Onechanbara: The Movie

First of all, I don't know the game it is based on but just like Final Fantasy The Movie this is really a weird film. Weird isn't maybe the correct word. It contains to many effects like in games, she moves ultra fast and her sword gives her some kind of strong ability. That she moves in the air and so I don't mind that's typical Eastern. But it just didn't work out for me. Just have a look at her arm, she has a rose tattoo but you can easily see that it was that kind of tattoo that's being given in a surprise egg and you have to add with water. But not only that, some zombies look ridiculous, you just see that they have put black make-up around there eyes. Some zombies do look fine and are doing gory stuff (the one that's eating from a corpse) but most effects are pure CGI, even the gun shots are CGI and that was a let down for me. Of course the movie has to do it with the leading ladies and I must say, they all look gorgeous and sexy (leather suit and bikini's). It could have been really good but as most stories based on comics or games the fail to deliver some goods. Just have a look at the fight at the end, it's too long. Not my cup of tea, still I have to see part 2.

For a low budget horror / girl-buddy road picture, with two pretty girls taking on zombie hordes, this could have been worse. The budget was well used, and the camera-work was enthusiastic and imaginative, including an effect where blood spatter would appear to land on the lens. The effects were below the standard of something like Tokyo Gore Police, but good enough to convince and the massed Zombie attacks actually got more elaborate as the movie went on, as if the director got more confident with his action scene staging. The actress playing the central role of the bikini wearing samurai, Eri Otoguro, is a cipher. She handles the action well enough but gives nothing in the way of a performance beyond the occasional stern look, which frankly comes off looking more confused than anything else. The secondary lead, Manami Hashimoto as a leather clad, shotgun-toting bad girl, is an older and obviously more competent actress, and she actually winds up carrying the middle part of the picture. Very watchable, but like all Japanese ultra-violence, this one is not for the squeamish.

"So, feel like killing some zombies?"

Zombies doing karate. Hot girls in bikinis (and cowboy hats) fighting school girls with samurai swords. Copious amounts of blood and gore. Yep, this must be Japanese.

Onechanbara is another entry into the quite popular ultra-gory, shock-action genre of Japanese movies. It's over-the-top in a thousand different ways, and more akin to a video game (which it's based on) than most movies. All the violence is stylized and not the least bit realistic, which fits the tone of the movie perfectly. There's lots of random slow-mo and guns that never need to be reloaded, and even the emotional moments and special effects are handled in a thoroughly cheesy way. There's lots of fighting and enough of a plot to string it all together. What more do you need?   

As for the story, there's an evil scientist with a weird eye, something about a search for a couple of sisters, and (more importantly) loads o' zombies. I have no idea how closely the plot adheres to that of the games, and I'm pretty sure that the people who made the movie probably don't, either. If you're curious about why Aya wears a bikini and has a sword that appears to be magic, or why Reiko's shotgun never runs out of ammo...well, you're watching the wrong movie. This nothing more than absurd action entertainment, and it ended up being better than I thought it would be.  If you're a fan of movies like Machine Girl, you'll be right at home, here.

This is probably another case of the description being better than the movie, but not for lack of trying. Chanbara Beauty is a video game adaptation of OneChanbara and another entry in the latest trend of Japanese over-the-top action/horror hybrids. If it's a win as a VG adaptation that has more to do with how low the likes of Uwe Boll and Paul WS Anderson have set the bar in the VG field than how inherently good Chanbara Beauty is.

The plot is thinly stretched and silly, with various subplots filling in the backstory of the characters. Not that it matters really cos it's all about the bikini splatter here, right? Sure the movie delivers lots of katana splatter as dozens of zombie extras in crude makeup get hacked and slashed, but everything is so CGI heavy it takes some getting used to. The action scenes are reeking of video effects: CGI blood, gun flashes, smoke, fast forwards and all kinds of live action anime silly SFX. There's probably some wire work involved as well and the choreography and swordfighting is surprisingly decent.

Chanbara Beauty is bursting apart in the seams but it's entertaining enough to warrant a view for exploitation hounds. If you can stomach the cheapo video SFX (which are becoming a staple in Japanese flicks lately), you'll probably have a good time, but not without a yawn or two in the middle. It plays like a less gory, less insane, less action-packed, less well-made version of The Machine Girl but if you want your fix of Japanese action/horror exploitation this one's OK I guess.

Based on the video games, this movie version has its good and bad points. The premise is fairly simple. We have Eri Otoguro, bikini, katana, and not much else, dispatching zombies left, right, and center, as she searches for her sister.

Then there is the doctor who's managed to revive the dead, hence the zombie infestation. Both sides meet, and guess which side wins?

Overall, not bad, but there are a couple of problems with this flick. One, after the initial swordfight--which is fun, in its own way--the pacing is slow and the direction isn't very inventive. The family drama of the sisters meeting each other isn't that well played out, and there's never any reason given why our bikini-clad heroine is dressed that way. (Not that I'm complaining, but still...).

On the plus side, Ms. Otoguro is gorgeous, the swordplay is over the top and inventive enough to make the viewer believe that she can handle a katana well, and the action, when it comes, is fast and bloody. There's also the role reversal of Ms. Otoguro being the samurai master (actually mistress), and her retainer is a fat dude (a comedian, IRL) who's her confidante and follows her faithfully. Not a bad idea, really.

Overall, it's a fun watch if you don't take it seriously. Skip the sequel, though. The lead actress is gorgeous, but she can't act, and the screenplay was pretty much non-existent.