It begins with an end: Naruto and his funeral. With one of the best teams Konoha has to offer, we just have to hope for the best.

We are introduced to Yomi (and his henchmen) who releases a demonic spirit, Mōryō, who is hell-bent on completing his failed attempt at world domination. Since Mōryō's original body was sealed and his spirit was imprisoned for his valiant effort, Yomi donates his body as his temporary home, till he gets back his. Yomi performs a self-operation ritual that is both awesome and disturbing on so many levels. That's the end of Yomi - enter Mōryō. He revives his stone army to attack the world, while he sends his henchmen to kill Shion, a priestess who can imprison him all over again.

While the majority of Konaha's ninjas are sent to stop the stone army, Naruto, Sakura, Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee are sent to protect Shion on her journey to super seal Mōryō's body. Naruto is the only Genin due to his journey with Jiraiya (he missed the Chunin exams), while Neji is now a Jounin. Everyone is now older, wiser, taller and more accomplished ninjas since the last movie. Of course Naruto is still a loud mouth, as even Mōryō's Henchmen noticed his "stealthy" entrance, and he displayed it again when he was first told of his impending death.

Naruto: Shippuden

There were definitely more fight scenes compared to the last movie, as they went "the bigger is better" route, since the Rasengan appeared 60% into the movie and several times after. This time, they gave Rock Lee an amazing fight scene, as he opened his gates and (unknowingly) went all Drunken Master. It is always amazing seeing Neji Hyuga's Gentle Fist; it is short, but always sweet. In the end, Shion made the ultimate sacrifice to change Naruto's fate, and in true fashion he thwarted her plans and saved the day. Plus, the Super Chakra Rasengan was a sweet finishing move; it is safe to say that Mōryō is dead and buried.

It was still a paint by numbers affair and the Henchmen - for all their cool moves - were just chakra junkies/lab rats; I honestly didn't bother knowing their names since I'm not actually sure if their names were mentioned. Apparently, they were Gitai, Setsuna, Kusuna and Shizuku - thank you Naruto Wikia.

Animation was top notch, especially the stone army since they looked so real. One of these days, I will finally be tired of Naruto’s shadow clones. The voice acting was impressive since they have been doing this for a very long time. Watch out for Naruto's idea of a safe place for a little girl.

As usual, the recurring theme of Naruto is isolation. Naruto is able to bond with Shinon through his tenacity and their shared feelings of isolation - him with the Nine Tails and her being able to predict the deaths of those who serve her or are nearby. So we hate her at the beginning, especially after all those people died for her, then love her by the end. Watch out for the post-credits for the double-entendre that flew over Naruto's head.

Shizune and Tsunade have bit parts, while Tenten, Iruka, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Guy, Anko and Temari have cameos. I really want my very own stone army for my birthday. C'mon, they just walked over those guys. Hopefully, Naruto: Shippuden the Movie 2 will be better, and maybe paint a different picture.

Score