US Distributor: Funimation
Production Studio: Bones
Was this provided by the publisher? Yes
More Info: Anime Planet
My Hero Academia has taken the anime world by storm. Since the TV series first debuted about two and a half years ago, fans across the globe have been demanding more, more, more from this series. This year, their pleas were finally heard with the release of feature film My Hero Academia The Movie: Two Heroes. Does this movie live up to the hype, or is it yet another shallow money grab?
Lasting 97 minutes, Two Heroes packs a lot into its run time! The film takes place on I-Island (no, I did not just stutter), home to scientists from all over the world. It’s here that great minds work tirelessly to create items for heroes to use in their quests to make the world a better place. It also happens that one of these scientists, David Shield, is a close friend of All Might’s. He has a daughter named Melissa who All Might considers to be part of his own family.
Anyway, Melissa invites All Might and Deku who come to visit the island , which is hosting a grand expo. In a surprising turn of events, the expo is also being attended by many of Deku’s classmates, as well. Unfortunately, there is little time for sentiment: villains are on the island, and they aim to steal one special piece of technology for themselves. After the pro heroes are incapacitated, it’s up to the students of class 1-A to protect the innocent, and save I-Island’s residents.
I should note one thing immediately: if you’re a casual fan of My Hero Academia or you’re still not sure who everyone is and what they are capable of, this will not be a good movie for you to view without someone there to help you out. Unlike the TV series, which reminds the audience every five seconds who characters are and what their quirks are, Two Heroes assumes that you are already well aware of this information, and does not go out its way to remind the audience of anything.
That being said, the film does a great job of creating a genuinely good reason for all of these characters to be brought together on a remote, heavily secured island. Ditto for crafting motivations for the cast to have to work together to save everyone, despite there being plenty of professional heroes present at the expo.
Being a shonen series, My Hero Academia has always had stellar fight scenes. Two Heroes continues this tradition with fluid, sharply drawn fight sequences in the latter half of the movie. Unfortunately, since theses scenes are saved almost exclusively for the explosive climax, the audience will be forced to deal with at least forty-five minutes of plot set up, which honestly felt like it could’ve been condensed down a smidge to keep things moving at a swifter pace.
The soundtrack, which has often been lauded by fans, also makes a successful leap to the silver screen. Composed by Yuki Hayashi, the background music, when used, is primarily made up of grandiose orchestral themes. These melodies all manage to convey a sense of awe and wonder, particularly early in the movie. Later in the film, the fight scenes are given a more modern edge, which fits well with the kids’ fighting styles.
One interesting choice made regarding the music in Two Heroes, though, was the decision to let some of the action speak for itself, with zero musical accompaniment. One fight scene in particular, which features Todoroki, Bakugo, and a couple of the villain’s henchmen, illustrated the effect. Without the music, these scenes ended up feeling a bit empty, but this proved to be a minor complaint, as the film was still proved to be perfectly serviceable.
If one wanted to be mean and cynical about this movie, “empty” could be summed up as the exact adjective they could use to describe it. Being a standalone movie, audiences should not go in expecting to see any major plot or character development. No one grows in any significant way, and the story is, for the most part, its own thing. I’d like to note, though, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing nor is it a bad strategy to have when approaching a project such as this. That said , it is still something that some in the audience should be aware of before the opening credits roll.
Overall, My Hero Academia The Movie: Two Heroes is a strong outing for the die-hard fans of the franchise. At the same time, it manages to avoid becoming something that is so integral to the plot that casual fans have to consider it required viewing. This is a solid film for fans to pass the time with. While it doesn’t really have a strong effect on the overall world of My Hero Academia, it should still be considered a nice treat for those who can’t get enough of these heroes in training.
