Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc review "Storytelling just as compelling as the chainsaws, devils, and visually excessive fight scenes"

For those unaccustomed with the mega-hit anime, it might be difficult to imagine watching something called Chainsaw Man for the plot. But in the big-screen adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s wild dark fantasy, the delicate storytelling ends up being just as compelling as the chainsaws, devils, and visually excessive fight scenes that the series has become known for. And fortunately, for those who might not have seen the first season of the anime, it isn’t quite a prerequisite to understand what’s going on.

The beginning of the film does a solid job of foregrounding the motivations of the squad of devil hunters: Denji’s loneliness and romantic frustration, Makima’s quietly controlling nature, Aki’s weariness. In fact, it’s the way that these characters develop throughout Reze Arc that gives the film staying power and a surprising amount of emotional depth.

Denji, as the human-devil hybrid, is worried that he doesn’t have a heart. It’s only after a date with Makima – the object of Denji’s affection since the two of them met at the beginning of the anime – that Denji realizes this might not be the case, when he cries during a movie. It’s this scene, where Makima throws her head against Denji’s chest, and the sound of a heartbeat echoes throughout the scene, which foregrounds so much of what makes the Chainsaw Man movie work so well: an intricate eye for visual and emotional detail.

A fine romance

After being told he has a heart, Denji seems to look at the world with new eyes. And it’s when this happens that he meets Reze, a young woman who works at a cafe, and finds himself falling for her. Denji is torn as this happens, insisting to himself that his “heart belongs to Makima.” And so the romance between him and Reze unfolds slowly and, more often than not, the film takes this seriously; so much of what Denji wants is to be accepted for who he is, and with Reze, this comes tantalizingly close to reality.

But not everything works here. There are moments where the film aims for broad, sexualised comedy, such as an emotionally torn Denji imagining all of the women in his life lying around in their underwear. The tonal whiplash between this inner thought and the scene with Reze happening in parallel to it ends up making Denji’s jokes fall flat, undercutting the tension of what later happens with Reze on the roof of a school.

While most of the first hour of Chainsaw Man is dedicated to the relationship between Denji and Reze, the final act delivers on the show’s well-animated, visually excessive fight scenes, often taking them up to an eleven. As, through car chases, combat, and riding a human-shark hybrid, Denji and his allies fight multiple devils across the city streets.

Some of the visual flourishes here might go too far for some – a jarring inverted colour palette is occasionally utilized – but the dynamism of movement, the ever-evolving nature of Denji’s powers as Chainsaw Man, and the devils themselves create a spectacle that’s impossible to look away from. And fortunately, even in the midst of some of the most eye-popping anime violence that’s been on screen in a long time, Chainsaw Man doesn’t lose sight of the emotional beats that have propelled the film to this point.

The tired and forlorn Aki does something truly unexpected while trying to save an ally in the midst of the fight, continuing to fill in the details of what’s become a surprisingly rich canvas of complex characters. And, like the best of shonen anime, the way that the characters develop becomes reflected in the way that they fight, and nowhere is this clearer than with Denji, as his greater understanding of himself seems to unlock new powers.

Do not open the door

Most of Reze Arc works as a standalone story, but it gets bookended by moments that seem like they’ll be important later, even as they get rushed through here. The beginning of the film is a dream sequence – animated in black and white, like the pages of manga. And one of the film’s final scenes, which reveals the fate of a major character, feels dashed off, setting up a cliffhanger for whatever might come next. And while there’s nothing wrong with a film leaving breadcrumbs for the next chapter – whatever shape that may take – these moments of hurried sequel-teasing feel at odds with so much of what makes Reze Arc work as well as it does.

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc doesn’t just deliver on exactly the kind of things you’d expect from a series with a name like Chainsaw Man; it pushes itself in new and surprising directions. Not just by making the most of cinematic spectacle, presenting fights, explosions, and buckets of blood on a whole new level, but by using the focus of a film to dive into something with real depth. Like its protagonist, Chainsaw Man has a heart, and is so much better off because of it.

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc opens in theaters on October 24. For more, check out our list of the best new anime realeasing this year.