I managed to conclude Anime Month with one of the best films I've seen all month, none other than a "Naruto" movie. I feel bad for not watching the "Naruto" anime later, but I did manage to read the whole manga so I know everything that's going on. It was so great to see these classic characters in animated form again. As a huge Naruto fan, this was wonderful! Even the opening is very strong, showing us Naruto's origin! We don't see all of it, but later in the film we do get to see the whole thing. The plot's pretty simple, with Naruto and Sakura being trapped in another world by Tobi (whom everyone thought was Madara at this time).

As the series went through so many changes, it was interesting to see when this took place. Apparently, it's when all the Akatsuki are dead except Tobi and Zetsu and before Kabuto resurrected them. You have to just laugh at seeing the alternate versions of all the characters, especially Hinata. My only complaint was that she only appears for a few scenes and she's my favorite character! It's still satisfying to see her threaten Sakura and even mock her for her small chest. Dang, why couldn't this movie have used her more? It's also really funny to see Tsunade and Shizune having switched cleavages!

At first, Sakura is happy about this place and Naruto isn't, but their opinions are reversed when Naruto is happy to finally live some kind of life with his parents who died the day he was born. I love how everyone is aware of who Naruto's parents are in this movie. There's no reason to keep it a secret any longer. We get some great bonding with Naruto and Sakura. I had no idea that the character's name was pronounced "Mada-ra". I thought it was "Ma-dare-a". That's what I get for being an avid reader! This is the first time I saw Tobi in action in the anime.

At first, I thought that the masked villain was going to turn out to be Iruka. As he was actually being unmasked, I thought it was Sasuke! I finally figured out it was an alternate version of Naruto. I did not see that twist coming at all and was glad to be surprised! Although this wasn't based on anything in the manga, it was awesome to see these characters come to life. Well, that does it for Anime Month. I saw so many wonderful films, but you'll have to wish me luck now. I'm now taking on all those awful video game movies! Pray for me! ****

Believe it or not, I have never seen anything Naruto until today. This name though, and the image of the young guy with three stripes on either side of his face, with the yellow spiky hairstyle, and wearing an orange jogging suit has long been familiar to me as a Japanese anime character. However, for some reason or another, I never got a chance nor the interest to see any TV episode nor movie from this franchise before, until my kids convinced me to bring them to watch this film this afternoon on opening day in a local mall.

"Road to Ninja" tells a complicated story where Naruto and his friend Sakura are sent into a parallel mirror world by an evil wizard, where their deepest dreams come true. Sakura, who resents her parents meddling with her life, realizes that her parents have both died as heroes. Naruto who had lived his entire life as an orphan, now enjoys the loving presence of his parents, Minato and Kushima.

Both Naruto and Sakura are still cognizant though that they are living in an illusion that needs to be broken. Powerful ninja battles ensue during the night of the red moon, the only night when the spell can be broken by a mysterious scroll, and Naruto had to invoke the Nine-Tailed Fox within him in an attempt to return their world back to how it used to be.

Despite the fact that I did not even know a single fact about Naruto or his friends, I did not find it difficult to get into the groove of this story. I had to ask a question or two to my son beside me to set me straight on character relationships, but overall it was not too tough to get through.

The story was told very well, without really requiring an in depth knowledge of the animated series. The flashbacks give us the necessary historical background in order to understand better the current situation the characters are in. The clarity of this story development is quite impressive considering this is already the ninth Naruto film!

I can now see why this anime series had been so popular over the years. No wonder this particular installment had just become the highest-grossing Naruto film. I think I might just go watch the first film and really get acquainted with this popular series more.

This is one of the better Naruto movies. It is lacking on the action but has a solid story. I just wish the final confrontation was a little longer. It is still a Naruto movie, which means it is 100% filler but whatever, it is a fun watch just to see all your favorite characters acting differently. The p!ssed off version of Hanata is worth the price of admission. I should correct myself, Baruto is cannon. Naruto The Last Movie is filler. This film is filler but it is entertaining so whatever. I think the best thing about this film is seeing Naruto interact with his parents. Maybe that is by this film has such a cult following among Naruto fans. I haven't seen all of the Naruto films but I'm sure this is one of the best.