Sirus Gaming got invited to the advance screening at SM Mall of Asia IMAX, and from the first minute I could tell this one was IMAX-worthy. The screen swallowed the room, the bass rumbled the seats, and the castle kept shifting like some giant puzzle box.
I walked into the screening feeling like I was queueing for a raid: snacks in hand, hype through the roof, and no idea what kind of boss mechanics were coming. From the first minute, the movie tells you, “We’re in endgame now.” The camera doesn’t just watch fights, it dives into them. Walls slide, stairs flip, doors appear where floors used to be. The Infinity Castle isn’t just a scenery – it’s a trap-filled dungeon that keeps reshuffling the party, and it looks insane on a big screen.
What I loved most is how heavy everything feels. There’s CG in there, sure, but it sits cleanly inside the hand-drawn look, so attacks land with weight. Swords don’t just flash, they drag, bite, and spark. Footwork matters. You can see heels dig in and robes snap as characters turn. One Hashira showcase had my row completely silent until the final hit, and then a couple of people whispered “woah” at the same time. That’s the vibe: big moves that are also readable, like good boss design where you understand why the damage hits.
Sound carries a lot of that weight. The score climbs, drops to near silence, then lets the impact smack you in the chest. Metal on stone sounds one way, metal on flesh sounds very different, and the movie never lets you forget it. If you can watch in a theater with decent speakers, do it. The bass rumbles during the big swings and the choral parts mix with traditional instruments in a way that feels like the series turning the volume up one last notch. Even the quiet moments have texture, breathing, footsteps, the strange echo of the castle moving again.
Story-wise, the film doesn’t waste time. Training arc is done, this is the pull. The castle keeps splitting the group and closing routes, so you’re jumping between tight, stressful situations instead of one straight mission. Sometimes the movie stops to drop a backstory card, and yeah, a couple arrive right when your pulse is spiking. But those scenes pay off later choices, so I didn’t mind. Demon Slayer has always lived at the border of courage and exhaustion, and you feel that here, people pushing past what their bodies should reasonably do, because quitting isn’t an option.
The performances sell it. Sub or dub, the little things hit: a breath caught before a charge, a voice cracking on someone’s name, a split-second pause when a character decides to commit and accept the consequences. Even with all the effects, the direction gives faces room. You’re not just watching fireworks, you’re watching people carry fear, anger, and stubborn hope. That’s why the fights don’t blur together. You care who wins each exchange, not just how cool it looks.
Let’s talk about the thing everyone’s buzzing about: the ending. This is Part One energy from start to finish. It’s built like the first half of a massive final dungeon. Just when the tide feels like it might turn, the movie cuts. I groaned and grinned at the same time. If you wanted a clean ending like Mugen Train, you won’t get it here. If you’re fine with “to be continued” as long as the road there slaps, you’ll walk out excited and a little mad in that good way.
The castle itself is a star. Most action movies fight on a flat plane, left, right, forward, back. This thing keeps adding verticals and diagonals. A staircase will tilt ninety degrees mid-run, a ceiling becomes a chute, a room rotates and changes where gravity points. It’s not just “cool effect for the sake of it”, the movie uses the space to set up payoffs you can actually follow. There’s a moment where the floor angle changes just so, and suddenly the water technique curves like a scythe. That kind of clarity makes the action feel authored, not spammed.
It’s not perfect. A couple of emotional reveals land like speed bumps placed right before a sprint. If you haven’t kept up with the series, the film won’t slow down and explain who owes who or why a certain name hurts to say. And while the music is mostly great, there are moments where it pushes so hard it starts telling you how to feel before the scene earns it. None of that killed the momentum for me, but it’s worth knowing going in.
What stuck with me after the credits was a handful of clean images. Embers drifting in a dark hallway while two characters steady themselves. A duel that turns the room into a weapon and makes you realize the environment has been the silent enemy all along. A final shot that basically says, “You think this was big? Watch what’s next.” The crowd in my screening didn’t clap, they did the other thing – sat there for a second, processing, and then stood up a little dazed. I love that feeling.
So here’s where I land. As a theater experience, Infinity Castle is exactly what I want from an anime movie at this point in the story: crisp action you can read, visuals that go hard without turning into noise, and enough heart to make the pain count. It’s not a full meal, it’s the first half of the final course, served hot and spicy, and it absolutely does the job of making you hungry for the rest. I’m already ready for part two.
If cliffhangers tilt you, brace yourself. If you just want to see Ufotable throw down on a giant screen and feel the hits in your ribs, grab a ticket.
