Parasyte

Apparently, this story was a comic and an "anime", so I'm surprised fan-boys aren't out baying for the director's blood after he "destroyed/ruined/raped" their favourite cartoon with a live-action version. Which is usually the case.

For those like myself, who had no idea of Parasyte's roots, it's easy to sit back and enjoy a film that's very off-kilter, and unmistakably Japanese.

So, what's it all about?

One night, some ugly crawling creatures float down from... outer space? I don't know, it's never mentioned nor does it ever need to be, but these creatures eat a person's brain and take over the body, with the head then going Resident Evil-style psychotic to feed on other humans.

One boy falls asleep listening to music and the parasite somehow enters his hand instead, taking over just that part of his body, thus leaving him relatively intact. As the other infested bodies go about wreaking havoc, our teen with the alien hand soon finds himself up against them, and so the adventure beings.

Aimed at teenagers, the gore level and dark undertones are surprising, but add a great deal of depth to what is ultimately a boy strolling around with a talking, morphing, glove puppet. Overall though, the characters deliver, the stakes escalate and it ends just itching for a sequel, which I'm led to believe has already been completed.

If you can get past the first half an hour with the cute alien hand talking and curiously studying the world, you'll most likely go on to really get into this and will enjoy it a great deal for your effort; if you can't stand the idea of watching CGI monster fights against a puppet and find the whole concept too ridiculous to bear, then there's not much point even putting it on to begin with.

Personally, I'd definitely recommend this film.

Okay first things first...

This is an adaptation of a single season anime. The Anime is great. BUT The movie Parasyte (Part 1 and Part 2) is also great.

Don't do what I did. "Oh the series is supposed to be better, I'll watch that first."

The Series is great but the movie holds it's own, especially how they develop the effects. The series takes the plot into intricate detail and kind of wreaks the movie.

I wish I now saw the movie first and then waited a few months and watched the series second.

Because the movies (Part 1 and Part 2) as a whole are great.

Despite advocating for the harmonious co-existence between races (a theme that crops up in conversation too many times to be coincidence), Parasyte is a testament to human selfishness, with many characters pursuing their own desires, without thinking of other people, or the potential consequences.

Though friends of mine see me as an 'anime addict' my lacking knowledge of the anime this feature is based upon, did not infringe upon my experience. The beginning of the film sees multiple parasitic organisms finding their way into human society, though their origins remain unexplored. Invading the bodies of potential hosts, the parasites completely take over, and despite having an obscene appetite for human flesh, they also exhibit a dire craving for knowledge, with stereotypical plans for world domination. Imagine a combination of Slither and Supernatural Season Seven, and you're on the right track. Though infected humans like Ryoko (Eri Fukatsu) have an open mind, and attempt to find a way to coexist amongst the human populace, most of her kind do not share such peaceful agendas.

Shinichi (Shota Sometani) is a high-school student, with nerdy hobbies and few friends, though his character's life before the film is rarely touched upon. During the first scene in which we are introduced to his character, a parasitic organism invades his body, taking control of his arm. Later referred to as Migi (voiced by Sadao Abe), the creature quickly acquires great intellect, and knowledge of its surroundings, despite the predicament that it was meant to seize control of Shinichi's brain. Regardless of his situation, Shinichi is seldom seen as a sympathetic character, a certain degree of humor transpiring in regards to both his nightmarish experience, and the banter that takes place between him and Migi.

That being said, his mother (Nobuko Izumi), and love interest Satomi (Ai Hashimoto) are certainly depicted sympathetically, though neither of them is ever provided significant screen time to be truly memorable. Shota's mother is allocated some degree of backstory, and Ms. Izumi's talents heighten her character's motherly affections. Satomi on the other hand, is depicted as either the damsel in distress, or as an object of copulation, and is rarely treated as a mature, young woman.

Other characters, including Detectives Hirama (Jun Kunimura) and Tsuji (Takashi Yamanaka) provide the viewer with information necessary to the plot, though seldom is it explained how they themselves acquired such knowledge, while characters including Goto (Tadanobu Asano) and Yamagishi (Kosuke Toyohara) appear in cameo roles, presumably with the intent to have them portray larger roles in the sequel.

Much like The Thing, a film which would make any viewer paranoid about their surroundings, Parasyte is a film that will occasionally leave you wriggling in your chair at the sight of such violence. Although blood-thirsty, what is most disturbing is watching such disgusting creatures eating human flesh. This is accentuated by the effects, which are truly superb, the creatures looking incredibly imaginative, unique and realistic.

Upon discovery that those around him are being taken over, Shinichi and Migi form an unlikely alliance to combat the villainous creatures. Although Parasyte is unafraid to have characters experience great tragedy, at the same time, the film is very predictable, even for someone who hasn't seen the anime, and though the acting cannot be faulted, the melodrama did take away from some of the experience. This being said, Parasyte provides the viewer with an original experience, which is as tense as it is entertaining, though lacking information and an anti-climatic finish, may leave question marks bobbing above your head.

I went into this without knowing anything about it coming originally from an anime/manga comic and to say I found it bizarre in the extreme is an understatement.

It just goes to show that when you think the moviemakers have run out of ideas, along comes something mind blowing that will challenge that idea.

The acting is excellent and the story is just bizarre, weird, strange, outlandish; so many words that can describe its crazy idea but it works - a man with what looks like a speaking male sex toy as his left hand with a human eye on it, not only was it bizarre it was hilarious and yet the extremely gruesome violence in the movie was total incongruous to the humorous side of the story.

It really is hard to describe you really have to watch it to see it and believe it. This one deserves nothing less than a solid 7 stars out of 10 for its ingenuity, super CGI effects and solid acting from all concerned!

To be honest I never read the Japanese comic book version before but now, I think I should start reading one. Even though Parasyte Part 1 seems to have some unsettling moments going on, but at the end it all wraps up really well from its thoughtful and amusingly entertaining storytelling. All the actors here did their roles really well thanks to the script that leaves room for character development resulting in an effectively touching moment in the last act. The effects in the film is also impressive in an Asian film level and it gets really bloody, GORY, and disturbing throughout as well. I may not be able to compare it to the comic since I never read it but overall here, Parasyte Part 1 is an accomplishment in entertainment value while being able to add in thoughtful social context and creating a character where audience can actually care about. It's a film that you can be fully satisfy once the credit rolls but still make you crave for more sequel.

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