This review will contain no spoilers for the movie.
“Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution” was a movie I thoroughly enjoyed throughout its entire run time. I’ll be covering its pros, cons and whether or not I’d recommend it over the episodic counterparts releasing next month.
Firstly the best parts: the animation, tone and its ability to stay true to the source material while innovating. The animation feels intense with great use of perspective, even for actions as simple as falling. The characters contort with unappealing expressions during intense moments, and even in comedic moments where writing is the focus, the animation adapts to become more cartoony and fantastical. The color and tone of the movie also works really well. In sad scenes it’s colored to be bleak with muted tones, and fight scenes change color based on both who is involved and the state of the fight. It also manages to add so much creativity and engagement while keeping the story from the original source intact. I read the storyline in the manga before watching the movie, and the movie manages to add all of this while telling the same story. There are even some moments from the movie that are recreations of iconic panels that are also improved on.
However, there are some issues with the movie especially in its pacing and how the movie is presented. Firstly, the dub, I did enjoy a lot of it but it does go in and out in terms of quality. Some dialogue can feel unneeded or overexplained, some minor voices don’t fit the characters they represent, and some dialogue in the recap honestly feels worse than the original. However at times it still can be successful with some characters having not only funny, but purposely funny performances. Another issue is the pacing. It starts with a recap of a previous part of season 2 which I feel is unneeded and was only added to pad the run time of the movie. Most people watching have already seen what they show and it serves as a mostly an unneeded flashback. Another issue is that it doesn’t really feel fully connected. The two episodes included in the movie are great but the problem is that I can tell it’s two separate episodes, they have fairly different tones and it’s easy to tell when one begins and one ends.
So overall, does the movie stand on its own? In my opinion, I feel that while the movie is high quality and engaging, it mostly comes from the episodes contained in the movie rather than how the actual movie compiles them. If you really like “Jujutsu Kaisen” and don’t want to wait for the full release of the third season in January, the movie does a good enough job at representing the arc. However, if you want the best experience for this part of the series, I’d recommend just waiting for the episodic releases.
