Gantz : Révolution

Sometimes Science Fiction can get out of hand to the point where nothing makes sense anymore and the viewer is left with a big Question mark over his head...This is one of those movies. If you didn't see the first part don't even attempt this because you'll REALLY be lost...and if you did see the first part, you'll probably still be asking yourself "what the hell just happened?". A confusing mess!

Granted, I have only seen the "Gantz 0" movie, which was overly enjoyable. So when I was given the chance to sit down and watch "Gantz: Perfect Answer" (aka "Gantz 2"), of course I jumped at the chance.

However, "Gantz: Perfect Answer", from 2011, was just not as enjoyable as the 2016 "Gantz 0" movie. Not even by a long shot.

What was wrong with "Gantz: Perfect Answer"? Well, first of all the character gallery was a scrambled mess that gave the audience surprisingly little insight in whom all the characters were. And believe you me, there were many characters! This shallow character gallery was an anchor around the movie.

And the storyline wasn't particularly well-thought through. It seemed more like an impromptu script made up as director Shinsuke Sato went along. The storyline was all over the place with multiple sub-scripts, none of which came to a proper fruition and completion as the movie drew to an end. There were so many unanswered questions to the storyline.

The acting was good, though, and they did have a good ensemble of actors and actresses, just a real shame that they were given flaccid characters without any proper meat on their bones, so to speak. They were essentially, just portraying the same character when you think about it.

As for the action in "Gantz: Perfect Answer", well, I will say that it was nicely executed. Lots of good action sequences throughout the course of the movie. However, the drama aspects to the storyline had a tendency of overshadowing the action aspects, which I found to be a shame. I wanted to watch action and fighting in the movie, not a TV soap opera drama.

All in all, then I am rating "Gantz: Perfect Answer" a mediocre five out of ten stars. The movie really failed to impress and entertain me properly in most aspects. Sure, it was watchable, but it was a horrible scrambled mess of a movie.

What a way to ruin one of the best mangas of all time. What a mess.

The first film was decent although a bit boring, roughly followed the manga.. dragged on some scenes and unnecessarily skipped other important ones, but it is understandable due to limited time. Ending was changed a lot but still recoverable from this error in judgment.

This time however very very little went according to the excellent story in the manga. There was so much potential, but wasted.. the last invasion arc would have made an excellent film, but this was too early for that of course. .but even just some of the finer missions would have been fine. I can think of at least 3 of similar caliber to the ending of the first film.. not exactly sure at which part the plot was in 2011 but still.

Acting was fine, action pretty cool, but the plot was a mess and pure wasted potential. Just read the manga.. and weep.

Like Hollywood, Japan has its fair share of films adapted from the manga / graphic novel medium, and the first Gantz film showed what I had missed out. While being self-contained to a certain extent with the final scene leaving the door wide open for a follow up film, Gantz The Perfect Answer served up the concluding companion episode that's relatively different in tone and treatment, with the first film being that special effects extravaganza of a science fiction mystery that took its time to explain the rules of engagement to the audience, and this one being more measured in pace to explore and deepen the relationships between characters.

So for those who had come to expect an all out fight fest between the Gantz warriors and what was the myriad of alien lifeforms introduced in the previous film, this one had limited set action pieces to thrill you, with a consistent enemy solely being the shape shifting "Men in Black" aliens, extremely difficult to get rid of and who can forge weapons out of thin air. But that didn't mean the action got dumbed down, on the contrary they just become bigger scaled, and complex, especially the subway sequence involving different teams up against persistent enemies, weaving into and out of a speeding subway train using a whole host of weapons and strategies rolled into one.

The other action sequences didn't offer anything not seen before since it involved the usual hunter-prey type chases, although a three way street swordfight upped the ante before the all out whack fest as the finale that called too much attention to itself due to the fact that common sense logic gave way to wanting to achieve cool framing. There will be moments in the film that will make you wonder about continuity and inconsistencies especially to the ground rules drawn up, and the effects, outcomes and aftermath of weapon inflicted damages, but I can probably explain it away with Gantz getting weaker as the story goes along, and with that introduce the inconsistencies spotted, and the unpredictability of entire scenarios since for the first time, the "real world" people get put in direct line of fire.

And with the introduction setting Kei Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) achieving close to 100 points would already have done away with any montage sequence to show him and the Gantz squad dispatching countless of aliens along the 5 month duration set in the film, in lieu of wanting to explore the more human emotions and relationships between Kei and his best girl pal Tae (Yuriko Yoshitaka), and that between Masaru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama) and his brother Ayumu (Kensuke Chisaka) who is yearning for the day he gets back home, which Kei is trying his best to assist in clocking his first 100 and trading those points for a resurrection. Then there's the love story between Kei and Tae that forms the centrestage of the plot here, like any typical love story where the guy stands up and protects his loved one from adversity, only to find the odds unfairly stacked against him because of the nature of the set up and game formed by Gantz.

On a deeper level, this film touches on how humans tend to fight without knowing intrinsically what they are fighting for, other than for the promise of something that obviously won't be delivered upon one's demise, or purely for selfish, personal gain that can easily turn allies into foes, and what it means to be selfless. The finale while dragged out, is bound to leave one nodding in appreciation just how it goes back to its science fiction roots in order to complete the film, and in some ways cutting close to the Matrix on levels dealing with the formation of realities, though here done with a little bit more finesse with bittersweetness.

As an expansion to the two film mythos, some familiar faces get to come back for a second round having form a formidable team with Kei Kurono, while new faces are being added such as the model Eriko Ayukawa (Ayumi Ito) who goes about in a hypnotic trance to help Gantz, and cop Masamitsu Shigeta (Takayuki Yamada) who is hell bent on finding out the truth behind Gantz and the whereabouts of the urban legend but always finding himself one step behind. The other Gantz members who get featured in this installment, though some briefly, suggests how one gets trapped in a loop or are at the beck and call of Gantz, and raises questions specifically on the kind of freedom granted by the black orb, which puts on that perfect philosophical and science fiction mash up spin.

For those who have forgotten the details from the first film since it has been months, fret not as this installment begins with a quick, broad recap of the pertinent points, then launching itself proper into the scheme of things that will call for patience in the initial act before its first action sequence kicks in, and kicks into high gear all the way to the finale. Definitely recommended for fans of the first film, and for the curious, do pick up the DVD of Gantz first before heading to the cinemas to complete the tale.

This is a lot better than I expected, although I wish I'd known Gantz 2 was actually a sequel that was better than the original, or at least a vital part of what should have been a multi-episode mini-series. If I had watched both together I would have enjoyed much much more. I assumed it would be a light fun sci-fi popcorn movie, but it has much more depth than that in the end which makes it truly satisfying. It suffers from a dialogue issue I find with a lot of Asian import films, whereas the humor or exposition doesn't quite translate to English, but that's not really a fault so much as to be expected. It was a wise decision to use Asian actors to do the English overdubs , and the cast do an excellent job of mimicking to the tracks although clearly not speaking the vocal. The director has a clear and concise vision here, and is completely successful in finessing the photography although he really shines in Gantz 2. The action and fight scenes are a joy, with the wire-acrobatics and choreography you'd expect. Against the alien mutants in Gantz-1 they are great to watch, but against the more human aliens in Gantz-2 they're much more appreciated. Gantz-1 has more of a humorous undertone to it than Gantz-2 (although that turns out to be a mistake when dealing with the robot mutant, he's a badass), where Gantz-2 is much more sinister and dark. There are no glaring plot holes (save one in G-2 that I assume just got left on the editing room floor) in either piece. Plot is fluid and not plodding. The production budget is greatly increased in G-2 and it shows. The ending of Gantz/Gantz-2 as a set piece is perfect, with very little room for any attempt of a "Gantz-3 : Resurrection!!", and that makes it even more satisfying. Cast is capable and believable, even past the leads. Don't watch one without the other, you'll benefit.