Naruto Shippûden: The Movie 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire

Usually a movie made from a series mean bigger story and bigger everything. In the Naruto franchise I haven't seen one example of this fact. On the contrary it is quite the opposite of the epic anime. It is obvious that the writers are out of ideas. To be honest every Naruto movie including this one has this one message repeated ad nauseam. And the message is always the same,friendship. There is no need to make 6 movies to tell me this. At first this movie started great with promise of epic proportions. Sadly there aren't any. I understand that the writers want to save their best for the anime. But couldn't they just for once show something that actually would be interesting. Like the period between Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden. We are talking about two and half years. Surely something interesting happened in that time. Or why not a little background story of one of the multiple characters like Lee or Kakashi. He is supposed to be this super ninja but always gets hurt. So why not show us how he earned this reputation. For me these movies are redundant and they should stop making them. Of course this won't happen since Naruto is big business. As I understand the fourth Shipuuden movie has already been released and there are plans to make fifth movie. Well,I can only hope for some improvement.

Naruto Shippūden Movie 3: Inheritors Of The Will Of Fire was a very well done film. It was a movie with a lot of action, plenty of characters and awesome animations fluent enough to give the viewer pretty nice visuals. A major thing to appreciate about Inheritors of the Will Of Fire is the plot. A unique thing about it that other films of the franchise are missing is that instead of making up some completely new plot out of nowhere, it centers on existing main characters of the canon plot instead. I also love how it places all characters under a choice in one way or another in this movie.

It centers around the 'Will Of Fire' belief and how Kakashi(Naruto's Sensei) is trying to sacrifice himself for his village at least if not the Ninja World. He taught Naruto and Sakura very early on in the series that those who break the rules and abandoning their missions are considered trash, yet those who abandon their friends and comrades are considered worse than trash. Naruto must make a choice to listen to his master now and stay out of his way, or to follow the words he taught them before and go after him. His classmates like Shikamaru are also put in a decision to help or to stop them. This is one of the only Naruto Movies that's Key Plot CANNOT exist with out the story of the original series. Sure the plot technically is non-canon, but, it's something that teaches you or at least reminds you of something the canon Naruto series is always saying at full force: You can't abandon your comrades. It is why Masashi Kishimoto, creator of Naruto states in the credits "I hope this movie stays with you forever" Amazing Movie and one of the best 'Naruto' films yet.

After the mediocrity that was "Bonds," I was convinced that the "Naruto" movie franchise had begun to deteriorate. This film, however, proved me wrong. Not only is it a return to form for the franchise, it just might be the best entry yet.

There are some very strong themes in this movie. They include self-sacrifice and the series' theme of remembering to never abandon your comrades, no matter what. The choices that the characters have to go through and the tension between some of the characters on whether or not to save Kakashi added a lot of stakes and drama to the proceedings.

The Konoha 11 all get prominent involvement in this movie, which is extremely refreshing after the previous movie "Bonds" gave most of the supporting characters almost nothing to do. They all get their time to shine and prove to be quite useful on the battlefield.

The action scenes are intense and exciting and really kept me on the edge of my seat. Hiruko isn't too special off a villain, but he's pretty serviceable and certainly a big improvement on the villains from the last couple of movies.

The animation is once again solid, even though I personally would have liked for the color palette to be just a little bit brighter. By the way, the ending scene is absolutely HILARIOUS!

I was very pleased with this movie. It gets the franchise back on track, and I would even say that it replaces "Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow" as my favorite "Naruto" movie so far. Definitely check this one out.

RATING: A

I think so. This Movie was released in the middle of the story of Sasuke and Orochimaru in the Manga, it can be said that this Movie was released in parallel with the main story of the currently airing Anime.

That's why the first restriction appears: they don't dare to break the old barriers of the characters, because this could affect the story in the TV Anime. We see the main and supporting characters, Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba... and their friends, nothing has changed, from personality to strength, those boring shadows just keep going back and forth in the middle of the screen and chanting about the power of friendship... Even Kakashi_ a beloved character, was sent into the "enemy zone" but didn't show anything special. Characters such as the three legendary ninjas, Garra team were also added reluctantly. Especially the villain Hiruko, oh my god what kind of character is this? A little bit of Kakuzu, a little bit of the "childhood underdog" and with Orochimaru's ambition, and in the end he became a loner who just wanted a friend... And next to him was Kakashi, not Naruto, who always comforts and inspires evil people to become good people after that... Where is Naruto? Oh, he's being thrown in the air by his beloved friends in celebration? Wtf what happened to the message of this story? Shounen spirit wins over "the one who doesn't have a single friend, is dying"? There are a lot of problems with the characters' conversations in this movie, many scenes show that what the characters are saying isn't even related to each other. And of course, Hiruko, the villain, with the giant Hologram shadow, is really not portrayed well, if not sloppy and indiscriminate. Character _ the weakest point of this Movie.

About art and music, what our eyes see, what our ears hear: What I like most. Art is so beautiful. I just wish Naruto TV episodes were all drawn like that, the drawings are smooth, the characters' actions are graceful, bearing a clear mark from Masashi. And the forests, the mountains with the huge gates... WOw this is the art of the Naruto world, and this is also commendable compared to the previous 2 movies: this world is very harmonious consistent with the Manga, there are no technologies or other out-of-this-world things in the Naruto story. Hiruko's outfit is also very beautiful. The music is so good, I quite like the main song of this movie.

Regarding the story of the movie, this is a version of a villain and his 3 disciples who have the ambition to become the strongest and dominate the world... perhaps it is not new, it can be said that the story takes place in the second half of the movie, it's like a video game. The story told in the first part has quite a few holes, for example, what is Kakashi's motive for deciding to die, how did he meet Hiruko, why did a ninja like Kakashi hide the secret about his life in front of Hokage, and suddenly reveal it for nothing, and no reaction? And Hiruko thing, why do Konoha and Sand villages want to fight each other instead of joining forces? And there are many more confusing points. I know this is just an unofficial side story, but if they wanted, they could afford to create a more engaging and deeper story, instead of borrowing the spirit of fire, friendship... to tell an uninteresting story and force the viewer to be emotional. Nope. Let a villain be interesting enough to force the main character to trade something, then true emotions will come most naturally. As for this movie, and with Kishimoto's quote at the end of the movie, of course these are characters associated with my childhood, and I've seen this movie several times, they mean a lot to me. But the quality of this movie will only be enough to enjoy for fun.

The Will of Fire, the third Naruto Shippuden movie, attempts to explore themes at the heart of the series-loyalty, sacrifice, and the legacy of the shinobi. With a stronger connection to the main series than most Naruto films, it delivers more emotional weight and character interaction than its predecessors, though it still suffers from some familiar pacing and plot issues.

The Good: Unlike other Naruto movies that feel like standalone filler, The Will of Fire is more organically tied to the larger world of Naruto. The plot centers around the mysterious disappearance of ninjas from various villages and the suspicion that the Hidden Leaf is behind it. When it's revealed that Kakashi may have gone rogue to prevent war, Naruto and his friends defy orders to rescue him-rekindling the master-student bond that has been so central to the series.

One of the film's strongest elements is its focus on Kakashi. Giving him a central role allows for more emotional stakes, and his willingness to sacrifice himself for peace is in line with his complex character history. Naruto's emotional growth also shines, as his refusal to accept losing another mentor mirrors his earlier losses and further cements his will to protect his "bonds."

The animation is solid, especially in the later fight scenes. The confrontation between Naruto and the antagonist, Hiruko, has a good mix of chakra-based powers and physical combat, though it doesn't reach the heights of the series' best battles.

The Weak: While the central story has more weight than usual, the villain, Hiruko, is disappointingly generic. His goal of absorbing kekkei genkai powers and achieving immortality feels like a recycled trope, and his motivations lack depth or emotional resonance.

Some side characters feel underused. Despite appearances by Team 10 and Team 8, they mostly act as background noise or filler fight scenes, which dilutes the emotional focus of the film. The middle act also drags, with too much time spent on chasing or explaining rather than deepening character development.

Final Thoughts: The Will of Fire stands out among Naruto movies for trying to say something meaningful about duty, friendship, and sacrifice. While it doesn't always succeed-thanks to a forgettable villain and uneven pacing-it's one of the more character-driven entries in the franchise. Fans of Kakashi and Naruto's bond will find it especially rewarding.

Rating: 6.6/10 - A thoughtful but flawed film that brings heart to the action.