Dororo

Just finished watching Dororo and I have mixed feelings. Do I like or dislike this movie...

The opening sequence was great, in fact the first 1/3 of the movie was really good. Good fights with CG. Also some humour. The lead is as stiff as a freaking rock but then again that could be due to his character...a man with no heart plus another 47 missing body parts so the chemistry between the stoic hero and the energetic Dororo isn't all there.

There are also parts with some slapstick action/comedy with monsters in rubbers suits, quite amusing even if it seemed to drag a little too long.

I think thats the issue I had with this movie, the middle part seemed to drag on, it was IMO rather boring. The ending .... well I expected more, for me the "pay off" in the end did not come up to the promise set by the beginning of the movie. However since the guy is still missing a lot of body parts there will be a part 2 (hence the ending).

While I would say its not a bad movie, its not one I will watch again.

In the year 3048, the wounded Lord Kagemitsu Daigo (Kiichi Nakai) proposes a deal to rule the whole world to forty-eight demons in their sealed temple. In return, the demons ask forty-eight parts of the body of his unborn son. When the mutilated baby is born, his mother puts him in a basket in the river flow to save his life. The baby survives and becomes the demon slayer Hyakkimaru (Satoshi Tsumabuki) that slash demons to retrieve his body parts. During his journey, he meets the female thief Dororo (Kou Shibasaki), who was raised as a boy after the death of her parents by the evil Lord Daigo, in a small town and she befriends Hyakkimaru and joins him in his quest seeking revenge against the Daigo's clan.

I saw the trailer of "Dororo" and I found it very promising. It is a good fantasy, based on a historic moment of Japan, with reasonable special effects and developed in a slow pace. The story could be a little shorter; Satoshi Tsumabuki and Kou Shibasaki show a great chemistry; but the character Dororo is silly and annoying in many moments. Nevertheless it is an entertaining movie and I will certainly watch the possible sequel, since it still has twenty-four demons to be slashed. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Dororo"

Dororo has a wonderful story and great acting. Unlike some people, I have the ability to enjoy a well written, well acted story and can easily forgive issues that I am sure budget constraints had a hand in.

I understand that there are some scenes that are beyond the budget, but in my opinion they were handled very well.

The protagonist and his companion were easy to like and understand. The story had some nice twist. The story was so well told that I had my Wife watch it and she hates this genre. Well she does not get it sometimes. She really loved the film! It is not too gory and as far as gravity defying stunts, well it is a fantasy tale and there really were not a lot of them. And they were no where near as physics defying as any of the Transporter films. This is a very good film.

I love the visual imagery in this movie it is so WEIRD! Dororo is a story that I can't really tell you too many details about without blowing the plot and the surprises but suffice it to say if you like to see Japanese demons represented on screen you should WATCH THIS! It's super cool. Lots of good kung fu which is rare for most Japanese films that have a fantasy tilt to them lots of awesome monsters for our hero to fight, and an excellent character foil in the form of a female thief sidekick for comic relief. This movie reminded me of a real-actor version of Ninja Scroll the epic anime that will go down in history as one of the coolest visual candy anime's for it's time.

This uses real life actors and a combination of costumes and cgi for the demons. Occasionally the special effects are rubber suits but it's still good enough to tell the story. With a bigger budget they could have really gone over the top with the special effects but oh well... this still kicks ass as a script and a story and the visuals are still awesome.

If you are in the mood to lose your mind, eat some mushrooms and watch this movie... it'll freak you out with all the weird fantasy creatures in it.

Plot - a demon killer hunts down the meaning of his existence while trying to purge himself of his own demon status and become human. His sidekick is a female thief with a big mouth and he is the typical quiet swordsman that can tear apart a room if need be. they travel on the road by foot and meet several demons on the way.

Awesome.

I was really pained to see such negative comments about this movie.. by someone from japan itself.

We don't have to feed on eve dished out by the Hollywood.. and we certainly don't have to compare our movies to Hollywood. Sure Hollywood produces top quality movies but then eve doesn't have to be Hollywood style...

Having said that I think Dororo is no less entertaining than any action flick. Sure there r glitches here and there but who cares...

I thought Kou Shibasaki as a wicked crook was both hilarious and brilliant .. Her language [ A local dialect of Japanese ? ] increased my fascination for the Japanese language even more..

Dororo for me represents another aspect of the Japanese culture which I have come to love and respect.

I request to the people who know ... to comment, having a broader perspective in mind ... because for many, this place is the primary contact for information on movies..

Can't wait to for Part 2 & 3 ...