Gintama

Having watched this in October 18, more than a year after the movie release, I have the fortune of watching Bleach and FMA live actions as well. And this is undoubtedly the best.

I'm a Gintama fan (anime and manga) until the start of the final arc, which was too serious for my taste. But wow, this adaptation is so fantastic I don't know what to say.

Basically, this live adaptation only has an intro, one small comedy arc and the usual Benizura arc (which was already covered in a 2010 anime movie covering only that arc). I never thought the day would come where that arc could be live action and it doesn't disappoint. The production team only covered the most relevant introduction of characters and scenes for character development and left out the excess details.

Greats: Actors, acting, faithful to original source for scenes covered, music, graphics, CG, well basically nearly everything

Cons: The shouting parts might be too loud for cinema-goers (well, though it applies the same to the anime and 2010 movie), and a few details were missing that would build up the characters more (e.g. Katsura's real identity)

Kinda shocked to see a 6+ rating... not sure why it's so low but it is really enjoyable and Gintama-style. To add on, Gintama has better sword arts and CG than Bleach... lol

Gintama is a so-called jidaigeki action comedy film based upon the popular manga series of the same name. I would rather categorize the movie as steampunk comedy. It combines elements of feudal Japan such as clothing and dwellings of that era as well as the terminology of the capital being refered to as Edo and the presence of samurai and ronin with science-fiction elements such as the presence of aliens, flying ships and sophisticated weapons. This mixture makes for a colourful, entertaining and vivid movie even though characters and stories are completely exaggerated and make me think of the slapstick comedy genre. The story takes place in Edo where aliens have taken control after defeating a group of rebellious samurai. Gintoki Sakata is one of the surviving ronin and is doing odd jobs with former waiter Shinpachi and the vivid Kagura. They are asked to find a powerful sword that was apparently stolen and which seems to be used by a mysterious serial killer who assassinates ronin. These incidents seem to be related to sinister ronin Shinsuke Takasugi who has gathered a group of fierce followers on a flying ship and who pretends to desire to challenge the aliens who defeated his comrades and him. Gintoki Sakata must arrest the pitiless serial killer, face his former comrade and retrieve the dangerous sword before it causes any more damage.

There are numerous things that make this live-action film adaptation highly entertaining. First of all, the franchise's eclectic universe is fascinating to watch as it always comes around with new creative surprises. When the main characters are looking for a valuable royal beetle in a forest, we get introduced to characters covering themselves in honey, smearing mayonnaise on a tree and disguising themselves as giant beetle to catch the mysterious insect. If that description makes you shake your head in disbelief, expect plenty of scenes like this one in the movie. The characters are equally intriguing and I particularly liked some of the female characters like the agile, colourful and eccentric protagonist Kagura with her orange hair and soft skin or the brutal, emotional and loyal antagonist Matako Kijima with her two revolvers that always seem to miss their target. There isn't one single boring, predictable or stereotypical character in this movie which is positively exceptional. The movie's pace is as vivid as its universe and truly entertaining from start to finish.

There are also a few downsides here and there. The most obvious offender is the story which is truly over the top but often lacking background information, for example about the strange aliens controling Edo. It's also somewhat confusing, frustrating and random that seemingly deceased characters suddenly come back to life in vague circumstances and appear out of nowhere at the right moment. It seems obvious to me that this franchise doesn't take adversity, coherency and scriptwriting seriously at all. As colourful as the characters are, some of them can become quite annoying after a while like megalomaniac swordsmith Murata Tetsuya who always shouts because of a hearing problem or cabaret hostess Shimura Tae who seems to be obsessed with controlling Gintoki Sakata as much as she possibly can. One also has to address the typically Japanese humor which will please those familiar with it while it might rather confuse those unfamiliar with it. The movie had a few great laughs, especially in the beginning of the story, but sometimes dwelled on these elements for too long and lost momentum in the process.

Gintama offers light-hearted entertainment for colourful, creative and juvenile spirits and is a very welcome change from movies that take themselves overtly seriously and try to teach their audience a lesson. This diversified, vivid and unique steampunk comedy potpourri is an unusual experience and best enjoyed with your friends when you're in a good mood and ready to switch your brain off. This memorable film is highly recommended to fans of Japanese culture. Since I'm not familiar with the source material, I can't comment upon any comparisons but I certainly enjoyed the wild ride and would watch this film again.

Lets get this straight, 1. Live action anime adaptations are terrible and 2. foreign films don't score high on western rating sites. Now that is out of the way, The movie totally breaks statement 1 by not doing what most live actions tend to do, which is change the story and are able to summarize their cast by understanding the genre this movie is as well as the audience members that have come to watch. So if youre looking for a decent live action anime adaptation this movie exceeds it.

As an anime/manga fan i'm very skeptical when it come to live action adaptation movie although this year Ghost in the Shell is surprisingly good but not until the Gintama live action movie it finally blew me away.Gintama is my all time favorite comedy anime and probably the hardest anime to make a adaptation cause the whole series is a one big anime/manga parody but thank to the director for understanding the source material all the jokes and references pull out very well.The cast definitely have a blast while making the movie cause not only they look very close but also portrayed very well all the beloved characters in the series.The production value is good when they manage to recreate all the little details and important aspect of the movie.Non anime fan also can enjoy this movie and cause they choose the Benizakura arc which is the most easy arc to know all the characters.My problem is there not enough screen time for some character and one of the main villain of the series is Shinsuke Takasugi pretty laughable.There still some fan favorite side characters need to be introduce and the fight scene need to be better choreographed but i believe this is a good step for live action movie right now

The Gintama movie could have been better. The story was okay and entertaining and the characters interesting and likable. However, the CGI were very poor and the execution overall was weak, following the anime premisses so closerly, to the point that it was idiotic. Also, some, (not all) costumes looked quite fake. Other than that, the plot was nice, with many action scenes and some solid fights. The performances were good as well. So, five and a half out of ten.