Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Dororo (2007)

how is it this movie didn't get much notice over here at all? Dororo is so much fun and cool with an unique story.

I wasn't expecting too much from it, as many recent Japanese fantasy movies have let me down in the past, but this one is a rare exception for me.

as one can see, there are also practical effects in the movie as well as cg.  this is one weird snake demon that our heroes, Dororo the thief and Hyakkimaru fight.  one of the best things about this movie is that it actually has a sense of humor, and the leads have a good chemistry with each other.

Kô Shibasaki  plays Dororo, and she is quite good.  I'd now like to see her in  Shaolin Girl (2008).  Satoshi Tsumabuki is the young man on the quest to defeat 48 demons and he's pretty good as well, though he's supposed to be part wooden (more or less).

in the comic and cartoon Dororo was a young boy.  I've always thought the concept was pretty cool the first time I read about it, in, oh, 1978 or so.  I'd still like to see the cartoon.

the fights are well done as well, with a minimum of cg trickery also.  even when fighting demons they don't do chop-edit stuff.  very nice to see these days.

4 comments:

Hawanja said...

Yeah I got this one on DVD, quite enjoyed it!

X7 said...

after live action disappointments such as Devilman, Tetsujin #28, even the Kamen Rider movies (the First and the Next) to an extent this was a pleasant surprise.

shonokin said...

Really? You didn't like KR The First? I'm surprised.

Dororo is great though. It did a great job of summing up many of the various stories and actually having a reasonable ending, which the manga never did.

I told you about the subbed, color pilot episode of the anime right?

X7 said...

yes, you did- thanks!

I did like KR the First and The Next to an extent. they got all meander-y with a few useless subplots, especially the first one, which could have been used for another action scene. I should watch them again though, it's been a while.

I wanted to like them more, is what I meant.