Spoiler-free review. I don’t have anything to say about stuff that could be a spoiler. Also this is just my opinion. If you disagree it’s totally fine. I’m just being honest about what I think about the movie and my experience watching it.

This movie tested my limits. It tested my strong belief in watching a movie from beginning to end in one sitting and respecting the vision of the director and the hard work put into making a movie. But this movie truly had it out for me, to the point I considered just walking out of the theater.

The good? I think visually ufotable outdid themselves. While the movie feels rushed to an extent (releasing this movie only a year after the last season is bonkers), they somehow managed to find a good middle ground between using very heavy-loaded compositing and 3D elements while still blending it very nicely with the 2D animated parts. They always have been good at it, but until now they struggled when the CGI and the FX became too overt and plentiful (which could be seen in the last 2 seasons). But now they have managed to weave all the parts almost seamlessly together, creating a unique visual aesthetic that probably no other team in the industry can replicate. There is a lot of action in this too, which is a feat for ufotable as well. They have a small action team, so they have to pick and choose much more then let's say a Seshimo production at MAPPA when it comes to which scenes to prioritize, but in this movie, that wasn't as noticeable. It makes me excited for their future projects.

The bad? The script is genuinely dogwater. I don’t know if it has become even worse since the last season, or if it just isn’t suitable at all for the movie format, or if my taste has changed... But it’s really irritating how allergic this movie is to any sort of subtle storytelling. What purpose do lines such as “He’s fast!” or “I need to evade!” or “I need to strike!” or “My body hurts” have, except spelling out loud what we already can SEE on the screen? This movie has to simplify and plainly state literally everything. And not only that, but it has to repeat everything at least 3 times. It doesn't matter if it’s just descriptive dialogue, or if it’s a flashback, or literally anything else; the amount of unnecessary and repetitive dialogue is astounding. How did this script ever get approved? I blame Aniplex and anime fans who demand overly faithful adaptations. And it just gets worse as the movie goes on. There is no regard for pacing, tension, or flow whatsoever. There are brief moments of greatness when ufotable’s staff can actually showcase they are good at creating spectacles. But you can’t help but groan, when after 30 seconds of action the characters start talking again and have the revelation that their body hurts for another 5 minutes. Doesn't help that I find the character development buried below all the noise not interesting either, but that's the smallest problem at this point.

Anyway, this movie sucks. I went into it slightly optimistic and I had the most miserable theater experience I’ve ever had by the end. I can take, like, 10 minutes from this movie while not giving any fucks about the rest. At least now I know that I won't watch the rest of the trilogy. Anyway, if you read this far thanks for reading and if you have any feedback, leave a message. If you watch this movie, I hope you'll enjoy it more than I did.