Michael's Movie Grade: B-
A good compilation movie from the popular anime TV series, Demon Slayer.
Ok first things first. This movie is not like Mugen Train film from a couple years ago. Instead this is this is three TV episodes released together in theaters as a feature film. Two of these episodes have previously aired and one of these is a brand-new episode. While for many who watch the show, this may be a reason to complain, if you take this movie for what it is, it is a good film. All the episodes included here are really good episodes. They all show perfectly why people love this show so much. The main characters are all very likable and it is amazing just how clear many of their personalities are just from these episodes alone. There are also some really effective emotional moments that do a good job tugging at your heart strings (the backstory for two of the villains is actually quite emotional). While nothing quite reaches the emotional level of Mugen Train, it is still very effective. The action scenes and are a joy to watch. The animation is fantastic. I fully see why the filmmakers wanted you to see these episodes on a movie screen as they look incredible. This is especially true of the opening scenes of the third episode in this movie. These scenes combine CGI with more traditional animation in a way that simply blew me away.
Unfortunately this movie has the faults that come with a compilation film like this. Because it is from a series that has a large overarching story and was not originally created as a movie, the film really has no real beginning and no real ending. It just feels like it starts at a random part of the story and ends at a random part of the story. This makes this movie feel much less cinematic and much more like a collection of TV episodes. This also makes the movie feel very unwelcoming to newcomers. As someone whose knowledge of anime comes much more from movies than from TV, I found myself lost in a few places and there are characters that I still don't quite know who they are. Also taking this as a movie, a lot of the side characters feel quite underdeveloped in a way that they wouldn't for fans of the TV show.
This movie also delves into a bit of a pet peeve of mine as we hear characters narrating what is happening on screen when the movie should show us instead of tell us what is happening.
While the very format of this movie, makes it not work as well as the previous Demon Slayer movie, if you take it for what it is, it is a good film.
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