chainsaw man - the movie: reze arc (2025) - Tatsuya Yoshihara - film review
78%
By O. Jacobs
SPOILER ALERT
In the series’ first box office outing - ‘Reze Arc’ succeeds in most categories one might be looking for in an anime flick to get you out of the house. Thrilling action sequences, compelling characters, and excellent animation. Where Chainsaw Man - The Movie begins to lose its deeper grasp, is its failure to secure the overhead “Why?” - this story might be told in the first place, and how it is [or isn’t] intended to feed the bigger-picture storyline.
Critiques aside, there is enough sound-design & (literal) color expressed to prop Reze (The Bomb Devil) up to be a great big-screen villain. Sexy, Skilled, and Formidable, all after being carefully introduced as the unassuming siren some might not have seen coming [before the eventual pieces begin to take their place].
What unfolds is an enjoyable second and third act - arriving after a somewhat slow build, only hindered by it’s choice of shaky-sketched animation stylizing, that while appreciated in the context of this film, is a bit jarring when compared to the neat and clean style of animation used in the first season of the series. Cudos for shaking things up a bit [literally], but noticable nevertheless.
What you’re left with is a bittersweet experience - On one hand you’ve recieved your money’s worth of [literal] fireworks and slashing-mega-action, but it feels meaningless when we watch our protagonist seem to not learn or grow from this experience in its final moments - Still reverting to a state of adolescence, perversity, and a blindness for caution. [Retaining points for Denji choosing to neutralize his foe in a Batman sort of way - refusing to murder her outright, despite her long trail of blood and casualties she caused along the way], but this feat’s moral impact is lessened with a cheap attempt at humor as he still clings to a potential chance at romance with her even after she’s made it abundantly clear to him that she not only duped him, but she seems repulsed by his existence.
Reze’s demise and accompanied tear-baiting piano score is too little, too late - since we’ve not been given the necessary hindsight, or traumatic understanding as to why we might feel compelled to care for her in her time of reckoning. Makima’s participation in Reze’s murder feels less like a cold act of justice due for an emotional response, and more like a casual gesture and a yawn, letting everyone know it’s soon time to vacate the theater.
‘Reze Arc’ is a great showdown between two well crafted characters, but its addition to the current world of Chainsaw Man watches like a grandiose “Episode 13” rather than a continuation of a story made for the big screen - meant to expand our protagonist’s dilemnas, moral conflicts, and evolution. If the goal here was to create a no frills, no-nonsense action thriller, made to entertain and not to envoke the latter for our anti-hero, then Chainsaw Man closes the deal on all-levels. Regardless, I am left wanting more, but curious to see how this story unfolds moving forward…
(Yanno, being a dipshit who hasn’t read the manga of course).
