I have been a huge fan of the series for a long time, but I have never read any of the manga.As a result of this, I can only assume they have skipped an arc to make this film, as the last episode of Fairy Tail showed everyone was scattered after the guild was disbanded.Now all of a sudden, everyone is back together with no explanation. The dissolution isn't ever even mentioned, even though it is clearly set after the series due to Gray's Demon Slayer form showing up. But I could sort of forgive that if we just had an explanation for some of the stuff that happened in the film, but it treats the viewer as though they are an expert on what I assume is in the manga.Carla can suddenly become a human?Lucy now receives gear to equip for herself when she summons her spirits?Natsu is now not only a dragon-slayer, but also half-dragon? And he is also this E.N.D that we have been hearing about for the whole series?What?I have such fond memories of the series, but this film left me with such a sour taste in my mouth. Apparently the series is getting a final run of episodes sometime this year. I really hope that they return to the formular that I used to enjoy so much and actually explains some of the random stuff that was just shoved into this film.The story to this film was so weak, that it hardly bears mentioning next to the questions that it left me with.Some of the fight scenes were just about Ok, but they are nothing compared to the ones from the main series.None of the characters feel like their series versions. Instead they are just cardboard cutouts used as stand-ins. The main theme of the show around friendship and teamwork is completely absent here. The only part that has any semblance of their series counterparts is during the beginning when they need to retrieve the ring stealthily in the bar and they are actually using teamwork.Gajeel, Patherlily, Juvia and Levy are also in the film, but they never actually do anything (with the exception of Juvia who helps with one battle). The time taken up by these characters would have been much better spent on strengthening the main story.All in all, unless the final series requires you to watch this to understand the next storyline, give it a miss for your own sanity.

I'm a fan, I stopped reading the manga so I wouldn't be spoiled watching the animé. I was very disappointed after it was all over. It was like they cut and pasted fairy tail episodes to make this movie. Hear what the post credit scenes was better than the entire movie. So skip to that you won't be missing anything special. What a waste of 1hr 25minutes.

I'm a good fan of Fairy Tial. I loved the anime series because they were quirky, different, and just plain enjoyable. A good run of seasons had passed, and then 'The Phoenix Priestess' came out. As a rushed movie, the entire film flopped and just plain sucked. The plot had been rushed, many situations made little to no sense and the characters that you loved in the anime just aren't there in the movie. They are just cardboard cutouts and the villains and climax was just... ugh. What does this have to do with Dragon Cry? Why do I call it 'The Phoenix Mistake'? Because when they were making this story and the movie, they were given a bigger budget and had a huge enough fanbase to back it up. And they completely and utterly flopped it. The entire course of the film is choppy and makes absolutely no sense. The plot is simple: magical artifact stolen, get back magical item, kick butt, lesson learned. Unfortunately, the whole scenario is completely thrown into a blender and mixed into 'overdrive'. There is little to no character development or deep meaning in anything they do. I love the Fairy Tail guild, but I just didnt find anything worth caring about these characters. All the women were literally just fan service and the men were just plain simple and stupid cutout's. You will also be lost with each and every setting change in the entire film. Characters appear out of nowhere with no explanation as to how or why, the plot is rushed without any explanation as to how anything works or should be, and we are given so many questions with absolutely no answers. The bad guys are just plain confusing and unoriginal, and the fights... dear God the fights are either too short, or just plain lame. There is no signature fighting moves and when introduced to something new (as shown on the cover) we are given no explanation as to how or why it happened. The only thing I can really congratulate this film on was its beauty. We are talking like original animation with beautiful artwork. It's literally the only thing keeping this burning ship afloat aside from any die-hard fans who refuse to see anything wrong with it. Dragon Cry is just a sad cardboard cutout plot with cardboard characters with escalated fan service with logic literally having bricks tied to its ankles before getting tossed in the river. It is a complete disaster that makes even the Phoenix Priestess a decent movie. Take it from me: you are better off watching the anime or reading the manga. Niether of the Fairy Tail films offer anything to the entire story, nor does it apply any value to your life whether you are a die-hard fan or otherwise. This movie, is absolutely garbage, and as a Fairy Tail Fan, I am willing to save all others the pain and tell you to skip this film. Avoid it like the black plague, and forget it ever existed.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: Fairy Tail is easily the worst example of its genre, Shonen, that there is... and it's BAD! From it's terrible execution of fights to overuse of fan service, from the nonsensical character motivation to the plot induced stupidity and shark-jumping, from its clichéd and obnoxious characters and its overuse of friendship speeches that replace meaningful dialogue, Fairy Tail as a whole is just garbage. Only the greatest numb-skulls love this train wreck and even then most don't even watch it for anything else but the love affairs (shipping) that really aren't the focus of the series in the first or last place.This movie follows right into the shoes of its source material. To start off, this movie was promised to take place AFTER the events of the manga, servicing as a climax to the series in the same manners as "The Last: Naruto the Movie" was to the Naruto manga. This is quickly dashed to pieces as it apparently takes place after the events of the Tartaros arc. So already we can tell that we're being lied to by the author himself, Hiro Mashima... not that being deceived by him isn't already common occurrence after the many times we were suckered into his horrible changes.The plot itself is also basically a rehash of the last movie: An evil ruler of a newly introduced kingdom steals an ancient artifact of great power that he wants to use to take over the world; introducing King Animus as the Prince Cream and Sonya as the Éclair of this movie. There is, like in the manga, no originality in the story or characters. It's really a by-the-numbers Fairy Tail production with nothing you haven't seen before. The only difference: the budget is MUCH larger and the animation is nicer... what a waste of time and money.The action is as simplistic and typically Fairy Tail as well, giving us the exact same formula of "good guy gets really beaten up but then believes in his friends and 1-shot the much more powerful enemy" that the series is infamous about. While we do get to see the highly hyped up Natsu as a semi-dragon it doesn't excuse the sloppy and boring action that FT has to offer on a constant basis.The biggest difference Fairy Tail has with other series of its genre is the overuse of fan service. Whereas most Shonen have fan service but don't let it overstay its welcome, Fairy Tail actively tries to make itself appear like a soft-core hentai or unabashed ecchi. From Lucy using her weak sex appeal to get her wishes (contradictory to what her claims that she doesn't like doing this) to Erza being unfazed of being naked in front of anyone (save for Jellal) to the pathetic pandering of bathroom/sauna scenes, Fairy Tail has made a name for itself as the most depraved Shonen there is. Dragon Cry's promotional material and trailers all seemed to bash this into our heads by showing it's main character, Lucy Heartfilia, in seductive belly-dancer clothing, clothing she wears throughout a large portion of the movie... all to keep the viewer invested in seeing her for exactly what she is: a tool. I'm not going to act like fan service isn't allowed in Shonen but it has to make sense and be but a small distraction from serious or during comedic moments... not take up over 30% of the material. Fairy Tail's biggest fans only come to see half or fully naked 2D animated characters being put in situations of embarrassment, only to salivate over it like depraved horny mongrels.Fairy Tail's strongest point, which the manga lacks obviously, is the anime's musical score. Music has always been a thing Fairy Tail does surprisingly right, giving us upbeat and sinister orchestral to soft and soothing scores. So as much as the movie is dull and boring, if you close your eyes and just listen then you might catch some good music every now and then when the characters aren't speaking. If that doesn't do it for you, refrain from wasting money on this movie and just buy/download the OST of it and enjoy what little good it has to offer.In conclusion, not that it comes to anyone's surprise, this movie is purely a waste of time, effort and money. Hiro Mashima was stated to have written the script and story of this movie and it blatantly shows. It has everything good and bad, especially bad, that the worst of Shonen has to offer. I would tell its fans to not waste their time watching it but I know that would be as much a waste of effort as everything else. So to them I say: this is exactly what you're used to, only with nicer animation and a longer running time... enjoy your garbage!To anyone new to the series or movie: Go waste your money on something else.And to those who massively downvote this review: the only reason you're doing it is because you're too salty to realize I'm right. Goes to show how much of a hypocritical fanbase FT really has if the fans cannot even tolerate other people's opinions. People even write reviews like Youtube comments to respond to other reviews they dislike... truly pathetic, but not unexpected for Fairy Tail fans.