Phantom Rouge is a serviceable action shounen film. Decent, though unremarkable. However, for a film based on series as unique and complex as Hunter × Hunter, that may be the biggest crime of all. The film is most certainly ambitious, and tries very hard to hit the same notes that have made the series a success. We need a cameo from Hisoka because he's one of the most popular characters, we need some creative and improbable powers, mostly ones we've already seen in the series, we need Kurapika taking revenge on somebody, and we need some drama centering around Killua, because for every tear Killua shedsa puppy is saved from being gassed. However, if you can't replicate the story structure and writing that Yoshihito Togashi was able to bring us, then these elements just aren't going to their targets as well.
While the story of Phantom Rouge goes into some potentially interesting places, it fails to be anything special as it ends up following a very standard formula. We get to know what happened to the original 4th member of the Phantom Troupe who Hisoka replaced, and his abilities and philosophy are interesting in how he can bring people back to life, but only as hollow shells of themselves under his control. His obsession with eyes its connection with his past give him a creepy motivation. But after these themes are introduced, the film never explores them in an interesting way. Instead it just goes the way you think it's going to go. We introduce a big bad guy with an evil laugh, there's a damsel in distress who has to be saved, and then we get a big fight scene towards the end. The climax in particular shows how uninspired this film is. One of the most interesting parts of the series is how it often averts your expectation from other shounen series. It often builds up to a big fight, but very rarely is this how the conflict is actually solved. In the film, however, we get that big fight scene. No need to properly discuss the villain's philosophy, because he's so extreme that it's obvious why he's in the wrong. The good guys just come up with reasons for why they are right, and then they fight, so any lesson they learn, becomes very shallow.
Omokage, the main villain, might be the film's biggest failure. With the exception of "Greed Island Bomber" Genthru, (who in all fairness may be even worse since he has more screen time and yet is even less ineteresting,) none of the villains from the series were completely evil, or even 100% in the wrong. Characters like Chrollo and Meruem may appear irredeemable at first, but they are all interesting in how they are developed and in their motivations, despite the fact that they have done terrible things. Omokage is just evil. He truly is irredeemable, the things he has done are beyond terrible, and he is nowhere near justifying any of it. When he is so extreme and so inhuman, there's just not that much for our heroes to think about, because it's so obvious what the right thing to do is. The only thing that causes a legitimate inner conflict for the climax, is the resurrection of Kurapika's old friend, but even then he only needs a few seconds to be convinced of what is right.
The one interesting thing that happens in the story, is that we get to know more about Kurapika's backstory. We get to see his village and a young boy named Pairo who he was good friends with. From what we see here, we get a better perspective of just how the slaughter of the Kurta clan has changed Kurapika as a person and why he's fighting to take revenge. The story in itself isn't that long or complex, but is very nice to see for any fan of the series. This part is based on a manuscript by Yoshihito Togashi that was never actually made part of the manga, and you can tell it's the only part of the film the original creator had a part in creating. It's the one part of the film I would recommend checking out if you're a fan of the series.
Despite the story not holding up, I would be lying if I said there weren't parts of the film I did enjoy. The animation is quite good, even if it lacks a bit in creativity during the fights. The environments look beautiful and some of the movement is very smooth. Even though I miss the clever and complicated ideas of the different nen abilities here, the actual fighting is still animated very well (except for Illumi's spastic kicking, which was just hilarious). There is one big missed opportunity, though. At one point in the film, two puppets have the eyes of two other characters, but they're still drawn as having the eyes of the characters they're modeled after. This is especially bizarre as Omokage comments on the contrast between body and eyes while we are shown no such thing. Considering how big of a theme eyes are in this film, that's a bit of a problem, and wouldn't it have been a fun opportunity to see these characters with other people's eyes considering how distinctive the designs on everyone's eyes are?
The voice actors from the anime return, and they are still doing a fantastic job, even when they have to say dumb things. Mariya Ise is one of my favorite Japanese voice actors, and her nuanced and boyish performance for Killua remains one of the best voice performances I've heard in an anime. Daisuke Namikawa's Hisoka voice is still absolutely delicious and creepy. The new voice actors for the film's original characters are also pretty good, especially Retsu's voice actress, Aya Hirano, the voice of Lucy in Fairy Tail.
I will also give the film credit that Kurapika and Leorio and very well represented here, for as little as we actually see them in the film. Leorio is even allowed to slightly useful for once. Gon and Killua both feel a bit off, however. While their friendship and their childish, friendly bickering is as adorable as ever, on their own, both of them act strangely compared to the series. The difference isn't huge, but it's just big enough to be noticed. Some of their traits are exaggerated in a bit of a strange way, while some moments feel entirely inaccurate, like when Gon figures out a bunch of things offscreen for the convenience of the plot. Since when was logical thinking one of Gon's biggest strengths? Overall, Gon seems to have an unfortunate combination of being bland and being overly perfect, which wasn't quite the case in the manga and anime. Besides that, I know Hisoka had to be in the film because of how popular of a character he is, but is there any reason why he shows during the climax only to help out the heroes? I mean... that's not something he typically does.
But... let's talk about Killua's arc for a bit. He is one of my favorite characters in anything, so I'm obviously going to be a bit picky here, but I still feel like they missed the mark. Essentially, his part of the story is about him overcoming the fears and rules his brother Illumi instilled in him and convince himself he's a good friend for Gon. The problem? This exact arc was already covered in the manga and anime. If we're supposed to believe this takes place after the Phantom Troupe arc, then it's a bit jarring that Killua goes through the same exact later arc in the Chimera Ant arc. And I know I'm saying the obvious here, but it was done better in the manga and anime. There it was properly explored why he was the way he was, and combating his inner cowardice took time and work. In the film, he's not as much fighting it as he is running away screaming until Gon comes to make things better, and then he's suddenly able to beat the crap out of puppet Illumi without much fuss, even though he was too scared to save his best friend ten minutes ago. At some point he even attempts suicide, which comes out of nowhere and feels like it's shoehorned in as a desperate attempt to be dramatic.
If you're not familiar with the series, a lot of this can be ignored, and the film is a perfectly serviceable shounen film with good animation, entertaining characters and a lot of fighting towards the end. But there isn't really much that stands out about it. And let's face, this is made for the fans of the series, as others might be a bit lost when it comes to the context of some things. For some fans, there might be enough cameos and funny moments to make them happy, but the film clearly isn't able to do what the series did. This might not be as big of problem if the film wasn't trying so hard to do just that and justify itself as being part of overall story, so you're left having to decide if is actually successful in that regard, and I just don't think it is.
