Inuyashiki

Watched this yesterday, the movie plot is really good, both characters' backstory were built in such a short period of time but they are flawless, plot twist that makes you wonder where things are really headed are presented in such a nice way.

I loved everything about it until at the last scenes, "my loved one is gonna die-sudden power up" cliche really turned me down, just as the evil character one said during the showdown... I hate it so much when cliche like this happen, it ruins the whole character's progress...

Watch it if you like superhero story with good animation and plot, maybe skip it if you have watched way too many superhero movies... your choice

After watching the trailer, reading the sypnosis and checking out the poster, I didn't expect much, but boy, was I surprised by how good and gripping it was. Despite a few far-fetched concepts, which you shouldn't think too much about, I was blown away by the story, the twists and especially how it was told. I especially liked how some of the most tense moments were some of the smaller ones, such as whether the "bad" guy would "shoot" or not, or how far he would go. Despite some great grandiose music at time, the director often knew when to cut off music to improve such moments.

The storytelling was no doubt helped by tremendous acting performances from the leads, the older man (Inuyashiki Ichiro) and the young man (Shishigami Hiro) who develop powers. I was made to feel sympathy for the kind but disrespected Inuyashiki even though he sometimes emoted too much in action scenes. I felt the menace from the usually stoic young man who sometimes showed glimpses of genuine emotion. Even felt sympathy for him sometimes. Those characters had depth, had a progression and were played so well. Even the secondary characters, such as the young man's best friend and the older man's daughter, were played believably and well. I'm often taken out of Japanese films by "exagerated" acting but such was not the case here.

As I was watching, I was struck that perhaps this wasn't a very expensive film after all, not because it looked cheap, but because there was a certain reserve used as for when and how to show special effects (witness the shooting, the analysis power and the use of screens). It probably worked in its favour as it showed story and directing ingenuity. The special effects were otherwise excellent, especially the creepy transformations and the spectacular final showdown worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. I've seen a ton of "superhero" movies, and I'm not even sure Inuyashiki would qualify as one, but the American ones could certainly learn something from it in terms of characters, suspense, sincerity and storytelling. For me, this film was refreshing, heartfelt and exhilirating despite a few silly elements. Bravo!

I was surprised by this movie. It was a great action movie, with a sci fi basis. The best part of it was the creation of the evil character. We could see the premisses of his evilness, but the events that followed sealed the deal. The good guy was a surprise as well. He was an unexpected hero as he had a difficult life as well, but he choose the other path. Other than that, the performances were really good and the CGI were decent enough. So, 8 out of 10.

Honestly, it's an _alright_ adaptation, there's way worse out there (like Netflix's Death Note for example), but you should just watch the anime instead of this movie, almost everything in the anime is better. Except for the soundtracks.

Now, for the actual review of this movie:

It misses too many aspects of the anime, it rushes them, it applies things from the anime that are purposefully developed, but without developing them in the movie. Ichiro Inuyashiki should care way more about the lives of the people he couldn't save, but in this movie, he doesn't care enough. The whole reason why he wants to save people is because it allows him to "stay human", even as a robot, it allows him to find his humanity again, but in the movie, it's not that clear why he saves them in the first place.

The CGi itself is REALLY good though, way better than the CG which was used in the anime. It's really good CGI which won't take you out of the movie.

Action scenes are also good, they were satisfying to watch.

The soundtracks are also good, maybe better than the ones in the anime, except for one thing. The song used in the trailer isn't used a single time in the movie, except during the credits, which is really dumb as it was a song by MAN WITH A MISSION, the band who did the opening of the anime.

Anyway, overall it's fine, if you're planning to watch the anime but wanna watch this movie too, then watch the movie first then the anime.

I would say this is better than 85% of the stuff coming out from Marvel. Good backstory and character development. Not just mindless action and tiresome "jokes" which make a farce out of everything.