Boruto: Naruto the Movie

Story

Boruto: Naruto the Movie is the 11th animated Naruto movie, based on the manga by Masashi Kishimoto. The movie is in Japanese with English subtitles. It’s about Naruto Uzamaki, the seventh Hokage of Konohagakure, and Naruto’s young son, Boruto.

Boruto is about to do the Chunin exams and train as a shinobi alongside other talented students. Boruto and his team excel in the early stages of the exams. But when Boruto defeats a particularly challenging opponent with a clone jutsu, Naruto realises that Boruto has cheated to win. Disappointed, Naruto disqualifies his son.

Boruto has hated his father for most of his life, because Naruto has been an absent and unkind parent. After being disqualified, Boruto finally lashes out verbally at his father. Soon after his outburst, two attackers appear and attempt to kidnap Naruto. Although it looks like Naruto dies, Boruto keeps hoping that he’s still alive and tries to find him.

Themes

Ninjas; relationships and parenting; loyalty and trust; honour and sacrifice

Violence

Boruto: Naruto the Movie has many scenes of violence, including extended battles. There are explosions, magic and weapons like swords and axes. The characters can manipulate fire, lightning and water to defeat their opponents. Here are some examples:

Boruto is bound to a tree and his opponents burn his torso with magic fire as he yells in pain.
During an extended battle sequence lasting 15 minutes, one of Naruto’s allies is slashed across the chest with an axe and a blood stain appears on his shirt.
In the same battle sequence, an enemy is captured and stabbed with blades of light. He struggles to escape and hurts his arm – a wound with exposed muscle and sinew appears. Blood pools around his feet and drips down a set of stairs.
In the same scene, an ally of the injured enemy uses magic to change the man into a small red fleshy lump. The ally eats the lump and transforms into a demon.
Naruto seems to be dead after he sacrifices himself to protect Boruto and Sasuke.

Sexual references

None of concern

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

None of concern

Nudity and sexual activity

None of concern

Product placement

None of concern

Coarse language

None of concern

Ideas to discuss with your children

Boruto: Naruto the Movie is an action-packed story about family, honour and sacrifice. The movie explores the complex nature of relationships and strongly emphasises the importance of finding balance.

Naruto often isn’t around for his son Boruto because of his work, and this causes intense friction and distance in their relationship. But although the movie suggests that Naruto should think about his priorities, it also highlights the need for Boruto to be more understanding towards his father.

The movie presents a realistic impression of battle, despite its supernatural and magical elements. It also explores the courage you need to overcome physical and mental obstacles in battle. But the movie’s themes and many scenes of violence make it unsuitable for children under 14 years, with parental guidance recommended for slightly older teenagers.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include the:

complex nature of relationships in friendships and families
difficulties involved in parenting, and finding a balance between being strict and kind
importance of self-sacrifice, and of working as a team to achieve a common goal
importance of never giving up, despite being faced with innumerable obstacles.