Kisei jûi · Suzune: Genesis

If you like anime, think of Kisei jûi · Suzune: Genesis as anime with people. Indeed, anime is better in cartoon format than with people. The plot is somewhat sloppy and the movie goes by slow: the usual girl/woman with short hair that saves people with determination, supernatural power and a sidekick (a frog!), but who has her own sad story. Nothing special here. The cinematography is simply bad. This, more than a film, is an attempt, a thesis, something that could have been entertaining but failed at different levels. The acting is bad, even for this kind of genre! I found myself looking at the time several times and in the end wanted to feel entertained but felt more like i had wasted my time. Then again, they make these movies to start franchises or sell the idea and give cosplayers new (old) characters to dress up and wish they could be like. That is why i shall give it a three star vote. Just my opinion, compelled by another reviewer who gave it a quite poetic (and utterly undeserved) review with a 10 vote!

And I'm not even French. But let's get serious. I didn't know the Manga this was based on, but by trying to bring this alive (pun intended) it failed on many levels. While a low budget might excuse a couple of things (cinematography, lighting, sets, actors), it does not excuse the weak script, that is almost devoid of any humor or coherent plot development for that matter.

Add to that a lingering on peoples faces (to show us the emotions I reckon, but also to stretch this to over an hour, thank you very much) and an inability to transport any message this was meant to have, makes this a dragging slow experience that will probably put you to sleep. There are some nice ideas in the first one (this that is), but it all went downhill from here ... not in a good sense