Film Review: ‘Bleach Hell Chapter’
When it comes to the hugely popular animes; such as Bleach, Naruto Shippuden and Dragon Ball Z, you would think that by the time they get to about movie 10, such as Dragon Ball Z did, that they would lose their ‘thrill factor’. Of course, unless you were a huge fan you would overlook this and think that the film was great. I think the main problem with films that are based on the anime itself is where the story takes place. This fourth installment for Bleach named ‘Hell Chapter’ seems to take place shortly after Ichigo’s fight with Ulquiorra, which is a fight that takes place before the final fight with Aizen. Of course if you’re not the avid Bleach fan such as I, then you may be confused with what I have just said. Do not worry, as I am not going to dwell on that any further. However when we look at the fact on whether or not newcomers will be ‘confused’ with this story, it’s safe to say that it is not as confusing as the previous three films have been or will be to newcomers. There will be times when newcomers may think ‘huh?’ but they shouldn’t appear too often.
The visuals and sound for this movie is pretty much the same as the previous three, there is nothing amazing about them except with the fighting scenes, which seem to have amped up since the last few. It’s possibly safe to say that this film is perhaps a little bit more gory than the previous set with the beginning and as such more throughout the film.
The story however I an interesting one. It is not amazingly well thought out, but it does play a crucial role in showing a side of our main character, Kurosaki Ichigo. The story tells us that these fallen ‘sinner’s’ have grabbed Ichigo’s attention with the capture of his two sisters and lure him into hell, where they want him to use his powers to set them free from hell, where they are eternally bound until they’re spirit can no longer live. Looking back on the previous lot you can certainly see that this is one that stands out, as there are not many, if any, flash backs at all during the film. If this was a stand alone I do believe it would have worked without the others, as it would have been hard to follow. But in another sense with the scenes at the beginning showing Ichigo’s past battle with Ulquiorra, you can see where and what has helped push the story forward.
In any case this film does stand out from the rest and if I may say stands next to the first one, which was a success. The lack of characters may have brought this film down but this seemed to solely focus on Ichigo’s fight with his ‘inner self’ that he has a struggle with. A perfectly good film for an avid fan of Bleach. Beginners and newcomers, Beware!