The Review-Proof ‘Chainsaw Man—The Movie: Reze Arc’ Is a Wild Ride (If You Know What You’re Getting Into)

Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc topped the US box office this weekend, bringing in over $17 million and raising its worldwide total to $108 million. The movie is an R-rated adaptation of the manga series of the same name, created by Tatsuki Fujimoto. It was directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara for MAPPA animation, with a script by Hiroshi Seko. And it’s good! It’s a good movie, and I can tell you why it’s good, but the most interesting thing about it is that nothing I have to say really matters. If reviews are supposed to help you decide whether a movie is to your taste or worth your time, then you probably already know the answer.

If you are a fan of Chainsaw Man — either the manga or the animated series based on it — then the movie is absolutely worth your time. If you’ve never heard of Chainsaw Man before, then this movie is not the place to start, simply because it isn’t the beginning of the story. It’s a chapter of a tale already being told elsewhere, and it doesn’t bother trying to recap prior events or reintroduce the strange characters or stranger world. Instead of being an opportunity to onboard a new audience, it’s unwelcoming to new viewers who might be prone to asking questions like, “But why does this guy have a chainsaw in his head, and why does this chick want to eat his heart?”

It is not unusual for popular anime television series to release theatrical installments. Demon Slayer released several movies that covered story arcs that were also covered by the show, only in a more cinematic way - and they earned so much money that now the final story arc is being released solely as a trilogy of films. Jujutsu Kaisen, another MAPPA show, has released a prequel film and a compilation film, with another compilation film — recapping the last arc from season two of the show and previewing the upcoming season three — coming out later this year. It’s all a way to super-serve fans, to satiate their interest or refresh their memories in the long gaps between seasons of the shows, but Reze Arc is a little different. The film is a direct sequel to the popular first season of the show, adapting the next arc in the manga’s story in its entirety. The problem is that there is no word on when — or even if — there’ll be a second season. Could the release of Reze Arc in theaters be a way of testing the waters, before potentially shifting the entire property to theatrical releases? And if the show does eventually continue, will it pick up where the movie ended, or cover the same material again?

Whatever shape the future of Chainsaw Man takes, its first film is an electrifying reminder of its potential. Reze Arc begins, unexpectedly, as a tale of romance. The film drops you in media res into the life of Denji, a teenager who has bonded with the Chainsaw Devil to become Chainsaw Man and now works as a Devil Hunter. In this world, Devils are the personification of human fears, and the bigger the fear, the greater their power. Not that the film explains that, of course. All you know from the outset is that Denji has some strange co-workers and is infatuated with his beautiful, mysterious boss named Makima.

After a movie date with Makima that goes surprisingly well, Denji gets caught in a rainstorm and shelters in a phone booth, where he meets another girl named Reze. She’s cute, and finds his jokes funny, and he’s a naïve guy with raging hormones, so despite his longstanding crush, he continues finding opportunities to meet up with Reze. It will surprise no one — certainly no one familiar with Chainsaw Man and Denji’s bad luck — to learn that Reze isn’t all she appears to be, and when the penny finally drops, the back half of the film delivers all the visceral action and bloody mayhem you’d expect, and then some.

That balance between the tender teenage romance and the vivid violence, and the tidy way Reze enters and departs Denji’s life, makes Reze Arc a suitably self-contained movie, even if it still doesn’t quite work as an entry point for new audiences. For fans who have been waiting for more of the story, however, Reze Arc is a feast for the eyes. Denji’s battle against dangerous new Devils — Bomb Devil, Typhoon Devil — threatens to demolish Tokyo, though his new partnership with the Shark Fiend, Beam, offers him the upper hand (and a hilarious new mount to ride into the fray). The art direction captures the fantastical powers of the Devils and the Hunters in brilliant splashes of color, and the pulsing soundtrack is topped by a killer new theme song — Kenshi Yonezu’s record-breaking “Iris Out,” the highest-ranking Japanese song ever on the Billboard Global 200.

All in all, Chainsaw Man - The Movie is a fun time at the theater if you know what you’re getting into. Here’s hoping its success means we’ll find out what’s next for the series sooner rather than later.