Devilman

Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about the original series, and watched this movie only because the trailer was really cool. Thus, I went into it not knowing what to expect. I guess going in blind is an advantage in some cases. I actually liked this movie pretty well, though I didn't always understand who everyone was and what was going on. In some ways, this reminded me of a Romero zombie movie, and not only because it's kinda cheesy and involves evil dead things that attack people. It seemed to contain similar themes of social commentary, in this case mostly about man's cruelty and inhumanity towards other man, and the way fear can spark violence and paranoia. Based on that impression of the movie, the special-effects fight scenes seemed out of place, to me, almost like a distraction. I had the feeling the whole time I might understand more of what was going on had I been a fan of the original, but since they're said to be completely different, I doubt it would've helped much. As weird as it sounds, I'd have to suggest not seeing the original before this. It seems it's an easier movie to like that way.

Having no preconceived ideas about what this movie should be like I count myself fortunate or I would have found myself irritated and frustrated rather than merely confused and disappointed.

I have little idea about the actual plot of Devilman but this disjointed jumble of scenes was anything but smooth. While I finally understood the actual storyline by the end I think the only thing that really came across (and by no virtue of the terrible acting) was what my already somewhat fan-girl mind had conjured up at the beginning wasn't far from the mark.

With the CGI, scenery, acting and plot coherency the only thing that buoyed this rating up was Susumu, and perhaps the end.

The weak teenager Akira Fudô (Hisato Izaki) has been protected by his best friend Ryô Asuka (Yûsuke Izaki) since they were children. When Akira's parents die in an accident, the family Makimura brings him to live with them, and Akira falls in love for the gorgeous Miki Makimura (Ayana Sakai). When the father of Ryô accidentally opens a gate to hell in Antarctica, demons are released, merging with humans to survive. Akira hosts Aman and becomes Devilman but keeping his humanity while Ryô hosts Satan. The hysteria and panic replaces reason and mankind initiates a war against the demons, but destroying also themselves.

I have never read any comic book of "Devilman", therefore I am not familiarized with this character of manga. But this movie shows a promising idea wasted in a messy but also entertaining screenplay. This apocalyptical story shows Akira and Ryô as best friends, but never explains the motive of the evilness of Ryô. Further, it seems that there are "good demons" and evil ones, and Akira is the last hope of the human race, but the story does not develop well the motives of the two friends. Anyway this movie is underrated in IMDb with 3.8 and I liked it in the end. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Devilman"

after seeing the first two devil man anime on video some time ago, i was pleasantly surprised to find a real-life version of it on DVD. but after watching the first 10 minutes it became abundantly clear that this movie couldn't live up to the standard of the original series.

while the special effects didn't suck that much (but sometimes reminding of a beat em up on your average console) the rest of the move was brain-imploringly bad. even with the knowledge from the original series this movie just makes no sense. not at all. the single scenes are barely connected, in parts even contradicting each other. the dialogue of the German version (which i watched) was painstakingly bad and sometimes even made you laugh out loud ("ich bin schliesslich Satan!") , the actors (if they even are actors, that is) mostly manage to keep the same expression throughout the entire movie. the fights aren't that bad, but mostly over after like 5 seconds and cant redeem the rest of the movie at all.

conclusion: "normal" viewers shouldn't touch this movie with a ten foot pole, even fans of the original series should have problems understanding it, not even counting in the various logical errors in the story as the movie tells it. i want that 90min of my life back.

This movie was honestly pitiful. I'm a fan of the Devilman series and this movie was one of the most horrible portrayals of such a memorable and amazing series. The cast consists of a lot of teen pop idols and they couldn't act even if their life depended on it. The "stance" the main character goes into when he's between his human and devil form is just horrific to watch. And he even walks around in the freakin stance! The fight choreagraphy is just plain horrid as well. When Akira is fighting Syrene that was absolutely pitiful. I was kind of disappointed also in the fact that a lot of the movie was CG. It gave the movie a game feeling most of the time. Another thing was the fact that they modified the story a bit. And that was one of the biggest reasons that made this movie so bad. You're better off watching the trailer if you want to get a glimpse of the good stuff. I was so hyped when I saw the trailer but once I saw the movie, the trailer was even better. If you want to see a great rendition of the series watch the OVA.