Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is a most delightful screwball comedy-action-romance film. Anime has been picking up the slack in comedy romances over the past few years. Whereas Hollywood traditionally had amazing screwball comedies dating as far back as 1938 with Bringing Up Baby, wherein the charming Cary Grant matches wits with indomitable Katherine Hepburn. Films like that were the huge money makers for many decades in Tinseltown. Only no more. Now that genre has been snatched by the Japanese. It is important to note that I will be reviewing the English language of the Tatsuya Yoshihara-directed and Hiroshi Seko-written film.
Denji (Ryan Colt Levy), for the uninitiated, is our titular character. When he was a little boy, his body was fused with Pochita (Lindsay Seidel), an adorable pug with a chainsaw protruding from her face. There’s a demon known as Angel (Casey Mongillo) running around. While this creature shouldn’t be able to pull on your heartstrings, the very sight of this beautifully rendered androgynous hell spawn induces you to incur a desire to pinch their delightfully round cheeks on their face.
Denji has had a long crush on his boss Makima (Suzie Yeung). After a particularly arduous fight with a War Demon, Makima asks Denji out on a date. After watching 10 films in a day (9 of which they both disliked), they both enjoyed the final film. After Makima hugs him goodnight, Denji is floating in the air. He is determined to make Makima his girlfriend until the instant he runs into Reze (Alexis Tipton) at a phone center. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc will spend much of its time developing the loopy, delightful relationship between the super cute Reze and Denji. She even takes Denji skinny dipping to learn how to swim.
“…a demon known as Angel running around.”
Everything seems great until it’s revealed that Reze has a hidden agenda. While the previews will give you strong indications of what Reze intends to do, gentle reader, I personally do not want to delve too much into her and her backstory. Just know that when Denji and Reze finally kiss, that’s when it goes from kiss kiss to bang bang (pun fully intended), and violence ensues.
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is an intensely strong effort from Director Tatsuya Yoshihara and writer Hiroshi Seko, adapting the clever and demented work of manga writer Tatsuki Fujimoto. That this can bend a screwball comedy and turn it into an action-heavy film for the balance of Act 2 through the climax is remarkable. I did not feel dislocated while watching this wild story transition. In point of fact, besides Weapons, this is probably the strongest film I’ve seen thus far this year.
At turns hilarious, violent, gory, and sweet Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is never boring. I did not feel the hour and 40 minutes of runtime. It just grabbed me by the eye sockets and dragged me along on a hilarious yet brutal run. The way Reze’s power manifests, with many multi-colored explosions of smoke, is eye-poppingly gorgeous. Watching Denji finally figure out the main tactics of his chains and saws was awesome. Finally, there’s Beam (Derrick Snow), Denji’s substitute partner on the demon hunting force. Snow’s voice work make the hyperactive, million words a minute, spastic shark monster at equal turns hilarious and jaw-droppingly crude.
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is a film that demands to be witnessed on the largest possible screen, preferably at a movie theater. This is that rare cinematic bonbon that will sit in your mind palace long after you’ve watched it. If you like Anime or wish to have a rollicking great time with a movie, seek out Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. This is one for the ages.
"…one for the ages."
