Having watched this movie recently, I think a review is in order.
Fairy Tail is one of my favorite anime series about the exploits of the Wizards Guild bearing the same name but traditionally anime movies don't quite live up to the same standard as the tv series, so here's how this movie went.
Before the movie even starts, it's worth looking over the first morning short beforehand where the title character Phoenix Priestess Eclair accidentally brings to life a stuffed toy made like a bird called Momon whom she doesn't like, it shows a normal day where Eclair works as a fortune teller but after an altercation where she loses the Phoenix Stone she has to shelter away from attacking wolves, the next morning Momon is beat up and the stone has returned safe and sound and they become friends, so now we can begin the film proper.
The movie starts off in great fashion as we see Eclair run away from an assault of people who want her dead, after this rather silent scene we see Team Natsu fail to capture a bandit but since Eclair is the main focus she inevitably ends up meeting up with Lucy who takes her back to the Fairy Tail Guild.
Eclair who is traveling to a dangerous region of the world is guarded by the Fairy Tail Guild despite her hatred of magic but with this being the Fairy Tail guild, Team Natsu has no problem helping.
So after a day of shopping including Gray's streaking, Natsu pigging out on food and Erza buying a wedding dress (don't ask her why) the plot finally gets going when a mercenary attacks Lucy & Eclair leading to a hilarious scene where Lucy ends up butt naked. A quick trip to see Eclair's father later and we return to the guild hall only for it to be demolished by the Carbuncle mercenaries who are working for a stuck up King. They succeed in capturing the Phoenix Stone as well as Eclair and promptly fit it together to summon a great evil monster which destroys everything insight which Natsu and co defeat as well as the Carbuncle Mercenaries and so ends the film. (Non Spoiler Version)
For a film it runs quite well, characters don't feel weakened to accommodate an obvious filler story and many of the best moments come from the comedy and the drama. The fight scenes have poor pacing as we don't stay long enough in some battles to really grasp what's going on, particularly the fight between Natsu and Dist seemed very lacking compared to Gray and Erza's fights and this was meant to be the main villain vs the main character.
Dubbing is top notch as always and I'm happy to see Jessica Calvello return to voice acting especially after almost destroying her vocal cords doing Excel Excel. Her voice work as Eclair was one of her best performances to date.
So that's the Fairy Tail movie, maybe I'll review the main series at some point.
Final Verdict: It's definitely worth a watch if you enjoy a decent story but if you've come for action, there's not really enough to satisfy.
Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess Review
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