[The first part of the two film, big budget, live action adaptation of popular Japanese anime and manga Gantz received it's World Premiere on US soil yesterday and regular Twitch reader Brandon Tenold was there. Here's his review.]
Gantz is the latest in a line of Japanese attempts at Hollywood-style blockbuster films that have emerged in the last few years, with movies like "K-20", "20th Century Boys" and the recent "Space Battleship Yamato" featuring better effects and higher production values than your typical Japanese film. Based on a best-selling manga and split into two parts, "Gantz" is one of the most ambitious movies in Japanese cinema history, with a reported budget of 4 billion yen, more than $45 million USD (depending on exchange rates of course).
"Gantz" tells the story of Kei Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) and Masaru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama), two old friends that haven't seen each other in years, who while attempting to save a drunk that's fallen onto some subway tracks are hit by a train and seemingly killed. Rather than dying though, the two suddenly find themselves transported into a room with several other "dead" people (including Kei Kishimoto, played by the lovely Natsuna Watanabe) and a mysterious black orb known as "Gantz". Gantz gives them futuristic weapons and suits that grant them superhuman abilities along with instructions to destroy a designated target within a certain amount of time. The "targets" consist of a variety of bizzare aliens who when destroyed give the killer a certain amount of points that they can then use to either gain their freedom or resurrect a fallen comrade.
And that's the basic premise of the movie, a Japanese blockbuster than combines special f/x, action, humor and of course, a liberal dose of Japanese-style melodrama.
I'm not familiar with the manga or anime series that this movie is based on, but from what I understand, it's noteworthy for it's extreme levels of sex and violence. While there's not much in the way of sex (a bit of a shame, considering Watanabe is VERY easy on the eyes), the violence is appropriately blood and slime splattered. At their best, the action sequences are both exciting and humorous. Given that the movie concerns humans using strange weapons to take down alien monsters, "Gantz" almost seems like a bloodier version of "Men in Black" at times. The aliens, which consist of everything from an onion-headed creature to a doll-like robot in sneakers and a striped shirt, are a mixture of goofy and unique, with a distinctively Japanese flavor to them. They're not exactly scary, but I can't really say I've ever seen creatures like them in a movie before. The effects, for the most part, are quite impressive, with the last battle between a huge stone monster and a multi-armed buddha statue recalling Ray Harryhausen's work in movies like "Jason and the Argonauts" and "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad". And I mean that as a compliment! For a nation still associated in westerner's minds with rubber-suited monsters stomping on tinker toys, this is a huge step forward.
Perhaps because it's based on a serialized manga, the movie can seem a little episodic at times, what with it's formula of "suit up, fight monster, recover, repeat", but thankfully the movie doesn't feel too disjointed, despite trying to cram what I assume must be several chapters of story into a relatively short running time.
The screening I attended was dubbed, so I can't comment too much on the actor's performances (the dubbing wasn't great), but based on his facial expressions and body language, Ninomiya is the standout as Kurono. It's fun watching his transformation from meek, sexually frustrated underacheiver to cocky, would-be superhero once he gets a handle on his suit and weapons. His character is given the lions share of humorous moments, in contrast to the more angsty Matsuyama, who supplies the requisite amount of melodrama. Watanabe doesn't do much more than look pretty, but she accomplishes that task in spades.
"Gantz" leaves several questions unanswered, but given that this is only part 1 of 2, that's understandable, the movie ending on an appropriately mysterious cliffhanger. Overall, "Gantz" is a pretty good slice of Japanese-style popcorn cinema. It ain't high art, but I will say this: I'm already looking forward to Part 2.
Review by Brandon Tenold
Gantz is the latest in a line of Japanese attempts at Hollywood-style blockbuster films that have emerged in the last few years, with movies like "K-20", "20th Century Boys" and the recent "Space Battleship Yamato" featuring better effects and higher production values than your typical Japanese film. Based on a best-selling manga and split into two parts, "Gantz" is one of the most ambitious movies in Japanese cinema history, with a reported budget of 4 billion yen, more than $45 million USD (depending on exchange rates of course).
"Gantz" tells the story of Kei Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) and Masaru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama), two old friends that haven't seen each other in years, who while attempting to save a drunk that's fallen onto some subway tracks are hit by a train and seemingly killed. Rather than dying though, the two suddenly find themselves transported into a room with several other "dead" people (including Kei Kishimoto, played by the lovely Natsuna Watanabe) and a mysterious black orb known as "Gantz". Gantz gives them futuristic weapons and suits that grant them superhuman abilities along with instructions to destroy a designated target within a certain amount of time. The "targets" consist of a variety of bizzare aliens who when destroyed give the killer a certain amount of points that they can then use to either gain their freedom or resurrect a fallen comrade.
And that's the basic premise of the movie, a Japanese blockbuster than combines special f/x, action, humor and of course, a liberal dose of Japanese-style melodrama.
I'm not familiar with the manga or anime series that this movie is based on, but from what I understand, it's noteworthy for it's extreme levels of sex and violence. While there's not much in the way of sex (a bit of a shame, considering Watanabe is VERY easy on the eyes), the violence is appropriately blood and slime splattered. At their best, the action sequences are both exciting and humorous. Given that the movie concerns humans using strange weapons to take down alien monsters, "Gantz" almost seems like a bloodier version of "Men in Black" at times. The aliens, which consist of everything from an onion-headed creature to a doll-like robot in sneakers and a striped shirt, are a mixture of goofy and unique, with a distinctively Japanese flavor to them. They're not exactly scary, but I can't really say I've ever seen creatures like them in a movie before. The effects, for the most part, are quite impressive, with the last battle between a huge stone monster and a multi-armed buddha statue recalling Ray Harryhausen's work in movies like "Jason and the Argonauts" and "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad". And I mean that as a compliment! For a nation still associated in westerner's minds with rubber-suited monsters stomping on tinker toys, this is a huge step forward.
Perhaps because it's based on a serialized manga, the movie can seem a little episodic at times, what with it's formula of "suit up, fight monster, recover, repeat", but thankfully the movie doesn't feel too disjointed, despite trying to cram what I assume must be several chapters of story into a relatively short running time.
The screening I attended was dubbed, so I can't comment too much on the actor's performances (the dubbing wasn't great), but based on his facial expressions and body language, Ninomiya is the standout as Kurono. It's fun watching his transformation from meek, sexually frustrated underacheiver to cocky, would-be superhero once he gets a handle on his suit and weapons. His character is given the lions share of humorous moments, in contrast to the more angsty Matsuyama, who supplies the requisite amount of melodrama. Watanabe doesn't do much more than look pretty, but she accomplishes that task in spades.
"Gantz" leaves several questions unanswered, but given that this is only part 1 of 2, that's understandable, the movie ending on an appropriately mysterious cliffhanger. Overall, "Gantz" is a pretty good slice of Japanese-style popcorn cinema. It ain't high art, but I will say this: I'm already looking forward to Part 2.
Review by Brandon Tenold
I caught the US premiere event too. Enjoyed the movie even though the English dubbing was terrible. They toned the perverse elements down and upped the ages of the characters for the actors but it was a pretty faithful adaptation. My friend who has never read the manga or seen the anime said it was pretty cool but he didn't care about any of the characters. I always thought that was an interesting, slightly subversive aspect of the manga, not having a likeable main character and making every character expendable.
Having only seen the first four episodes of the anime, my brother and I went to see this last night. It's definitely less perverse, but a lot of the gore is still there. Overall, we had a blast watching this and based on the preview, the second looks to be better. Looking forward to it. The more bizarre Japanese stuff I get to see, the better. Oh, and before I go, I have to mention how gorgeous Watanabe is. Brandon's right in saying that she doesn't do much, but she's hot, for sure. She was actually kind of distracting, now that I think about it.
it's out already!? O_o
i remember watching it, i stopped at season 2 because all the episodes were just about teen sex and immature stuff man!
I like the first 7 episodes because they were realistic and funny, but after that it seems to aim at teen who only watch media for sexual theme:/
i'm glad they tonned down the sexual trash in the movie.
Great review. I'm surprised the film turned out as well as it did. As a fan of the manga, and to a lesser extent the anime, I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this movie.
For anyone interested in the anime ignore that ending. The manga is on going so the series has a bizarre, poorly conceived conclusion that may leave you dissatisfied. I strongly recommend reading the books if this story interests you.
How can i catch a screening of this? I had no idea it was going to play in the US!
the Manga is infinitely better (and way more brutal / perverse) than the Anime. It starts out completely bombastic and at one point, takes a completely unexpected turn. Then takes another unexpected turn. And now, supposedly, in its final arc, the series has taken on a 3rd unexpected turn. I'm actually surprised that they didn't make this movie a 3 parter, since there were 3 major twists.
It makes me wonder whether or not the 2nd movie will follow the current ending arc of the book.