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I have a friend
at work that is heavily into movies like
I am, so whenever we get together the conversation
usually finds us discussing who is making
what film and going "Oh God, they're
not trying to make that into a movie!!!"
About two years ago (yes I can remember
that far back…), he called me into
his area to show me a trailer he downloaded
for a Japanese movie called "Casshern."
I looked over his shoulder at the computer
screen and my jaw dropped to the floor at
the incredible images that were being transmitted
to my brain.
I had no idea what the movie was about at
the time, but it had this retro futuristic
look with giant robots and some guy all
dressed in white cutting them in half with
his bare fists. It was almost like watching
"Samurai Jack", but for real.
I was ready to see "Casshern"
that very day, but it turned out that it
wasn't set for release in the U.S. at that
time. So now two years have gone by without
a word, then suddenly the press release
hit announcing the film was being released
on DVD by Paramount.
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I couldn't get on the horn to request a copy
quick enough.
While waiting for the disc to arrive, I did a
little preparation for the review by looking into
what the movie was actually about. I was pretty
sure it would have a plot, after all… it
wasn't a Michael Bay movie. Turns out that the
'guy in white' that I mentioned was named Tetsuya
(Yusuke Iseya), the son of a famous scientist.
Since this is the future, said scientist is working
on a formula that will help wipe out all of the
radiation sickness and disease that has ravaged
the planet since the end of a recent 50 year war.
He creates super-cells, which he believes will
help with the regenerative properties need to
cure the sick.
As you might imagine, things do not quote go as
planned and following a bizarre lightning strike
on the vats containing the super-cells they begin
to mutate. This mutation causes the cells to connect
and form human bodies. Now if I haven't mentioned
it, the scientist works for the government and
as that is always a recipe for disaster, most
of these 'mutant' humans are immediately shot
and killed. Meanwhile (back at the ranch) Tetsuya
has passed away in battle and was returned to
his family for burial. The body was being kept
outside the facility where the experiments were
taking place, so his father decides to carry the
body into the lab and hold it down into the chemicals.
Tetsuyo returns to life, though he is not completely
himself. He finds that his senses and strength
have all been amplified, but his body's reaction
to it almost tears it apart. After he dons a uniform
of his father's design, he is able to control
the power and he becomes Casshern. The rest of
the film deals with his battle against the 'mutants',
who have since found the strongholds that once
belonged to the 'enemy.' They have built their
own army of mutants and robots in order to destroy
the humans who so savagely sought to destroy them.
Excited to finally have a copy of the movie to
watch, I called in the family (well, my wife and
son… I think my daughter is still a little
too young for a movie like this) and settled in
to watch. The first frames of the film tell us
of the war and the effect it has had on the world.
It then cuts to battles between soldiers and thousands
of giant robots. My son's first comment? "Awesome
video game graphics." And admittedly I had
to agree. The robots didn’t look quite as
cool as they had in the trailer I saw so long
ago. They looked like they had stepped right out
of a video game. They were extremely detailed
video game graphics, but not as realistic as I
had hoped.
Still I decided I wasn't going to let that cloud
my judgment of the film as a whole. It was only
141 minutes and I was resigned to watch it all.
Once we were past those opening sequences, the
story was told pretty much as I explained above.
The plot and acting were actually quite excellent
and it kept my attention throughout. What also
caught my eye were the graphics as a whole as
they were used in the movie. Along with some of
the more ethereal continuity cuts that one generally
finds in a Japanese film, the actual look of the
movie were what I can only describe as hyper-real.
It kind of reminded me of the "Sky Captain"
movie, where all of the sets were computer generated.
That's what this looked like. And it really worked
well for the type of story they were trying to
tell.
There are other battles with the robots that we
see later in the film, and while these look truly
spectacular, there is still a definite video game
feel to them. Still, watching Casshern slice down
right though the center of one of the robots is
a sight to behold. I do have to comment on the
only part of the film that I really didn’t
like. The fight sequences between Casshern and
some of the other mutants really didn’t
work for me. They were all made up of extremely
quick edits, where you never actually saw them
land a blow. It was impossible to tell what was
actually happening during the fights. Visually
they looked coo, but there was no real impact
to give those scenes a little 'oomph.'
Paramount's DVD offers up a flawless transfer,
which really helped to bring the visuals and sound
to life or in this case… hyper-life. I was
disappointed to find that there were no extras
at all on the disc. A movie with this many special
effects begs to have some behind the scenes featurettes.
I understand that there are some international
releases of "Casshern" that does have
them so why not here? There is also no English
dubbed track, which I am just fine with. I prefer
watching foreign films with the original language
and subtitles. It just makes for a better experience
for me.
"Casshern" is a visual treat for those
who enjoy Anime. This is kind of an Anime 'come
to life.' If you’re not into the often seemingly
incoherent style of Anime, you won’t get
too much out of this film.
Directed by: Kazuaki Kiriya
Starring: Yusuke Iseya, Kumiko Aso, Akira Terao,
Kanako Higuchi, Fumiyo Kohinata
Extras: None
Specifications: Widescreen (2.35:1), Dolby Digital
5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 10/16/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
We'll give Casshern a B-.
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