My Hero Academia: You’re Next Anime Film Review – Review

My Hero Academia: You’re Next is the fourth tie-in film to the wildly popular My Hero Academia TV anime. Taking place around the start of Season 7, this movie is built around a villain who misinterpreted All Might’s final words as a hero—and was inspired by them in all the wrong ways.

This villain, Dark Might, is a man who believes that All Might is the world’s greatest hero not because of his heart or virtuous actions but because of his overwhelming power. If one were to have that same power level, they could structure society however they wished. In other words, to Dark Might, might literally makes right. So upon capturing a girl with quirk-amplifying abilities, he begins remaking the city according to his whims—transforming a large chunk of it into a massive flying fortress, trapping hundreds of civilians within.

Of course, the heroes of Class-A find themselves among those trapped in the fortress. Split up into several different groups, they each try and make their way to confront Dark Might—though his superpower companions and his infinite hoard of quirk-made automatons stand in their way.

All in all, this setup is a good one. Separated from the adult heroes and split up into teams as they are, everyone has something to do. There are many flashy, exciting fight scenes and each hero gets at least a few moments in the spotlight. Unsurprisingly, Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki get most of it. Dark Might’s wild interpretation of what All Might meant to the world doesn’t sit well with them on a deeply personal level. Thus, to the trio, this is a battle of ideals as much as anything else.

However, like the previous films, this one can’t help but shoehorn in a few original characters for plot purposes. Giulio is arguably the protagonist of this film. He’s a former butler (now a cyborg), on a mission to kill his former master, Anna. But when it comes down to it, Giulio is just a bundle of clichés—a tortured man endlessly brooding. Meanwhile, Anna is nothing more than a walking plot device—a way to power up the villains and show the audience how close things are to getting bad through her changing hair color. She spends the vast majority of the film in a mind-controlled trance as well, giving her little time to show any resemblance to an actual personality.

The villains, aside from Dark Might, are one-note at best. They’re their powers and nothing more—a martial task for our heroes to overcome. But even Dark Might has issues as a character. While his core ideals and relationship to All Might are interesting, as a villain, his downfall is as much due to his stupidity as anything else. It’s not our heroes who kill the supporting villains in most cases, it’s Dark Might himself—as punishment for failing him. This includes a guy whose quirk disables all other people’s quirks within a massive area (think miles)—and he can make bubbles inside that area where his allies can still use their quirks. Thus, it comes off feeling like our heroes win not because they are stronger or more righteous but because the villain overdosed on stupid pills.

The other issue with Dark Might is that he feels like a wasted opportunity thematically. A lot could have been done with the now de-powered All Might being forced to reflect on all the unintended consequences of his actions—how even something like trying to inspire his successor could affect the world negatively. Likewise, if Dark Might’s powers had been something more like All Might’s—i.e., true super strength instead of transmutation—then coming out on top in battle would have shown the young heroes that they had surpassed their idol and were truly ready for the big fights to come. But alas, this was not to be.

To be clear, none of this means the movie is terrible or even bad. It’s still a perfectly enjoyable film even with its faults. The presentation goes a long way towards this. Bones’ animation here is stellar. The fights are well-choreographed and well-actualized. Yet, to me, it’s not the climactic battle that is the best in the film but rather the opening fight. Even though the stakes are low and there are no giant explosions, blood, or tears, watching Deku take out a group of small-time villains using all his different powers makes him feel like the Superman proxy he’s supposed to be.

The music is solid as well. We get two new great Vaundy songs to bookend the film and, as they say, “You Say Run” goes well with anything.

In the end, despite its issues with the new cast of characters and some wasted storytelling opportunities, this is in no way the worst of the My Hero Academia films. I’d rank it second best behind Heroes Rising. It’s a film designed to be a fun, two-hour ride filled with spectacle and that’s exactly what it is. While I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who isn’t a fan of the series (as it’s not particularly good as a stand-alone film), I expect fans to have a fun time with this one.