PG-13, 104m, 2019

With the Voice Talents of Justin Briner (Izuku Midoriya), Clifford Chapin (Katsuki Bakugō), Dani Chambers (Mahoro Shimano), Maxey Whitehead (Katsuma Shimano), David Matranga (Shōto Todoroki), Luci Christian (Ochaco Uraraka), J. Michael Tatum (Tenya Iida), Colleen Clinkenbeard (Momo Yaoyorozu), Justin Cook (Eijiro Kirishima), Monica Rial (Tsuyu Asui),  Brina Palencia (Minoru Mineta), Kyle Phillips (Denki Kaminari), Fumikage Tokoyami (Josh Grelle), Trina Nishimura (Kyōka Jirō), Yuga Aoyama (Joel McDonald), Caitlin Glass (Mina Ashido), Mike McFarland (Mashirao Ojiro), Johnny Yong Bosch (Nine), Greg Dulcie (Chimera), Lydia Mackay (Slice), Brendan Blaber (Mummy) Christopher R. Sabat (All Might), Christopher Wehkamp (Shōta Aizawa) and Patrick Seitz (Endeavor). Directed by Kenji Nagasaki. Produced by Wakana Okamura, Yoshihiro Oyabu, Koji Nagai and Kazumasa Sanjōba. Screenplay by Yōsuke Kuroda. Music by Yuki Hayashi. Based on My Hero Academia by Kōhei Horikoshi.

I went into this movie extremely skeptical. I didn’t care for the first film very much and I was concerned that this movie was going to commit some of the same sins. Halfway through the movie I leaned over and whispered to me friend “this movie is fantastic; it’s going to have to really crap the bed for me not to like it”. Towards the end of the movie I noticed a foul smell and I realized the film had potentially crapped the bed.

The movie opens with an intensely entertaining car chase between the League of Villains, who is transferring Nine (Johnny Yong Bosch) in a life support vat, and a group of heroes lead by Endeavor (Patrick Seitz). Endeavor manages to stop the van, however the League of Vilian escapes and Nine regroups with his followers Chimera (Greg Dulcie), Mummy (Brendan Blaber) and Slice (Lydia Mackay). We then cut to the hero class 1-A of UA High School on Nabu Island, who are performing temporary hero duties for the residents. The hero duties prove to be minor problems such as helping an elderly lady with her errands, jumpstarting a tractor and minor security as there hasn’t been an actual violent crime in quite some time. One day Midoriya (Justin Briner) receives a call from Mahoro (Dani Chambers) whose younger brother Katsuma (Maxey Whitehead) is missing. Midoriya finds Katsuma only to learn that Mahoro had only been testing the heroes in order to see how good they are. They come up short in her eyes, so she sends Katsuma to get a hero to fight a vilian, Bakugō (Clifford Chapin) rushes off to fight the villain, where he quickly discovers the vilian is an illusion created by Mahoro. Bakugō gets rightfully angry but he gets calmed down by Midoriya and he storms off. Meanwhile Nine is desperately searching for somebody who possess a cell regeneration quirk, so he can steal it and heal himself. Nine finds somebody who has this ability and this person just happens to be Mahoro and Katsuma’s father. Unfortunately for Nine, the father’s quirk only helps people with a Type-A blood type. Knowing that quirks can be inherited genetically, Nine goes after Mahoro and Katsuma. Now it’s up to Class 1-A to stop the dastardly villains or at the very least keep Mahoro and Katsuma out of harm’s way.

The movie is very forgiving to newcomers of the series who haven’t seen a single episode. This is all done masterfully without hitting audiences who are already in the know over the head with plot points we already know and without dropping so much exposition that newcomers would be lost. However, I will say that fans of the series should be familiar with events up to at least season four as several things are done or said that might be considered as minor spoilers for earlier seasons.

The final battle sequence is a hit or miss. On one hand it’s an amalgamation of everything one could love about a shonen anime. On the other hand, it could be potentially problematic and the way it ends is a deus ex machina. I say it’s problematic because a certain power has never been fully explored so therefore the ending could potentially work, but at the same time it could be a major cop out. Had the movie actually went through with a certain thing, it would have worked if the movie served as the series finally. Had this been the case I would have been satisfied with the series finally and I would have been left with a bittersweet feeling. The ending is going to make or break the film for a lot of people. The theater I saw the film at had people applauding the ending and the gaggle of girls seated next to me were crying towards the end.

The film gives most of the Hero class of 1-A a moment in the spotlight as most of the characters either contribute something to the plot or serve a vital role in an action scene. The only exception is Toru Hagakure, whose quirk is invisibility. The two characters that get the most attention are Bakugō and Midoriya. Their dynamic fighting styles look super interesting when paired up and both characters add emotional depth to the film that was powerful enough to bring some of the audience to tears. The villains while serviceable as well as interesting, were underdeveloped. I understand that the focus is meant to be on the heroes, but I wanted to know more about the villains and their motivation. Chimera and Nine were the most developed but even then, we got the most bareboned explanation about why they are evil. Nine wants to take over the world and instate a system ruled by the strong and Chimera follows Nine because he was viewed as a monster and villain all his life and Nine was one of the only people to treat him with kindness. Mummy and Slice are given absolutely no character development, so they sometimes come across as underdeveloped, despite this they do showcase some interesting abilities that do prove very threatening to the film’s protagonists.  All the audience is told about them is their powers and they follow Nine, for whatever reason. While the vilians’ motivation is generic, they’re still entertaining to watch. I particularly enjoyed Chimera who served as a fantastic secondary vilian. I would have preferred to learn a little more about him and to see him in action more as all his battle scenes were some of the film’s highlights.

The My Hero Academia series is beautifully animated. As it was given a larger budget, the animation of this movie is improved, and it looks absolutely stunning. The fight scenes are the visual high point of the movie. Although I will admit during the final battle there is a scene where the imagery looked way to similar to the Dragon Ball franchise for my taste. I like originality and while I understand paying homage to another property, there comes a point where it becomes almost a form of plagiarism. The only issue I have with the animation is the CGI, which is mostly thankfully used sparingly. Despite these little knit picks, I was completely satisfied with the visuals and the fight sequences are some of the best in the franchise.

            While I had problems with the films ending, I get why people are enjoying this film. The action sequences are great, the animation is beautiful, the music is epic and the story as well as the characters are a lot of fun. I know some will see this review as me not getting it or being too harsh, which I get because at the end of the day, this is a My Hero Academia movie and with that comes the faults of a shonen movie. Maybe I am being to harsh with this film, but I will visit this film again when the series is over and if the glaring plot hole I saw is resolved, then I’ll give the film a higher rating. Until then I’ll continue to enjoy the series and if the issue is not resolved, then I’ll just view this film as a fun shonen film.