Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part 3: Rebellion - Reviews

well let me just say i was very excited about getting to see this movie in theaters at all i was really hyped all week to see it
ill start by explaining my ratings i gave the story a 7 because it intends on appealing to people who have seen the series lr the other 2 movies which are nearly identical n content if you haven’t seen those first watch them i really liked the several nods and references to many things in their previous works its like a little bit of a good feeling to watch something and think “oh hey i remember that”. given the beginning was also very slow and the way it was so different it was like it wasnt the same world

i gave the art a 9 because the art is so unique and ominous , also they also have the moe designs which dont define the series but it defiantly adds a cushion for the emotions i go through in the entire franchise and i can appreciate that greatly back to ominous designs thought the whole series ive loved the witch scenes how they’re animated to emphasize the despair they felt before they turned into witches it has a sort of odd perspective like false familiarity by looking at them and how they re drawn we can try to guess what their wish was how they came to despair and that’s an interesting feeling to say the least.

next the sound for this movie towards the beginning  i was pretty disjointed.

for the other movies as well it seems like the OST is barely audible in most parts maybe i just have bad hearing

but they really hit the mark at around the middle of the movie from there it just got better the OST was phenomenal as always but more than that it was up and loud and i loved it

as for the characters putting aside them as individuals but looking at the main group as a whole in the 1st movie they established the general outline of their personalities, their past, and there basic character designs in the 2nd movie they got us to feel for them and introduces us to the reasons they became magical girls or reveals a plot twist that just makes us want to cry along with the character. now that were here in the third movie it was like all we learned about these girls was pointless (excpt f homura), not that it was untrue but rather not necessary with the new introduction of a certain cheese loving loli we had someone new to get to know but thats the thing we maybe got a total of 5 minutes of backstory and dialogue combined from her   and thats frustrating its like saying “here have this cookie but only eat the chocolate chips in it

a total of 7/10 for stripping down the girls we knew and because homura did nothing wrong

for enjoyment THIS IS IMPORTANT it is completely relative and very conditional yes i gave it a ten because i have seen the 1st 2 movies already so i already had an idea of what i was watching
and overall i gave it a 9 because despite the thieving of the characters stories and the unfamiliarity and uneasy feeling towards the slow beginning i enjoyed it thoroughly

Rides the fame of Madoka Magica.

Whenever I view a film or series, I can usually tell by the end whether I enjoyed it or not based on the feeling it gives me. Being a big fan of the 2012 anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, I was aware upon finishing the original series that a third film was in the works to continue the story and not recap it. And after seeing it, I can conclude that the film has caused a huge divide for a reason, mainly for its controversial conclusion. 

The film begins with an alterrnate reality to the original in which everyone is now alive and are happily fighting the new foes that have replaced witches. Everything seems perfect, the characters are having fun being magical girls and Kyubey doesn't seem to be ruining anything. That is until Homura begins to realize something isn't right with this seemingly perfect world and to say any more would be venturing into spoiler territory. Unlike the original series in which our main focus was Madoka herself, this film most definitely revolves around Homura and the aftermath of the conclusion to the series.

Animation 8.5/10

Ah Studio Shaft, your love for trippy imagery with this show never ceases. Despite being a continuation to the original series, the movie actually has some distinct visual differences from the series. While the original show featured a very solid and bold colour palette, the palette of the movie is slightly more polished and the character designs, particularly in the design of the hair, have a much shinier texture to them. The animation itself is different as well. Because of the sheer speed of some scenes, as this movie features much more action and fighting than the original show, the characters have a lot more opportunity to go off-model and actual designs themselves can be inconsistent and strangely proportioned at brief moments, particularly during the transformation scene near the beginning of the film.

With that being said, however, this is still a Shaft animated movie. And the crazy imagery from the original series has been more than upped, making some of the later scenes in the movie look unbelievably stunning. The deranged, surreal atmosphere of the labyrinths and the visual representation of Homura’s emotions throughout is truly a sight to see. Some may see it as overkill but it does fit the tone of the movie. Another thing to comment on is the use of lighting and shade. The methods used to achieve this via just the backgrounds and the animating of light makes for some truly stunning visual scenes. A particularly beautiful scene features Homura and Madoka in a field of daisies, with a vibrant night effect used. Another highlight is the fight between Homura and Mami roughly a third into the film, with the sheer speed and detail of the action being nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Despite some moments of choppy animation and characters occasionally going off-model, the style and actual visuals themselves are absolutely excellent and are a step up from the original series in some ways, despite having more hiccups.

Sound 9/10

Yuki Kajura returns from the original series and her score proves nothing short of excellence. The melodies are sweeping, beautifully orchestral and are a great example of her just being the genius she is. The soundtrack to the original series was already stunning and this is just more of that same brilliance.

As a mentioned earlier, this movie is much more focused on Homura’s character rather than Madoka’s. And, as expected, Chiwa Saito pretty much steals the show. All the actors do wonderful work but she, in particular, genuinely feels like she’s losing control as the movie goes on. Even her normal speaking voice becomes unsettling near the end of the movie if you were to compare it with her tone of voice at the beginning of the movie. She does a great job.

Story 6/10

Anyone who has seen this movie knows that the big talking point here is the last half hour of the film, which is the point where opinion of this movie splits right down the middle. As such, I shall first cover my thoughts of the rest of the movie first and then discuss my feelings in regards to the ending in a whole different section.

This is, through and through, a character-driven movie. Specifically, by one character, Homura Akemi. The story itself is actually rather hard to follow if you were to take it and examine it. While it will eventually make some form of sense following several re-watches and hard thinking, the majority of the film left is jarring upon the first watch. In many ways, it reminds a lot of the End of Evangelion, in which the intention behind it will only become clear if you watch it a good few times and try to completely disconnect yourself from logic and instead to these characters emotions. The majority of imagery and even plot in this movie is made to reflect the emotions of Homura as a character, rather than tell a coherent story.

The first forty minutes of the film is simply watching our five girls having fun being friends and fighting evil nightmares as magical girls. Madoka and Sayaka are both alive, Sayaka and Kyoko are now living together, Mami has a cartoon-ish mascot named ‘Bebe’ (who is actually the witch responsible for her death in the original series) and Homura has reverted back to her state present in episode ten, complete with the pigtails and glasses. The viewer get no explanation for this until roughly fifty minutes into the film and it’s this first fifty minutes that the film feels like filler. As nice as it is to see the characters we’d previously seen suffering now happy, some particular scenes feel a little too long or a little too out of place, almost as if it’s trying to convince us that it’s attached to a completely different franchise. Examples include the infamous ‘cake song’ scene (of which I've still to find any point to) and the use of a transformation scene that takes up roughly three solid minutes, compared the series in which they only lasted around twenty seconds at most. Even the inclusion of Mami's mascot Bebe feels a little too gimmicky (especially when you find out who it really is) and distracts sometimes from what the movie is actually trying to do with these characters and, at points, it almost feels like the movie is trying a little too hard to fool us. Even if it's trying to lull the audience into a false sense of security, a film does not need fifty minutes to do so. 

But once Homura realizes that something is wrong in this perfect and cutesy world, things start to get interesting. Once the reason of why everything is so different in this new parallel universe is found out, the film shows the slow degradation of Homura's mindset and how Kyubey plays a large part in it. It presents a character that has simply broken, and has given up trying to fit the pieces back together. At this point, the visuals of the film become more hellish and they show this character as a true tragedy, one that is simply loosing the will to live more with every passing minute. And the only reason that will hasn't shattered completely is because of a person that's no longer with her. A particularly beautiful scene involving both Homura and Madoka in a field of daisies is the fims highest point and it really is a wonderfully crafted scene, beautifully showing that Homura's existence is one that is purely built on loving only one person, to the point where the rest of her has completely gone, and how she mourns for it. And yet she still only desires that persons love, not knowing that she already has it or, if she does, it's not the kind of love she wants. It's a gorgeous scene and the rest of the second half of the movie, save for the last half hour, really shows a tortured soul that can't go back to who she was and it's beautifully written and executed.

And, seeing as how it's been danced around long enough, let's talk about that last half hour and how it will indefinitely provoke a different reaction from everyone who sees it.

The Ending

Up until this point, the movie is largely what every fan of the show has wanted to see. The characters we got to know in the show are finally happy, they've all banded together to try and help Homura and Homura might just get her happy ending.

Then something happens and that something flips the entire movie on its head. I'll try to refrain from spoiling the essentials of what happens but the last few minutes of the conclusion will leave the viewer stunned and fairly horrified at the direction Homura's character was suddenly taken. And this ending is what makes this film so hard to talk about because it's a very extreme direction to suddenly go with. It's definitely not a happy ending but to call it a sad one would not be entirely accurate either and bitter-sweet doesn't quite cut it either. It's something else entirely and it's left many fans angry and disappointed and left others feeling that it was inevitable.

The reason it confuses me so is because, in many ways, this is actually a great ending in order to continue this story. While it's baffling and seems to come out of nowhere, it actually makes complete sense if you examine the rest of the movie, both from a story and character standpoint. Not only that, the parallels and subtext between both Madoka and Homura, particularly regarding the book of Genesis and different kinds of love, are absolutely genius and the implications of good and evil and how each of them manifest themselves into different kinds of love (a love for all humanity and a love only for one other) is executed well. 

Despite this though, the ending also feels like a cheap cop-out because, for as much as I say it's a genius way of continuing the series and it actually fits the characters and story the more you think about it, it's also surprisingly bitter and cold and it's not built up throughout the narrative well enough for the viewer to excuse it. For as much as everybody likes to go on about how dark Madoka Magica could be at times, many forget that the original series actually had a good amount of hopeful and inspiring moments in order to balance it out and that the ending to the original series, while fairly bitter-sweet, still gave a feeling of satisfaction near the end because the viewer saw that there was hope near the end. In this movie, however, it's much more hollow and depressing, almost verging on uncomfortably mean-spirited. All the sense of hope that the original series had has been sucked right out of it, to the point where it almost feels passion-less compared to the series previous ending. But some could argue that's more fitting for this story. While a lot of us didn't see Homura's sudden change coming, it has to be acknowledged that it was probably inevitable when you consider her character. But that doesn't excuse the fact that it still feels out of character when it happens because it recieved little to no build up and seemed to only exist to continue the story and have a dark twist just for the sake of it.

So, in the end, the ending is a real mixed bag. In many ways it's incredibly fitting and even great and yet, it's also surprisingly bitter. And for those thinking this is just Urobuchi being Urobuchi, think again. Believe it or not, Gen Urobuchi fully intended to give this movie his very first happy ending and it was Akiyuki Shinbo who persuaded him to change the ending in order to open the possibility of a second season. So, surprisingly, we can't blame Urobuchi for this one.

Characters 7/10

For as much as I talk about Homura in this review, the other characters do deserve some mention as well. Mami is more or less exactly as she was in the show, except this time she's accompanied by her cute mascot, Bebe. In regards to Bebe herself, she feels woefully unnecessary. The only thing I can contemplate with why her character exists is that her design was so popular among fans, that the creators decided to just find a way to put her in. She contributes little to nothing to the overall plot and mainly exists to be a companion for Mami.

Sayaka, however, is fairly different to how she was in the show. Her and Kyoko, for example, have a much more mutual and friendly relationship (almost to the point of shoujo-ai in some scenes) and she actually appears much wiser and more confident in herself compared to the series (which makes a lot of sense, considering the series conclusion). Kyoko is not as biting or snarky as she was as well which I can only assume is Sayaka's influence. Despite not being in the movie that often, they were enjoyable.

Kyubey is still the little twerp everyone all loves to hate (another point in the ending's favour is that he got his comeuppance far more than in the original series) and Madoka herself manages to become a cross between a symbol and a character by the end of the film but her scenes with Homura, both in this strange world near the start and other later scenes, are lovely, with some good character dialogue and a genuine feeling of love emitting from her (what kind of love, though, is entirely up to the viewer's interpretation). And, in terms of Homura, her journey throughout the narrative will leave the viewer thoroughly split on whether to love, hate or just feel sorry for her.

Overall 7/10

In many ways, this is a good movie. The visuals are exquisite, the music and voice-acting brilliant and the ending could be considered perfect for this story with the almost certainty of a later sequel. But, on the other hand, that ending could also be considered hollow and gives no feeling of satisfaction and the conclusion to Homura's character and the implications of her relationship with Madoka will split many into a love-hate camp.

I definitely think every Madoka fan should see this movie. However, I don't think every Madoka fan, or even the grand majority, will like this film. I've already made this comparison, but it does feel like the 'End of Evangelion' of the Madoka franchise. Take my words for what they're worth, and definitely give it a watch. But heed this warning; I can't guarantee you'll like it.

I really felt this film did not live up to the series. Suddenly Homaru has ridiculous levels of power like Madoka. They Spent far too long having a scene of Japanese puns about what kind of food the girls were. The 20 minute battle scene between Mami and Homaru literally put me to sleep. It felt like it was trying too hard to be too many genres and thus strayed from them all.

There were moments I cried. I felt strong emotions. It just ended in a way that negated the power of the TV shows ending.

Everying i said about the anime rings true here(i have a review) and even the fanbase is waking up to how bad it is.

So this moive is supposed to continue the anime, yeah right.

For one, why did Homura become a witch in the first place,never explained.

Why are the incubators not LOGICALLY mantaining the status quo and trying to make a plan to make thing worse for them selves.

Oh yeah, why did Homura become a demon that could defeat god?

Madoka is a prime exmaple how bad writing is given the recognition it doesn't deserve.

They did not even try.

At this point the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the only one that could defeat the evil demon.

SAVE THE UNIVERSE!OH ALMIGHTY FLEXIBLE ONE!

It isn't suprising for this to happen at all.