Friday 28 February 2014

REVIEW FOR NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE 4: THE LOST TOWER

  
Naruto Shippuden the Movie 4: The Lost Tower
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 12
Running Time: 85 Mins
Audio: English & Japanese: DD 5.1
Release Date: 3/3/2014
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

We've seen our favourite ninjas grow from being trainees to being in Team 7 with Kakashi as their leader, and with this being the fourth movie, Naruto ends up going back in time thanks to a rogue ninja who Naruto and the team are busy closing in on.

Mukade is the rogue ninja who summons a ley line's power that is an underground chakra channel. As soon as Naruto gets taken by this power, he is sent back to a time where Minato, his father is still alive and a young man on a mission in the city of Loran where there is a lost tower. Mukade wants to stop Sara, Loran's queen from gaining the power to rule. In this fourth movie, Naruto gets a chance to see his father again and also in a special animated short, Naruto and his friends find a genie who can grant wishes from out of his bottle. what remains to be seen is what Naruto will wish for. The short animation was originally aired before The Lost Tower over in Japan and got a lot of excellent coverage.

Year after year we get to see Naruto Shippuden as a series, so when a movie gets released on DVD and Blu-ray, we can't wait to see it as we're sure it's got to be a great movie full of humour, one-liners, reckless adventure, camaraderie and relentless combat. We get to see new, previously unknown enemies and characters we will probably never see again, but it's all about the experience of a full-length movie and I must confess this one is a welcome diversion from the current Naruto Shippuden arc with Tobi and the Akatsuki. Naruto is confused at being dragged into a strange new world and wonders who the masked ninja are who save him from Mukade's puppet guards. There are some nice touches to the movie when Naruto takes his trip back in time. Cameos from some of the most well-known shinobi in the series, but in their younger selves. 

Unlike some anime villains, Mukade doesn't have a nice side, his has hidden in wait for a time when he can overthrow the queen and take over the nation, so he doesn't make you want to feel sorry for him when he gets his just deserts later on. A younger Jiraiya and Kakashi is just superb and the humour is impossible not to laugh with in this mixed bag of anime movie based on one of the longest running franchises ever.

Languages: English, Japanese, English subtitles

Bonus Material: Naruto and the Three Wishes, Movie Trailers and Text less Closing Song.

Verdict: It might be the fourth in the series, but it's still a lot of fun and full of action all the way through - get it or miss out.

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