The Yin-Yang Master

A fantasy martial arts film set in feudal Japan, Onmyoji uses a good cast of characters and a mystical setting to keep the audiences entertained.

When I caught this film on TV (Showtime, I believe), I was immediately drawn in. There are demons, Shinto-like priests, curses, spells, and impressive costume designs to entertain.

The story is basic-- a young well-to-do member of the court finds himself relying on help from an half-demon Onmyoji priest to protect the kingdom-- but the world of Onmyoji is fascinating and fun to watch. It's not everyday you get to watch people battle it out with chants and prayers, evil demons, and people can fly.

Despite a previous bad review, I recommend this film to anyone who has the opportunity to see it. It's a fantasy film, but the world of Onmyoji is compelling and will draw you in.

This one definitely had me from start to finish. It introduces the Onmyoji and definitely draws you into their world. The costumes and setting are stunning with vibrant colors and makes the time period look authentic. Mitsumishi is my favorite with her chirpy, fluttering nature while Lady Aone really shines as a woman with deep sorrow. Seimei and Hiromaki have this friendly rapport which shows the bond of friendship the two share; almost brotherlike. Hideaki Ito does well here and didn't recognize him as same actor in Blister and the Princess Blade. Overall, Seimei's carefree, yet enigmatic nature and brave (yet naive) Lord Hiromaki form this chemistry which provides for funny moments. Plus, relationships enfold as the story progresses. The CG effects amplify this eerie magical world, but are not overdone which is a credit to the film as well.

Overall, Onmyoji is surprisingly a great example of modern japanese cinema. Great story, characters, I definitely want to see the sequel.

I rented this movie expecting it to be cool in certain ways, which only goes to prove the old adage: never judge a DVD by its cover. Especially not in a dusty, abandoned corner of your local Blockbuster. In any case, Onmyouji was pretty much not-cool at all in any of the ways I had anticipated coolness; its wholly unique brand of cool came from somewhere else, somewhere unexpected, somewhere completely different. In the end, that's what won me over -- Onmyouji is the cool you just don't expect.

Most of that cool stems from the acting and, therefore, from the characters themselves; the former operating on multiple levels of "fantastic" and the latter managing to intrigue, amuse and inspire great fondness by the movie's conclusion. I think the main joy of watching Onmyouji is Nomura Mansai's stellar performance; you get the picture early on that he's the real deal. He moves like some otherworldly spirit gracing his audience with his at once delicate and wry presence; some sort of living embodiment of mono no aware with a smirking edge and quirky eyebrows. I felt instinctively that it was an honor just to be watching him on my living room TV.

Sanada Hiroyuki, while I felt sometimes that he'd stumbled onto the wrong set by accident and then figured "Hey, what the hell, maybe I'll get paid," delivered a wonderful performance as well. I was a fan of his before this movie, and I remain a fan.

The special effects and some of the stages may be a bit on the cheap side but part of me feels that it was an intentional super-awareness of the movie-as-a-stage. The whole film watched and felt like traditional Japanese theatre, and not just because of Nomura Mansai's traditional Japanese theatre aura. As some sort of wild throwback to Murasaki Shikibu's classic and the literary tropes of Heian court culture, this film is a definite winner. Listen not to the people who were expecting a grand and lavish cinematic spectacular; this movie wanted to look like a stage and so it created one, on which its excellent stage actors excelled.

This film could have been fabulous, but rather weak direction and a mediocre budget drops it to the "Good" category in my book.

Its chief attraction is the wonderful world of Buddhist sorcery that it conjures up, sorcerers chanting macabre spells in contest with each other in chants of increasing tension and beauty. Central to the plot is the relationship of the enigmatic magician Abe no Seimei (Holmes) and his young "ii otoko" apprentice Minamoto no Hiromaki, strolling around Heian Kyoto solving mysterious magical crimes.

Abe no Seimei and all his graceful rituals is a joy to watch and hear. Mansai Nomura really get top acting chops here for creating a wonderfully wierd and brilliant magician with an unforgettable grin like a sly fox. His contests with the equally well acted Doson (Hiroyuki Sanada) are the heights of the film in my opinion.

There is so much wonderful magic in this film, it is hard to say why it is not totally satisfying. The costumes are brilliant, but many of the sets look a bit shoddy. The story starts out complex and mysterious but then sort of falls into one dimensional "end of the world" boredom. Nomura and Sanada are brilliant, but many of the other actors can be amateurish. Overall it was hard to put my finger on, but I blamed the direction and cinematography most. There just was so much here that could have made a masterpiece, but one left with mixed feelings.

Highly recommended though despite its flaws. If the idea of seeing 11th century Kyoto YinYang master magicians duel it out in all their occult glory fascinates you, don't miss this.

If your looking for martial arts this isn't your movie. But, being the Vincent Price/Boris Karloff scorcerer fight fan that I am, It's a fun movie to watch. The scorcerer chants are enthralling. The special effects are pretty good about 70% of the time but fall short to sometimes quite poor here and there. I'd give it a 6.5 to 7 outta 10. Worth the rent if your into magic ;)