Review of Blue Exorcist: The Movie
How to make a typical Shonen anime movie expansion: STEO 1: Introduce a new, misunderstood, character for the main character to befriend/fight/rescue. STEP 2: Have the seemingly new good guys swerve to bad guys so the main character and the viewers can question what's right and what's wrong. STEP 3: Have the tough to tougher to toughest battle scenario and include all the characters in the fights. The Blue Exorcist movie took the first step and made it interesting again and completely avoided the second step(which is a VERY good thing). As for the third step, it was also avoided; and depending on the viewer that's either a hugepositive a huge negative. Still this isn't a like it or hate it film. The fans and newcomers are likely to enjoy it for what it is.
The story makes the wise decision to focus n the characters instead of making a weak, forgettable plot. We're introduced to Usamaro, a demon that befriends Rin and the others. A good portion of the movie is getting to know Usamaro, and building his relationship with Rin. This is definitely a positive to the movie because it's not forced, well paced, and is satisfying to watch. Moreover, his ability is what drives the main plot of the story and it's very interesting to watch.
Remember STEP 2? Another new character is Cheng-Long Liu and despite what movie history cliches have taught us he actually stays a good guy. Now considering his rank and background story he might have made a good villain but that surely would have turned him into someone more annoying. He gets his character fleshed out in one scene so that more or less makes up for it. This also prevents the character from going into a dreadful debate about Good vs Evil. There's nothing worse than a story that tries to provoke though and instead makes the audience cringe at it's ineptitude. In other words, it doesn't attempt something that it will fail miserably at. STEP 3 being avoided is something really noteworthy. There aren't many action scenes in this movie. There's no big bad final battle scene and for me that made the resolution so much better. Still a few more fiery sword slashes from Rin wouldn't have hurt.
The art and animation are a step up from the TV series which already had a lot to brag about. The character designs look more like the manga and the visuals are marvelous; especially in the parade scenes and Usamaro's magic sequences. The music is kind of disappointing because it's very low and uses the same tracks from the TV series. The emotional scenes could have benefited from sew new, powerful tracks. Overall this movie is very good and might be better when rewatched. Fans will enjoy and I can recommend it to newcomers. 8/10