Naruto Shippuden, le film : Les Liens

"Bonds" is the second installment in the Naruto Shippuden movie lineup and attempts to weave an emotionally driven story with high-stakes aerial combat and character dynamics. While it delivers some solid animation and fan-service action, it struggles to rise above the clichés of shounen anime films.

The Good: The movie opens with a bang-literally-as the Sky Ninja from the Land of the Sky launch an aerial assault on Konoha. This unique premise provides a refreshing visual element, with mid-air battles and flying fortresses giving the film a steampunk-meets-ninja aesthetic that's rarely explored in the series. The animation, particularly during fight scenes involving Naruto and Sasuke, is crisp and fluid, and it's satisfying to see them temporarily team up again after their bitter fallout.

The core emotional thread is driven by Amaru, a new character introduced as a brave but conflicted medic-nin with ties to the mysterious Shinno. Amaru's relationship with her mentor adds some emotional depth and gives Naruto a chance to reflect on themes of loss, duty, and inner strength.

The Weak: Despite its thematic title, "Bonds" doesn't explore the concept of relationships or emotional ties as deeply as it intends. While Naruto and Sasuke share screen time, their reunion feels hollow-mostly serving as a nostalgia trigger for fans rather than pushing their story forward. The plot also falls into predictable territory: a villain with a god complex, a last-minute power-up, and a final battle where Naruto must (once again) save the day with sheer willpower.

Amaru, though emotionally compelling, is underdeveloped, and her arc is rushed to fit the film's runtime. Shinno, the antagonist, is fairly one-dimensional and lacks the philosophical depth of more compelling Naruto villains.

Final Thoughts: "Bonds" feels like a filler episode with a movie-sized budget. It provides fun action sequences, a glimpse of Sasuke in the Shippuden timeline, and a reminder of Naruto's core values-but it doesn't offer much beyond that. For fans of the series, it's a decent watch with enough spectacle to enjoy. For those looking for deeper storytelling or significant plot developments, Bonds might come off as emotionally thin and formulaic.

Rating: 5.4/10 - Visually engaging but narratively average.

Although the writing for Naruto movies aren't usually the best, this one had some interesting turns. I thought Sasuke would take center stage in much of the action since he was smoldering and shirtless in one of the opening sequences. However, Naruto surprised me by pulling off some amazing stunts throughout the narrative. I'll stop there because there isn't much plot that the synopsis omitted.

Oh, the characters. Looks like we have less emo Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata as the fanservice objects and backups that are still useless in battle, cameos from Kakashi as the voice-over narrator, and Orochimaru as the bedridden grandmother (Sai, Neji, Shino, and Shikamaru play cameos of themselves). There's also the movie-only character Doctor and his apprentice Amaru, who gets to be the one befriended by Naruto (sad Amaru).

I looked forward to the first two Naruto movies when the series was still fresh to me but now, the movies seem like a string of fillers with a bigger budget, with largely unremarkable stories and always a preachy moral. Typically, the only scenes I enjoy in the movies are when more of Konoha's cast of shinobis are used in battle. Honestly, the show might be named "Naruto" but enough of him already. Enough of the unrequited bromance between him and Sasuke too. And I would like to see the women be more useful. On the rare occasion they get to kick butt, they're not even good at it.

Hmm, this has turned into a QQ post about the Naruto series. I don't have much else to say about the movie though. The Leaf Village gets attacked and we do get to see some of its defenders do their thing, but those scenes are woefully sparse and short. Mostly, it's more of Naruto's emo-ness and life lessons. Zzz. They really need to learn from Pixar and adult up their stories a bit.

Lame generic villain..no depth in character + Weak plot close to no more than a filler, no complexity, no twists...way too predictable you just know that Naruto is gonna win because he's Naruto..no tension the movie fails to keep me hooked and invested in the action.

One of the best Naruto movies I've ever watched !!!!!!!