The beginning of the end has arrived. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, the first installment in a climactic film trilogy of one of anime’s most popular series, is finally storming into theaters, bringing with it tons of high-stakes spectacle fans have been salivating over. Infinity Castle may wobble in matching the emotional depth and narrative finesse that Demon Slayer fans have come to expect. Still, it more than earns its place on the big screen, with studio Ufotable delivering gorgeous animation and blisteringly fast action choreography so explosive it outpaces the franchise’s own high-water marks.
Picking up where season four left off, the movie wastes no time plunging Tanjiro Kamado (Zach Aguilar) and his fellow Demon Slayer Corps into the heart of the enemy territory in Muzan Kibutsuji’s (Greg Chun) shifting fortress—a nightmarish, M.C. Escher-style maze that reshapes itself with the velocity of a runaway bullet train. What began as a boy’s desperate quest to save his sister, Nezuko (Abby Trott), from a cursed fate as a demon now barrels toward its final showdown. Allies are scattered. Enemies lurk around every corner. And the castle itself feels like a sentient trap, true to its name, stretching into infinity and collapsing in on itself with every step.
Infinity Castle resembles Game of Death by way of Shonen Jump, with a stacked match card of superpowered samurai battles that feel more like night one of a multi-night professional wrestling pay-per-view than a traditional movie. Bee-style Demon Slayer Corps swordsman Shinobu Kocho (Erika Harlacher) and narcoleptic lightning-style swordsman Zenitsu Agatsuma (Aleks Le) get their spotlight in Infinity Castle‘s undercard bouts against demons Doma (Stephen Fu) and Kaigaku (Alejandro Saab), respectively, but the main event is Tanjiro and Johnny Yong Bosch’s Giyu‘s tag-team clash with Akaza (Lucien Dodge).
To extend the wrestling comparison further, while the heroes bring the emotional weight to their fights, the demons—save for Akaza—feel like they’re sandbagging their battles. Although Infinity Castle is lavishly conceived, its writing for its villains is thinly written. Most of them boil down to “I’m just evil,” which is a letdown, given the series’ history, which has given its villains tragic, textured backstories to match their impeccable designs.
The film’s biggest stumble is its overreliance on anime flashbacks—often inserted mid-battle like a self-congratulatory pat on the back. These moments, already replayed to death in the anime, break the momentum of Infinity Castle‘s action and dilute the emotional catharsis of its battles instead of enriching them. What’s more, even the film’s new flashbacks with its central demons feel like watching the same wrestling spot three times in one night, as they retread the same tragic setup with such frequency. The first time hits, the second time drags, and the third time feels lazy. Had these arcs been spaced out episodically, they might’ve landed with more weight.
Still, Infinity Castle never feels its two-hour and 35-minute runtime. Ufotable’s animation is as dazzling as ever, with slick camera movement that has its characters ping-ponging through 3D CG backgrounds, complemented by compositing finesse that gives the film a cinematic grandeur exceeding that of past films like Mugen Train. Its action choreography is a rollercoaster for the eyes—fluid, explosive, and occasionally slowed down, as if to let sparks fly off katana blades like fireworks behind your eyes. And its final battle kicks things into third gear.
While Tanjiro and Giyu’s fight with Akaza doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights of the demon siblings from season two, it’s the closest thing this gets to the series’ signature harmony between writing and bombastic spectacle. Their ideological and physical clash feels earned, and its chest-pumping choreography perfectly sells every emotional beat. If anything, the film’s structure might’ve benefitted from departing from adapting its source material to a T by reshuffling its fight order. Zenitu’s battle feels more like a cooldown than a ramp-up, making the pacing wobble before the final clash. But the climax is a home run worthy of being hung in the rafters alongside the best shonen anime battles of all time.
As far as first acts go, Infinity Castle breaks out of the gate full steam ahead. It’s not the most narratively trailblazing entry in the franchise, but it sets the stage for a finale that could be truly unforgettable. Any fan would be lucky to bear witness to it on the biggest screen possible.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle opens September 12.
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