Alive

Alive

Alive is a very entertaining SCI-FI movie from Japan. I have noticed a lot of disappointed film geeks who loved Versus this director's debut film or his third film Azumi. I have heard they are blood drenched films with swords and zombies and all kinds of goodies. Frankly I went to the video store to get Versus but I am just fine with Alive.

If you are looking for beginning to end wall to wall action then Alive is not your pick. There is plenty of action however it comes as pay-off for a whole hour of character driven build-up. Personally I think it is well done and worth it.

Of course some of the plot is silly as with many SCI-Fi action films and I think the subtitles using the term foreign object could have replaced with parasite for greater effect. This film is brutal when it needs to be so faint of heart need not apply.

They kept the budget down by for the most part confining all the action to one underground building(taking a cue from the cube) but the film doesn't suffer for it. Another bonus for this film is intense gothic imagines that are done with great artistic flair during the many Flashbacks and dream sequences.

Rent this!

When I watch Alive (2002) for the first time a couple of years ago I thought the movie was fine despite that it a huge step down compare to the bombastic mess of violence and gore of Versus (2000) but now after reading the manga version which is very short and underwhelming I decided to give the movie another chance and my impression on the story and character still pretty much the same but with many new layer of respect for director Ryuhei Kitamura. Like I said before because the manga was not that good to begin with and when I watch The Making of Alive (2002) for free on Youtube and know the reason why this movie even exists in the first place is because how much the director love the ending of the manga so he makes a whole movie to accompany that ending is flat out insane and kind of inspiring. It a real challenge for the film crew to make this movie as entertaining as possible and I think with the Matrix action scenes and a rematch between Hideo Sakaki and Tak Sakaguchi definitely fill the bill although the movie still suffers greatly from the unnecessary long runtime and the pacing.

I found this movie to be very well-paced. The premise is quite imaginative, and as a viewer I was pulled along as the characters developed. The pacing is done very well for those that like to think--enough is kept hidden from the viewer early on, and questions keep arising which are later answered, producing a well-thought out and very satisfying film, both cerebrally and from an action standpoint.

It seems some people were looking for a non-stop roller-coaster ride with this film--one of those that comes charging out of the gate. This would be more analogous to one of those coasters that first takes you slowly up the hill--creating a wonderful sense of anticipation--and is ultimately, in my mind, more fulfilling for the foundation initially laid.

Excellent film.

"Alive" is a dark dystopian science-fiction drama that convinces with some philosophic thoughts and some social criticism. There are a couple of intriguing mysteries surrounding the movie that keep a certain level of tension. This Japanese flick though lives especially from its dark and twisted dystopian atmosphere and a good graphic work. The acting performances of the two male prisoners and the strange witch are great enough to carry the movie on and have a classic and theatrical approach reminding me of Sartre's "No Exit".

Towards the end, the movie sadly shifts into a rather ordinary fantasy flick with some boring action scenes. I also feel that one could have developed some characters a little bit more and gone more into some details. While there are many interesting aspects, the movie doesn't go as it could have. As soon as the mysteries are solved or left untouched, the story shifts into emptiness and the whole structures gets somewhat overlong, pointless and even emotionless. Even the acting gets less addicting and one loses interest concerning the different characters. The dramatic turn of events in the ending can't save much anymore and leaves the viewers more or less untouched because the flick lost too much credit in its last third.

In the end, the movie is a mixed package with two third of the running time that is rather addicting, diversified and filled with tension, mystery and atmosphere while the last third is less intense and lacks of originality. This is a fairly interesting movie to rent or watch once but only of an average quality compared to many other contemporary Japanese movies and I wouldn't suggest you a blind purchase of this flick. After all, my rating is seven out of ten but I'm maybe still a little bit generous, so don't expect an outstanding movie in here but just some good entertainment with a few enjoyable qualities.

Between "Versus" and "Azumi", I was getting around to liking director Kitamura, but after this entry I'm not so sure anymore. It's got all the promise, but never lives up to it.

A man is sent to the electric chair for the murder of his girlfriend's rapist. However, he survives the execution and is subsequently put into an experiment involving seedy government types, fellow prisoners, containment and a rather hostile alien entity trapped in a girl's body. It seems this entity only likes to latch onto the most blood thirsty host it can find, so death row inmates should make good subjects for government research. Oh, what will happen?

Any and everyone who has sat through one or more Japanese sci-fi flicks should be able to predict who the alien will latch onto and what will happen once it does. Giving that is a moot point, the film doesn't get going until it happens. Unfortunately, it takes a LONG time before the story gets moving, before that viewers have to sit through dry, dull dialogue scenes ad nausea.

Once the film finally takes off, it starts to have some fun. Guys with guns, super-powered fights, the works. It's just way too little, way too late to salvage much interest. Most viewers will not sit long enough to see things pick up, which is really too bad, there is some good sci-fi stuff later on.

A note about the ending: I won't ruin anything, but I think watchers should know that like other films by Kitamura, the movie concludes, but the story doesn't have much of an ending. Make of it what you will.

So many good ideas are wasted on dull story telling and limited conception. Worth a view only to hard-core J-film fanatics.

6/10