The third installment in the Boku no Hero Academia movie franchise.
When a sinister
organization threatens to wipe out all superhuman powers, the fate of the world is on the line. With
two hours until the collapse of civilization, Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki manage to work as a team, but
there’s still one problem. Deku’s on the run for murder.
(Source: Funimation)
As a lover of the My Hero Academia series who's caught up on the manga and anime, the movie was a little disappointing to me. The story, while not exactly boring, was in the end underwhelming and kind of forgettable to me. Especially looking back at Heroes Rising, which I believe is the best of the 3 current movies (Not saying too much though, as all the movies are kind of forgettable. Though I cried to the second movie lol). A movie that was started by a misunderstanding and a backstory that was "whatever" so to say. This was another case of a villain whose backstory and cause for starting this whole thing was really average and "mediocre". I didn't care enough for why he started this, as he was so bland of a villain, that it didn't matter. (That's to be expected though, can't develop a villain in an 1 hour and 44 minutes unless done correctly). There is also the appearance and backstory of Rody Soul, the deuteragonist of this movie. While Rody is a decent character, his personality and backstory are nothing special even with his relevancy to the plot. He's just your normal, everyday, movie original character. What "carried" this movie to me was the art and sound, as the action scenes were very (and I mean VERY) well animated. Though just like the plot, they were kind of underwhelming as I personally didn't get goosebumps, pumped up, or immersed because of them at all. They were just really "flashy" and "shiny" (Not a bad thing at all though. As I said, they were animated extremely well, probably the best I've seen of all MHA action scenes). This obviously showed where the budget for season 5 could've potentially been placed if the movie wasn't made.(Though the animation for season 5 wasn't even that bad, I believe people were nitpicking too much about it.) Another thing to watch out for is, if you're a fan of most (if not all) of Class-1A, be prepared to be "disappointed". Most of the focus this time around was on Rody Soul (Movie original), and the big three of Deku , Todoroki , and Bakugo with occasional appearances from other members of Class-1A plus pro heroes. Some of Class-1A actually appear just once or twice, with some not even fighting at all. One thing I will say is that If there is a 4DX showing for you like there was for me, I believe the movie should be watched in 4DX, as it was actually kind of cool to experience with the fight scenes with my chair moving around, mist and wind being shot in my face, etc. Something that was really unique and different. Besides that, the movie wasn't personally my cup of tea. As said, the 4DX and action scenes were the only thing that carried it for me due to a "mid" plot and forgettable villain. As I sit here typing this review, honestly I've already forgotten most things about the movie (that I just finished seeing 2 hours ago at the time of typing this up lol) since it wasn't that great in my book. I still recommend going out and seeing it if you're a fan of the series. Just be warned, it won't bring too much to you if you're a seasoned veteran of the series like me. Also, for those who ended up enjoying the movie, I'm really glad you did!! :) (As I'm just one person, so take my "review" with a grain of salt. I still love My Hero Academia a lot)
The third film for the ever growing MHA franchise, following on from Two Heroes (exceedingly mediocre imo) and Heroes Rising (much more fun, great action) comes World Heroes' Mission, a globetrotting adventure that pitches our budding heroes against a terrorist organisation based across the world. [Spoilers from the start] It must be said the first thing that struck me about this film, is that for something called '__World Heroes'__ Mission' there's an almost total lack of heroes from across the world, instead all the work being done by the same Japanese heroes we already know, with a few generic superhero type presumably local people visible in the background at times. I get that people want to see the characters they know and like, but it feels like a missed opportunity to design some fun new heroes (we do get one local hero, an Egyptian who's literally a hyroglyph pharaoh...). Oh and also presumably to avoid offending anyone at all the main story is set on a large island just off the coast of Spain that's magically popped up, with its odd mix of Italian/Australian scenery. Now onto the plot, the main event being about a terrorist organisation (Humarize) who want to keep humanity 'pure' (aka quirkless) and seek to eliminate those with quirks. I actually like this idea, given how the series loves to tell us at the begining of most episodes that 80% of the world has quirks, what of the 20% that don't? Deku after all was one of them, so he knows how it feels to be an unpowered minority in a world where those without are looked down upon. Unfortunately the film makes no effort to ask any of these questions, they're just terrorists who want to kill people, and the leader's own justifcation is incredibly stupid (basically people didn't like him as a kid). Furthermore to make the story even more hollow half the the bad guys actually have powers anyway, and in fact so does the leader! They make some offhand comment about them joining in return for being allowed to live, but it just doesn't make sense and totally cheapens the whole potentially interesting concept. There are some actual unpowered guys with guns, but they're worse shots than stormtroopers and not a single one of them has a face or name. The other side of the story is Rody, typical no parents anime protag who lives with his younger siblings and does small time crime running to make ends meet. Honestly he's fine, unlikely to be anyones favourite character but he's got some personality and brings some humour. Anyway he meets Deku on a job, accidentally gets involved with Humarize and they're put on the (corrupt) police watch list and have to run away. They bond on their roadtrip, get chased down by some villains (one of whom, a kinda cool archer girl, escapes and is just forgotten about, not even showing up for the finale) and meet up with Bakugo and Shoto where they assault the Humarize headquarters and save the day (with 0.3seconds on the clock left). One thing this film has going for it is it looks great, good work by Bones with nice sceneries and backgrounds, and the action is fast and frantic. The final third of the film is basically one long punchup, with Deku vs the Humarize leader, Bakugo vs a couple of creepy kids with extending swords and Shoto fighting a beefy lava manipulator. It doesn't quite match the sheer destructive scale of the previous film but it puts in a good attempt. Bakugo's fight was certainly the most spectacular with the three of them leaping all around the place with dust, debris and explosions everywhere, Deku's fight is a touch more mundane, don't get me wrong again it looks great - the Humarize leader's (I've already forgotten his name he was that forgettable) power looks great, projecting back people's attack power at them - sadly being Deku the whole fight is just him repeatedly throwing himself over and over without any thought and just getting more beaten up, and then after having lost more blood than the average human body holds he sees Rody get hurt and just casually goes super saiyan and seemingly masters One for All instantly to win (but then ya know doesn't mention it). Then at the end the bad guys, despite having been blown up, crushed, etc are all unharmed and get arrested and it's a happy ending. The budget clearly didn't stretch far enough for anyone else to get epic moments, the heroes at other sites do get some brief moments, but nothing of any note and with little combat shown (and still not enough Blazin' screetime!) - it would have been rather cool to have a battle up the Eiffel Tower or something. Now I do get that I sound very harsh on the film, but don't get me wrong I did enjoy it, I was just disappointed that the plot didn't try harder, it doesn't add any new or significant characters, gives no real character development and because it's a film despite the huge scale of the events shown will never be mentioned in the main series.
If the previous two movies are anything to go by, MHA movies have settled with a nice bunch of action, a serviceable plot and some new characters, and that's it. And the third MHA movie, World Heroes' Mission doesn't reinvent the wheel - but for me, personally, it takes the series' motto "Plus Ultra" probably the most serious. __SPOILER WARNING__ img(https://i.imgur.com/BeSTGB0.jpg) By that I do refer to the action partly, the most present and maybe strongest aspect of this movie. Instead of being slowly introduced to the new setting, characters, and the main struggles the plot tries to solve, we jump right into action with the top heroes immediately responding to the terrorist group Humarise. The first encounter of our main cast with the protagonist of this movie, Rody, was also a grand parkour chase, tying in with the introduction of one of the side-villains, too. The action sets the pace, and in this case, it's pretty fast. The movie doesn't bother much with worldbuilding, lore, or even introducing and exploring many characters. The little breaks and moments of breath it has are used to characterize Rody and his relationship with Deku, knowing that these two are the focal point of this story and without establishing their relationship properly, it just won't work out. And that was fine by me, really. Despite never being better than just okay for me, the first two movies had two appeals: a) the action b) the fan-service. So if MHA: World Heroes' Mission is going to give me more of that, I was happy with it. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/e2e2a72c36d3dde410ffd05969c67c3e.mp4) KA: Yuki Hayashi, Shuu Sugita And the action was as expected, very good. Not only do we have ace animators like Yuki Hayashi, Shuu Sugita, Norimitsu Suzuki, Yukina Kosaka (the list goes on…) on board, but also much more impressive camera work. In season 5 they already showcased a more confident and dynamic usage of 3D backgrounds, enabling more flashy sequences similarly to Attack on Titan. For this movie, they took a step further, turning the previously mentioned parkour chase into a camera rollercoaster, allowing neat transitions in action sequences, adding to their flow with fast camera rotations. Add the new weapon Black Whip to the mix, we get very Spider-Man-esque sequences which were just really exciting to watch. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/217ca871036afc52731d5c932832ba55.mp4) KA: Jason Yao (confirmed), Hiroo Nagano (presumed) We have Norimitsu Suzuki animating the best cut I ever saw from him so far (1 min and only one cut, Jesus Christ. One cut being this long is something I wanted to see from Nozomu Abe, but well, Suzuki did it first. And it was glorious.) webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/ac5f3e02849649a8ff15f411e5ff21e2.mp4) KA: Norimitsu Suzuki Not to forget Yutaka Nakamura: His cut made me laugh, the creative freedom he has with his cuts is pretty wild. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/8c0ca7c49d0a30c6be0c2bed4decefd5.mp4) KA: Yutaka Nakamura If there's one thing to criticize about the animation and action, for me personally, it was too much. At some point all the amazing action boards, the camera work, the gorgeous effects or the incredible animation itself didn't faze me anymore, as I saw so much of it already. It's like eating a gorgeous meal, but being completely full after eating too much. It seems my eyes and brain weren't able to go beyond their limits, and the constant action became tiring and lost its unique appeal. But maybe it's simply due to myself leaning more towards atmospheric and sensible works, maybe? I don't know. I very much enjoy fast-paced and flashily arranged action, but MHA: World Heroes' Mission had for my taste too much of it. img(https://i.imgur.com/Iq2KuOR.jpg) However, this movie is not all action, and I personally find the plot and character work of this movie to be the most serviceable from all the three. Of course, there is little worldbuilding and depth given that it's a movie with a focus on its action, so many aspects of this story are meant to be enjoyed and not looked much into past that; An example would be Humarise itself, a cult taking advantage of people's fears while spreading conspiracy theories, and big enough to take active influence in institutions like the police. There is little exploration however in the workings of this organization, or the discussion about its theories, as there is some truth to it. It's ultimately a mere plot device. There is also some lost potential, as an international mission could've been a fantastic opportunity to create a crossover with the spin-off Vigilante, as Koichi and Mr. Celebrity are both in the USA. Maybe they were left out because this movie is ultimately filler, and a crossover in the main series is already planned. Still a pity. img(https://i.imgur.com/VR6B1KJ.jpg) But despite that, as I said, the story in this movie is still fine. Due to his screen time, Rody ended up being a pretty memorable and nuanced character, and he ultimately sold this movie for me, at least when it comes to the emotional side of it. He’s a man of dirty work, but ultimately a good guy caring for his family and trying to do the best he can. However, due to his father abandoning him and his brother and sister, he grew disillusioned and came to terms with life being pretty much terrible for him. But that changed with Deku, who pretty much invalidated any view Rody had towards other people, especially those calling themselves heroes, which he initially called out for only working for monetary gain. Deku gave him both hope that there is good in this world, but also the confidence to take the risk to do the right thing. While already a common theme, it’s nonetheless a serviceable iteration of Deku, once again, being an inspiration and symbol of hope for other people. And maybe, given that this wasn’t highlighted really in previous movies, you can also see it as a sign for growth. Deku still has to learn, but it shows that he already is in mark and bone what makes a hero a hero: Someone who can make things possible no one else can, who can achieve miracles, or, to put it into MHA’s terminology, who can go beyond his limits, “Plus Ultra”. img(https://i.imgur.com/4biDAqD.jpg) I also really like Rody's quirk, by the way. It was such a sweet reveal at the end. img(https://i.imgur.com/UiwoUBE.jpg) To sum it up in total, MHA: World Heroes' Mission made a fine movie, being MHA at heart and an entertaining action spectacle most of the time too. Despite my personal issue with the excessive amount of flashy action however, there is also the fact that it lacks depth or anything interesting beyond the common theme it works with, so it doesn’t manage to be anything outstanding or special. But I have to admit, this movie was better than expected and in my opinion, the best movie out of all three.
~~~ I got the Blu-Ray of this movie for Christmas and ended up watching it on New Year's Eve. When the film started, it looked like it was going to be the best MHA film. The new villains were interesting, being a religious cult that wants to eradicate everyone with quirks, with their own quirked-up members willing to die for their cause. That opening scene of them bombing a city that causes everyone’s quirks to mutate was grotesque. Like, a dude turned into a turtle, and some woman melted into a pile of skin, and... okay, I was mostly disturbed by the melting woman part, but it was still freaky. I also liked the new character, Rody Soul. His character design is great, and he's a likable Robin Hood type of character. The development of Rody and Deku's relationship takes up a good portion of the film's first half, with them taking a cross-country road trip to avoid being arrested for mass homicide (long story). I gotta give props to actually getting me to care about a movie-original character for once. The visuals were the main reason I watched this film, though, and they are by far the best out of the MHA films. The animation was great, and not just the “oh boy, the last minute of that fight was so hype, and nothing else” kind of great. The character animation was so lively, and the facial expressions were so expressive, greatly adding to the more comedic moments of the film. There was great action throughout, with some of MHA's best scenes appearing in this film. There was a fight midway through the film that was a minute-long one-take cut, and it was one of the best pieces of animation I've ever seen. It was just as good as the film's final fight scene, if not better. Even the setting was great, with the city of Otheon seeming like an actual place that might exist, which I wish the first two movies had. Everything about this movie seemed to exceed my expectations. ...Then the second half of the film happened. Around the last 40 minutes, Bakugo and Todoroki got into their own sets of fights, but I only really cared about what Deku was doing. Still, when we get to Deku's fight with Mr. Cult Guy, it does the anime thing where you can hear the character’s thoughts even though you could figure out what’s happening without Deku’s echoey voice telling you what’s happening. Then Mr. Cult Guy reveals his motivations, which were the saddest excuses you can think of to start a DEATH CULT. Then the whole moral of the story was that the bad guy never tried to improve or be loved or whatever, and that's why he lost, then they showed how cool the other heroes were, and it was like “Not All Heroes” propaganda, and I started to cringe from all the over-positivity, then I started to cringe harder because my dad walked into the last 40 minutes of this movie and he now knows that I still watch this stuff at 23 years old and AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Overall, this film still ended up being my favorite of the MHA films, somehow. Even though I was frustrated in its final moments, it's still better than _Heroes Rising_, whose story I thought was blander than white bread. Still wouldn’t recommend this movie to any non-anime fan, but it was a decent time nonetheless. img(https://files.catbox.moe/l46mja.jpeg) ~~~