and more impactful. Combined with Kensuke Ushio's score and the opening and ending themes, this film is easily a 10/10 for me. And yes, the animation was brilliant. Every scene is a work of art.