Two thousand years ago, a demon named Aizen (Ben Stiller) descended upon Earth wreaking havoc with his minion Hollow. Seven mystics created the Mafuba and sealed him away for what they thought was eternity. However, Aizen breaks free and with his beautiful follower Yammy (Antonio Banderas), proceeds to find the Hogyoku and kill anyone in the way.
On his 18th birthday, a young high-school student and martial artist named Ichigo (Nicolas Cage) is given the 4-Star Hogyoku by his grandfather, Isshin (Kirk Douglas). After returning home from a party hosted by his crush Rukia (Megan Fox), Ichigo finds his home obliterated and his grandfather near death in the aftermath of Aizen's failed attempt to acquire the Hogyoku. Before he dies, Isshin tells Ichigo to seek out the martial arts master, Urahara (Johnny Depp), who holds another one of the Hogyoku.
Along the way, Ichigo meets Orihime Inoue (Emma Watson) of the Capsule Corporation, who was studying the 5-Star Hogyoku until it was stolen by Yammy. Ichigo offers Orihime his protection in exchange for her help in finding Urahara and they ultimately find him in Soul Society City. Under Urahara's wing, Ichigo begins training to harness his Spiritual Energy, now knowing that they must acquire all the Hogyoku before the upcoming solar eclipse, when Hollow will return and join with Aizen. In the midst of the group's search for the 6-star Hogyoku, they fall into a trap set by the desert bandit Chad (Sir Not-Doing-Shit-In-This-Film) but Urahara convinces Chad to join them. Together, the group fight their way through an ambush by Yammy and successfully obtain the next Hogyoku.
As the group continues their quest, they travel to a temple where Urahara consults his former teacher Yamamoto (Michael Gambon) and begins preparing the Mafuba enchantment so he can reseal Aizen, while Ichigo must learn the most powerful of the Spiritual Energy-bending techniques: the Getsuga Tenshou.
During the night, Yammy - disguised as Rukia - steals the three Hogyoku that Ichigo and the others have acquired, adding them to the other four that Aizen has gathered. With the Hogyoku successfully united, Aizen begins to summon the Soul King, but is stopped by the timely arrival of Ichigo's team. During the battle that ensues, consisting of a Spiritual Energy blast battle and some punches, Aizen reveals to Ichigo that he is Hollow, having been sent to Earth as an infant to destroy it when he came of age. As the eclipse begins, Ichigo transforms into Hollow and terrorizes Orihime and Yamchad, while Urahara attempts to use the Mafuba, but weakens because of not having enough energy to live before he can re-seal Aizen. Urahara's dying words restore Ichigo to his senses as he is choked to death by Hollow, and he engages Aizen in a final battle, seemingly defeating him with the power of the Getsuga Tenshou.
Ichigo then uses the Hogyoku to summon the Soul King, and request that he restore Urahara to life. As they celebrate, they realize the Hogyoku have now scattered, and Orihime declares that they must seek the balls again. Before they head out, Ichigo visits Rukia so they can truly begin their relationship, but first, they engage in a sparring match to see which of them is stronger.
In a post-credits scene, Aizen was revealed to be alive and in the care of a woman (possibly Yammy in another form.)