Jeux d'enfants

At core, Takashi Miike's As The Gods Will may seem like another Battle Royale rip-off as we've seen oh so many times before but I don't exactly believe that to be the case.

The cinematography on one hand was gripping, the color scheme meshed so amazingly. This was a rather pretty movie to look at all things considered.

The acting was a bit weak from some of the minor characters but the actors for the main characters was great.

Now as for the movie itself, it was fun which really is all I demand of a movie. To be entertaining. I don't even think the premise was bad.

The concept of the gods playing games with humans in order to test their skills is something that has been around since ancient Greece, but this did it exceptionally well as it never felt too forced. If it had gone to great lengths trying to explain everything it would've ruined the feel of the movie.

It's a ride from the start to the ending, never once did I feel bored during it and there were several moments where it was actually suspenseful.

I know some film snobs might overlook this movie as not being good enough due to it being a bit silly, but I think they are missing out on a brilliant experience.

I recommend this movie if you just want to sit back and enjoy a suspenseful ride with charm, creepiness and gore.

WOW! This is NOT my normal fare, let me tell you. Normally I would cross to the other side of the 'street' rather than watch many of Takashi Miike's films. BUT... I had indeed kind of braced myself for a bit of a cartoony gore-fest, although that is NOT my first choice in films. But, this premise was SO damn WAAAAAAAAY OUT there, that I just had to check it out.

Man, I truly do not know where to start... I am still kind of reeling a bit from the film, which I JUST finished. Well, firstly, it was not really that realistically gory or graphic; it mostly had a more cartoon-like vibe to it. And, regardless of the director's NOTORIOUS proclivity for extreme, sadistic violence (thus my normal avoidance of his films) this one honestly came off as not really that explicit or 'Real'. Other films of his where he has actual PEOPLE doing horrific, REALISTIC things to other people, I wouldn't come within 100 miles of, but based upon the extremely Fantastical premise, I figured that this would not likely be another one of his super heavy-handed Sadist- fests, and it truly wasn't.

YES, the basic premise of what these 'Gods' are doing to these students is of course in principle quite terrible. But, that really wasn't the point of the film; the primary focus was NOT just a big set-piece for a bunch of gory deaths, although those do happen, but for most part, with a couple of exceptions (where I did FF a bit) they were not graphic or overly explicit.

At the end, without giving anything away, you are left with a feeling that there are more layers to this than seems evident on the surface. As a matter of fact, the last minute or two actually left me kind of puzzled because I didn't quite understand what exactly happened (so I will be frigg'n LIVING on discussion boards until I find that out!) One underlying level of the film is fairly apparent concerning the one fellow learning to appreciate the life that he has (sort of a Psychedelic, Acid-induced 'IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE' by way of Takashi Miike) But, even beyond that there are other things touched upon and quite unexpectedly thought-provoking.

So, I can fully understand how some here (3/5?) who are likely VERY hard core Miike fans, would be BITTERLY disappointed that this is NOT one of his usual more horrific and sadistic films, and probably just find this one totally Stupid. Understandable... BUT... for me, NOT a usual fan of Miike, heh... what I would call by comparison a 'Normal' person (using the term VERY loosely) I think the movie if you give it some thought, actually is more intriguing and entertaining and surprisingly thought-provoking than what might appear at first glance.

So, I would say that if you are a hard core Miike fan and you really LIKE his usual hard core stuff, than this film will probably leave you flatter than Chaz Bono. BUT... If you like your Horror films REALLY Imaginative, and you aren't just looking for a bunch of torture-porn sadism, and if you can be patient and give the movie some thought, I think that many people will definitely come away from seeing this with several different feelings and levels that the movie touches in you that you would not expect...

I frequently like Miike's films, and had missed this one--I only found out about it because of the accusations that it had somehow been ripped off by "squid Game," not that I've seen that series either--so I decided to give it a look. It's certainly well-crafted, but this is a case where his liveliness and skill as a director can't do much with material that is inherently silly and repetitious. It starts to wear out patience even in the first setpiece, and every successive one is the same thing: Another "god" in cutesy CGI critter form killing off teens in a "game" with arbitrary rules just cuz...well, because apparently gods don't have anything better to do.

The characters are too one-dimensional (and mostly too shortlived) to care about, the manga-based action too absurd to work up any real suspense, the action too absurd to be exciting. I admit I didn't make it to the end; there was absolutely nothing of value beyond the slick production values to hold attention. I'm giving it a 5 because it's the sort of "extreme" Japanese cinema some people like (which usually involves comely schoolgirls being slaughtered in "gory" yet patently unrealistic, CGI-heavy ways), but if you want anything more than that pretty dumb level of empty, colorful stimulus, it's one of Miike's least interesting projects. Of course, he makes so many, it hardly affects his batting average.

I watched this film without reading the manga prior. I've watched some of Miike's ultraviolent movies before this but going in forward, i've not set any expections for this movie.

I'd like to mention the positive things first. I love Miike's violent movies. I think he's the best director for this genre, and there are a lot of em expecially in the first half of the movie. However, the black comedy moments seemed to shine the most in this film. I remembered laughing out loud in a few scenes in this movie and that's an impressive feat.

That's all the about the good stuff, unfortunately. The film was marred by a lot of terrible aspects. One of them was the antagonist. I believe it's a bad casting overall. The antagonist was portrayed as edgy and the actor seemed to hate this role. It was obvious he tried too hard and it ended up being cringe thorughout the film.

The absolute worst of this film is definitely the ending. It lead to more questions and plot holes, leaving all the viewers begging for answers. Let's just say it's the slimiest, hairiest balls that was shoved on your face. You'll get me when you get there.

I wish I could say that this movie is worth watching but I really don't think it is except for the die hard asian cinema fan. For someone who likes anime, this might be up their alley but for the run of the mill movie goer, I really don't think it would be that enjoyable except for the first twenty minutes or so. The novelty wears off and none of the characters are much deeper than a Dragon Ball Z character. If you didn't get that reference, skip this one.