At least, you wouldn't be able to criticize this movie like how you would end up criticizing the anime. Firstly, this came even before the manga. You are going to follow the Chunin exam arc in just 2 hours. I mean for a change, its not 20 chapters or 20 episodes long. Let's appreciate that the plot has been set up beautifully and totally matches with the current era in the Narutoverse. Otherwise, the Shippuden's ending was almost perfect. It is also amazing that in just 2 hours, we still get enough idea about how the new generation characters are. Orginal Naruto fans and Shippuden fans too would enjoy this movie as their heroes Naruto and Sasuke do get an opportunity and do manage to shine in the battle. No doubt that the battle has been choreographed better in the anime version but it still looks perfect for a movie version.

Now that it is a fact that while adapting this movie both the manga and the anime added few more details or elements to the plot, I think it is fairer to treat this movie as a preview. Surely, that is bound to give a sense of something being incomplete but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to enjoy this.

I believe this should be watched before you start following the manga or the anime version.

Boruto: Naruto the Movie was released in Australian theatres for a limited time thanks to Madman Entertainment's distribution. Written and supervised by Naruto series creator, Masashi Kishimoto, Boruto: Naruto the Movie follows (you guessed it) Boruto Uzumaki, the son of main series protagonist Naruto who is now Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village which has gotten some upgrades when it comes to technology. The main plot of the film is the broken father and son relationship between Boruto and Naruto, and thankfully, Kishimoto has written a touching story that'll have Naruto fans smiling in joy.

There are A LOT of characters in this film, any character who you remember in the Naruto series is grown up now and most likely has a kid in this film. One character who particularly stands out in this film is Sasuke (who was mostly missing in the previous film The Last: Naruto the Movie) and it's great to see him. Sasuke is Boruto's teacher in this film and there's something very poetic about a character teaching the son of his rival, I don't know why but I find that really intriguing and fans will probably love the idea of that.

Boruto himself is a surprisingly relatable character. He's a kid with daddy issues which is very common among children his age. I'd even go as far as saying that I like Boruto more than Naruto when he was a kid, he's a very likable character. All the other kid characters are pretty cool as well such as Sarada, Sasuke and Sakura's daughter. She's smart, feisty and very strict which is actually pretty funny to watch when her and Boruto are arguing with each other.

Naruto himself is also pretty interesting to watch. It's really cool to see how much the role of Hokage can affect someone's life. You watch him in two perspectives, one is the Naruto you remember prior to the events of this film and the other is from Boruto's perspective where he's just seen as someone who has no time and love for his family. Both kind of clash and in the end there is a sweet resolution that can make Naruto fans shed tears of happiness. It's really nice to see the character portrayed how he is in this film.

There is a glaringly poor character in this film and that's the villain. It is, yet again, someone trying to fulfill Kaguya's plan and is the most forgetful Naruto villain you can ever come across. He is uninteresting, tedious and a very big negative on the film. Even The Last: Naruto the Movie had a better villain, but hey, at least the villain wasn't befriended this time around.

Animation wise, this movie is gorgeous. It is an absolute spectacle during its action scenes, Naruto has never looked this good. The climax especially is some of the best action and animation to ever grace this series, it will indeed give you chills purely because it looks so great. The Leaf village looks alive and colourful and it's cool seeing all this new tech and cities surrounding the area, although it is strange that the last time we saw this place it was just a village with barely any modern buildings and technology in it.

The film's soundtrack could have been better, there are times where it tracks are out of place and the sound design of the film can be a bit too loud on the ears. The film's first half is also pretty slow because it tries to explain who these characters are, where everyone is at, how are people doing and what this terrible villain is up to. Also, the film wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be. Some jokes didn't hit me and I found The Last to be a funnier movie overall.

In the end, Boruto: Naruto the Movie is a great epilogue to a series with a huge fan base. It has incredible animation, great fights, cool characters and a touching father-son story. It's just a shame that the villain is, yet again, very uninteresting. Other than that, Naruto fans will be pleased that this send off is a great one.