Review of Hunter x Hunter: The Last Mission

Review contain spoilers I went to the movie with high expectations being HxH a beloved series and popular enough to warrant a reboot. What i found instead was a sock puppet show. Yes they are the same characters, behaving the exact same way as you would expect, but it felt like they were trapped in a weird limbo state. Let me explain. When movies try too hard to fit into the canon of the story they know they can't overstep their place in the timeline... And oh boy, this movie suffers greatly from it For starters this is my own fault for watching an old movie in 2021,but obviously the power system and scaling felt absolutely outdated from having completed the series (and reading the manga), but don't worry that didn't affect my score one bit.

The movie started and i tried grasping at every frame to define where did it fit in the timeline and i have to admit the movie did a pretty good, albeit a bit try-hardy, job into setting exactly one of the only entry points left by the series. IMHO the continuity and pacing and stakes of HxH are both their biggest strengths and weaknesses when you are trying to make a side quest.

In HxH things don't just happen, they happen for a reason. Our characters are always on a timer, but having them removed from the action, from the usual stakes is way too much to ask for the viewer with constant questions racing through your haed like...where is Kite!? and how about the Chimaera ant leg they found? it's Okay for them to be losing time like this when Kite was REALLY worried..., but yeah you have to disconnect your brain if you don't want to spoil yourself of the little fun you will have with the movie

Battle Olympia for starters is a joke... There is no way you could be invested in something you feel it's like Hercule from DBZ was hosting a tournament... You see Zushi and a bunch of characters you haven't heard (and that's alright) What it's not, is the contant feeling in the back of your head that says "Gon and Killua would mop the floor with these guys"and that's a turn off. This event is broadcasted like the biggest event in martial arts and yet you know it's a mockery as participants have Yamcha's power level. They even show Hisoka (which is a floormaster yet no one seems to remember that fact) So yeah, there is no way your brain can leap over these inconsistencies. Then as the movie goes on you start noticing the "Superman problem"

I can almost see them screenwriting this thing and runing into walls left and right.
Oh shit! Netero is in this thing and Hisoka is on this thing!? O-Okay, don't worry we will just pin Netero down for the whole movie, but what about Hisoka sir???
Oh shit, you are right... Ahm he would just not care! that's it!

They had to remove or stall the more powerful forces. They threw Gon and Killua off the building, get Kurapika to walk towards his destination, pin netero down, nevermind Hisoka out of existance... Plus the Superman syndrome doesn't just extend to our main characters. They had also to nerf established canon. They got rid of the Zodiacs, but kept Pariston which is a dumb move if you are setting on a timeline where we haven't introduced him yet, but OH shit! if that made no sense? Now that the Zodiacs are introduced, they should be gearing up to save the chairman with all the man power of the big 12!, but nope don't worry guys nothing is gonna happen to Netero.

So dumb movie doing dumb things while trying too hard to string your nostalgia chords.

Story is a 4 at best, with a story filled with revenge and friendship as a typical 10yo shounen

Art is pretty on par with the show, but sadly i have to agree here. There are many movies that get the triple AAA treatment and in the process lose their original appeal and here they stuck with it, BUT! and this is a big but... They completely and utterely destroyed how nen looked and made it a trivial power. Only leorio showed KO at one point and that's it. No KEN, No perpetual state of TEN (and yes from the get go i told myself "Dude, they haven't trained with Biske yet so there will be no 30min KEN battles, settle your expectation down!" and so i did, but i wasn't expecting this amount of disrespect to what it is an awesome power system like nen.

Sound it's pretty good and they really leaned in that "let's keep things exactly as the show" theme. That's my best score by far

Character: They were painfully on point, nerfed Kurapika down to grunt status, Killua and Gon were the best by far in how they would normally act. Leorio was just a third unnecesary wheel, Hisoka was obnoxious as always, Netero also suffered his share of nerfing down, and they sprinkled a lot of power ranger level grunts as if this were some kind of old school beat em up with baddies spawning left and right

Enjoyment: a solid 3. I couldn't get past all the bads to really get into the movie
The Gaki fight was confusing as FFFFFFFFF with fireballs coming left and right and at first they were on a shaft, but then they were on the floor, but one second later there is a fireball from the side and you go like WHAT!? but they are on a FREAKING ELEVATOR SHAFT!? so yeah maybe i'm dumb but the choreography and continuity was awful

I'd like to give 3 examples of Dumb movie doing Dumb things...
1) Grunts holding at gunpoint Biske and Wing. On the next scene Biske and Wing are taking care of Zushi like WTF!? they would have shot them! OH NEVERMIND BRAIN you are just being too pessimistic
2) Biske speaking with Gaki about the Shadows and my brain was on Dopamine like OHH SHIT we are going to get a Biske Fight with this guy... Cut to Gaki stomping some tanks -- dafuq!!!
3)Gaki asking what everyone in the audience was thinking "Are You guys Floor masters?" Nah dawg, those chumps aren't even worth our time we are here to bet on the losers

I will end this on a possitive note tho'. When i heard Hyouriittai and realized it fit the movie plot to a T, my jaw dropped hard and it cushioned a bit of my anger from the rest of this lackluster experience