IMPORTANT INFO: The order at which I've watched/read fate: route 1 of the VN-> UBW anime-> Heavens feel 1 and 2-> Zero-> Heaven's feel 3. I have not read the VN for the 2nd and 3rd routes or gotten into the other series in nasuverse.
Heaven's feel III picks up right where the second movie left off, and I'm not talking simply about the plot. The visual spectacle that ufotable was able to construct, the epic score by Yuki Kajiura, the beautiful ending song by Aimer, it's all here. I don't think anyone wants to read a review of me going off about how much of a genius key animator Nozomu Abe is or how good the digital effects and compositing staff is at complimenting their animators. So I'll skip to the thing I didn't like as much. The storytelling.
This movie is the climax. The previous movie was the beginning of the end and this is the end. But of course, a 6 hour adaptation of a 20+ hour visual novel will come with pacing issues. Movie 1 was good but felt like there wasn't a good pay off as it was mostly used for build up. Movie 2 blew me away and is still one of the best movies I've ever watched and one of my favourites; everything was handled perfectly even if some content was skipped from the VN. The issue with the 3rd movie is that there is so much narrative dropped onto you that it gets really hard to follow sometimes. Especially the ending (mild spoiler) which ties to the garden of sinners franchise. There is no explanation to how anything happens in the last few minutes of the movie. This movie is less of an animated show, more of a movie that's made for fans of the VN and nasuverse. Is that a bad thing? Depends on the viewer. Personally, I'd say yes. I had no clue what the hell happened at the end because I haven't watched the garden of sinners series. I am a keen observer so I understood the "materialization of the soul" segment, which also had zero explanation whatsoever, so I'm sure there'll be people lost there as well. Ultimately if an anime-only watcher wants the full experience, they'll have to depend on forums for explanations. I did that, and was really satisfied when I got some closure, but I'd rather have gotten that from the movie itself. I'm not talking about a naruto-like 20 minute backstory or explanation, but a brief cut to the previous scene to explain what's currently happening would have made the movie perfect. I hate it when shows mother you and hold your hand to explain every single detail. But Heaven's feel 3 is no mother. It's the dad that went out to buy milk without explaining anything and assumes that you know all the details. This situation would have been even worse had I not watched zero already, because if I hadn't then Kotomine's segment wouldn't have made sense to me either.
The plot itself is great however. This is the route where every loose end and character arc is perfectly tied up. Calling this "Sakura's route" would simply not do it justice. This route does Rin better than her own route. This route has Shirou choosing love over ideals. It's where Kotomine is perfectly fleshed out (assuming you've already watched zero). Rider's character was done beautifully. I just wish the story could be handled better. Also I know the most common response that I'll get to that is- "read the VN, you filthy casual normie".
I judge anime as anime. Not as adaptations. When I rated promised neverland S2 a 3, It wasn't because it's a dog shit adaptation. It's because it's dogshit. Period.
So... after all that, why the high score? Because I fucking love heaven's feel. I love the story. I love Sakura, and with this movie I love all the characters including Rin who I didn't care much for before. I love the art and animation. I love the music. If the movie does not do anything wrong, lost butterfly for example, I will give it a perfect score. But for a movie that unfortunately isn't objectively or subjectively perfect, I gave it the score right below perfection.
That's pretty much it.
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