Mr. Tree – Han Jie – 2011

The 18:15 showing of Mr.Tree in the largest screen of Hakata City’s T-joy cinema was decidedly empty in comparison to the previous day’s screening of the spellbindingly brilliant About Elly (Asghar Farhadi). Punters came in their droves leaving nary an unoccupied seat in sight while the Chinese contender for this year’s Audience Award was attended by barely a quarter of the numbers. Could this have been just a case of bad timing? Perhaps it was a damning insight in to the quality that was to come? Or was it a reflection of public sentiment in the wake of sticky political tensions between host nation and that of the product?  Awards for best film and best director at Shanghai’s Film Festival and a producing credit for Jia  Zhangke belie the amateurish assembly of ideas that director Han Jie crams into his sophomore effort.

Mr . Tree is an offbeat, absurdist drama with just a touch of Kaurismaki about it. Set in a snowy, decaying town in rural China we follow Shu, a clownish, chain-smoking mechanic - and also a bit of a drunkard - whose ineptitude leads him to losing his job in an accident that nearly blinds him. Once his Mr . Tree is an offbeat, absurdist drama with just a touch of Kaurismaki about it. Set in a snowy, decaying town in rural China we follow Shu, a clownish, chain-smoking mechanic - and also a bit of a drunkard - whose ineptitude leads him to losing his job in an accident that nearly blinds him. Once his sight returns, he visits the capital of the province of Jilin with his friends and encounters the pretty, deaf-mute Xiao Mei whom he plans to marry. From this point, Shu suffers a series of letdowns. At first, he leaves his town for the city to work for his friend as a cleaner, but after seeing his friend’s marriage deteriorate he decides to return home. On the day of his wedding, he experiences vivid hallucinations of his deceased brother that shake him so much that the ceremony turns into a disaster. And just as a mining project in his village starts to uproot the homes of his friends and family, Shu’s mind drifts from reality to fantasy and his bright personality begins to fade.

Playing Shu is Wang Baoqiang, a well-known character actor in mainland China. He is the best thing in the film – largely thanks to being the only well-written character in the picture - and he takes on his role with convincing virtuosity. He is at once lovable and repugnant, and always unpredictable. His moments with Xioa Mei are sweet and innocent, vaguely recalling Chaplin in their forced silences. Xiao Mei has to write to communicate and their exchanges are directed with a deft touch, albeit without much humor. The bit-part players do not profit from the same pen, with some ending up becoming jarring obstacles. An ill-judged scene in which a friend and his wife have it out over a girl’s text message feels like a needless and empty foray into domestic politics but is given as foreground action nonetheless. 

More could have been made of the more charming elements of the plot – the awkward budding romance between the two leads, the would-be fish-out-of-water situation that occurs when Shu turns from bum to impromptu seer. But Jie plays it out all too seriously belying his protagonist’s playful, childlike quality and making the all-important sociological concerns of the film a harder sell. The film shows signs of wanting to be several things at once: a romantic comedy, a surrealist character study, a socialist drama, but succeeds in none, while failing to engage on a narrative level. Moreover, the final act ends up flitting in between reality and delusion so often you end up wondering if anything was real at all.

The deterioration of the village and the sense of impending takeover are played out well. And Jie’s intentions in exploring the extraordinarily rapid urbanization of China are clearly well-meaning. But in its puzzling plotting and what one can only assume as a deliberately uneven tone, Mr. Tree is rather hard to analyze, and even harder to love. A film that is so irreverent and uninterested in the cause of its viewer it becomes immune to criticism. In this sense, it finds itself in the same kind of oblique self-containment as a David Lynch movie.  But unlike the latter, Mr Tree holds no real aesthetic merit nor succeeds as an “experience” (perhaps with the exception of the experience of sheer befuddlement). By the end, it’s clear that Jie isn’t interested in encouraging our response, emotional or otherwise, instead he takes the liberty of short-cutting through the story and leaves us somewhat cold. 

Written by Kenjo McCurtain

Kahaani - Sujoy Ghosh - 2011

The second showing of the pre-festival screenings was the Japanese premier of a film from the sub-continent: Kahaani. If part of the purpose of the Focus on Asia festival is to encourage cultural exchange then Kahaani has proven to be an excellent choice. Films are a valuable means of gaining an insight into distant or remote cultures. What we get in Sujoy Ghosh’s fourth feature is an uncompromising street level view of the city of Kolkata, culminating in the famous Durja Purj festival – which is incidentally, not dissimilar to Fukuoka’s own Yamakasa festival. Naturally, with the Indian cast and subject matter, it is sure to be somewhat of a novelty to Japanese viewers.

Before we delve into the heart of the matter there two main points of interest: the female lead (unusual for a Hindi film) and the location shooting (again rather rare for a mainstream Indian feature). The rest is unfortunately, not all that novel. The film opens with a curious and at first, unconnected prologue in which a deadly chemical weapon is accidently released on a busy subway carriage. We then jump two years, to Kolkata’s airport, where a heavily pregnant Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan) has just landed from London. She is on the search for her husband and heads straight to the police station.

In the weeks prior, her husband Arnab arrived in India for a job assignment. They talked daily on the phone, until without warning, his calls stopped. Everywhere Vidya turns, no one can remember Arnab. There are no signs that his assignment ever took place. There is no trace of him at the guest house where he supposedly stayed. She is confronted with increasing skepticism as all she has as proof of his existence is a wedding day photograph and her protruding bulge. Undeterred however, Vidya continues her search and at times goes to great measures to get her answer.

Balan does perfectly well in a strong, commanding performance as the tenacious Vidya. But her acting chops aren’t exactly stretched to breaking point. There’s something about her character that is a little too relaxed. It’s fair to think that one might be a little more unhinged given the odds that are stacked against her.

Alongside Vidya is Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s endearingly sincere policeman who is taken by her resolve and helps her in her cause, driving her from place to place and tagging along as rearguard. It is an interesting reversal of gender roles. Their close contact throughout the first hour hints at a possible romance to come, winning the film an added depth. Also good is Nawazuddin Sidiqqui as the steely government official who comes in at the half-way point barking orders at everyone in his way. He spends a lot of the time barging down corridors past his inferiors and his (truly) intense presence is put to good use. His terse, heated exchanges with Balan serve as the highlights of a script relatively lacking in hard, raw emotion. But arguably the real winner here is the city itself shot lovingly on celluloid. The bustle and vitality that is the simple nature of Kolkata is captured lovingly on celluloid with some great DP work. Coming out of the film you will feel like you’ve lived there.   

Where the pic doesn’t really succeed is in its storytelling. While the first hour set up the characters and the story in a simple, understated fashion, even building some tension along the way, the following acts really drop in pace where they should pick up. Overestimating the charm of it all, Ghosh lets his film run to a hefty two hours. Instead of a racy final act we plod along lifelessly as the characters bounce from one non-descript location to the other, each scene introducing another unnecessary twist and becoming more convoluted. Viewers may find themselves switching off in the final 20 minutes, pinching themselves only in the hope of catching the answer to Arnab’s disappearance.

Crucially Kahaani is lacking in the golden ingredient of thrillers: suspense. Aside from an all-to brief scene that sees Balan and Chattopadhyay break in to a government building at the same time as a hitman, there is never any sense of real danger or nail-biting tension. It’s a little lightweight and could have been far darker.

It all comes to an end with a set-piece shot amongst the vivid colors of the Durja Purj festival. The big twist that comes is smart and unexpected but does little to add to the story or Vidya’s character. Nevertheless it does serve to reinforce the film’s ideological subtext on womanhood. Balan’s solo performance is convincing and powerful enough to serve a spoonful of resounding proof to the Hindi film industry and to viewers that a woman can carry such a film on her shoulders. However, take out the gender politics, the female lead, and Kahaani is a thriller we’ve all seen before. 

Contributor: Kenjo McCurtain

Paradise Kiss - 2011

Director: Takehiko Shinjo


Rating:1/5

Unimpressive film of the popular girls comic series.

Part of the shoujo (young girls) manga scene, Paradise Kiss is a live-action adaptation of Ai Yazawa's five volume tale. If the concept of young girls manga isn't enough to put you off in the first place there are a plethora of other reasons to persuade you. The characters are, by and large, paper-thin caricatures of stereotypes that will fill you with a desire to inflict severe physical pain on them from the off. This is in no way helped by a painfully over-long story. No matter how much you've had enough of the three-act rom-com structure, you will never think of it more fondly then when this film launches into its annexed fourth act of unbelievable nonsense. As one for the kids Paradise Kiss, naturally, has some sensible little life morals at its heart, but when they are delivered by such incredibly, self-obsessed, preening buffoons it feels akin to taking anger management lessons from a psychopath.

The story tells the trials and tribulations of Yukari Hayasaka's (Keiko Kitagawa) fledgling steps into the world of fashion and modelling. She is a struggling high-school student, buckling under the pressure of all the entrance exams and a demanding mother, pushing her since she was a toddler. By chance one day she is accosted in the street by the permanently agitated fashion student Arashi who, along with transvestite Isabella, persuade her to come to their design studio, the titular Paradise Kiss. There, Yukari is introduced to the other members of the gang, ditsy girl Miwako, and leader, the self-titled 'genius', and all round immense prat Georgy Koizumi (Osamu Mukai). They introduce the 'frumpy' (read stunningly beautiful) Yukari into the world of fashion college. Before she knows it she has left her high-school, high-school sweetheart, and family behind to move in with Georgy and agreed to be their model for the end of year fashion show. These initially unusual people will surely have some nuggets of wisdom to impart on our heroine. Perhaps it could have something to do with everyone telling her, and then repeating it over and over again in voice-over flashbacks, "You don't even know who you are yet." Unsurprisingly it does.

One of the only members of the cast to emerge without their reputation lying entirely shattered in pieces on the floor, though there are some sizable cracks, is Keiko Kitagawa, as Yukari. She gives her performance some gusto, and is at least likable. She is strikingly beautiful and the transition from clutsy high-school girl to attractive model is perhaps not quite as pronounced as was intended due to this. Nonetheless, she holds her own and at least has some screen presence. Mukai plays the arrogant, egotistical, and condescending student designer Georgy. Hat permanently at a 45 degree angle and a constant smug grin, he is easily one of the most irritating characters to wander around a cinema screen in a long time. The single most frustrating part of this performance is that it is obviously intended to come across as ice cool, whereas anyone with a mental age of over 17, and you'd hope even those a little younger, will surely see him for the swaggering arse he is. He assumes the role of mentor for Yukari trying to get her to come out of her shell. Alarmingly, one of the ways he does this is by taking her to a love-hotel and forcing himself on her. If, like me, you don't buy into the absurd idea of him as a plausible love interest, then it negates anything he has to say and makes the final 40 minutes an unbearable slog.

The rest of the cast rarely rise above filler. They clearly had much larger roles in the comics, but here they must make do with the odd thirty seconds of screen time allowed. Arashi (Kento Kaku) bizarrely is inexplicably angry whenever he is involved. Like a drug addict going cold turkey he shouts at everyone. Except he isn't a drug addict, and their is no real reason for these constant outbursts. Isabella played by Shunji Igarashi is fairly decent and is a believable transvestite, he just has very, very little to do. Their inclusion was obviously essential, as dictated by the source material, but if they have nothing to contribute it doesn't stop it from being pointless. In terms of performance quality, it is hard to give a solid opinion. I wondered whether the actors were attempting to imbue this with a feel of the manga, or simply just not very good at acting. There were lots of unnatural and exaggerated shots of surprise, shock, and so on. It was decidedly cringe worthy in parts but I suppose the benefit of the doubt is required here as there are plenty of other things to moan about.

Though not quite Lord of the Rings, Paradise Kiss just refuses to end. One of the saving graces of romantic comedies is they almost never over-stay their welcome. They reassure us with their predictability, fluttering nicely around the ninety minute mark before floating into the end credits. In a way they are not unlike a dream, you have a rough idea of what happened but little tangible memory of it. Things seem to be going nicely along with the program here, and just when you think you sense the fade to black around the corner, another thirty minutes are mercilessly tacked on. I appreciate the requirements of adaptation, and that clearly a lot of sacrifices were made to accommodate the running time (the TV serialisation took twelve episodes), but when a film this formulaic in every other respect steps out of sync for even a moment it jars, sticking out like a sore thumb.

The production values are quite high for a film of this nature. Things do generally look quite nice, and there isn't so much of that TV movie feel that sometimes plagues low budget Japanese movies. However, the fashion isn't going to fool anyone. Believe me when I say I am no fashionista, not remotely. But, if even the jeans and T-shirt brigade can sense that something is a tad amiss in the haute couture stakes, then you have a problem. The dresses look like a flower threw up on them, as though they were designed by a particularly giddy seven year old. Everyone taking everything so incredibly seriously and raving about how inspired it all is, just adds to the silliness. I know that the age-group this is aimed at are not known for being the most grounded members of society, but there is something borderline offensive to all these 17-20 year olds acting like they are the center of the universe and all humanity. If anyone has had the misfortune to watch Gossip Girl where pre-teens stalk New York as if they ruled the world, it will be a familiar sense of over-whelming nausea.

Paradise Kiss clearly has a target audience, and I'm sure that its members will be able to appreciate this for what it is. For non-fans there is nothing here worth turning your heads for. Even viewed as a simple rom-com it comes up wanting. Having been translated into over eleven languages and recuperating over half of its budget in its opening weekend in Japan alone, it is easy to understand why Fox International were interested in getting this made. This, however, is definitely not a flattering example of Japanese manga up on the big screen.

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Gantz: Perfect Answer 2011

Director: Shinsuke Sato


Rating: 2/5

A disappointing follow up to the promising Gantz. Sloppy plotting and pacing detract from the interesting concept at the heart of it.

Oh dear, what started out so promisingly finishes so averagely. All the intrigue and suspense that was built up in the tightly paced first two hours, peters out within thirty minutes and never gets going again. It's not a complete catastrophe, but it is a dismaying finale and a definite disappointment. Gantz was all about questions, Perfect Answer successfully removes the mystique.

Whereas originally we were dropped straight into the mix, here thirty minutes of slow and dull exposition is dumped on us before anything close to exciting has happened. Cramming an entire manga series into two films was never going to be easy and the demands of a lengthy and complicated narrative finally take their toll. The new characters that are introduced contribute little, and by broadening the scope it makes this conclusion a muddled affair. Perfect Answer, as the title would have you believe, is an attempt at explanation. The convoluted one offered here strains to wrap everything up neatly which was never going to be an easy task..

The story begins shortly after the first film and if you haven't seen that yet you might want to skip the next few paragraphs as there are spoilers aplenty. Kurono (Ninomiya) is fast approaching the hundred points that will set him free or allow to bring back one of the fallen players. The player he hopes to resurrect is Kato (Matsuyama), whose younger brother he has been looking after with the help of his “Will they? Won’t they?” college friend Tae (Yuriko Yoshitaka). He lives a double life, burger shop by day, alien killer by night.

However, the boundaries between the limbo of the Gantz world are beginning to blur as the post-brawl destruction makes news-headlines. A new character, Model Eriko Ayukawa, played by the alluring Ayumi Ito, finds a mysterious small black orb in her post box. The mini-sphere, like Gantz itself, gives her targets. Except this time the targets are humans, and her tasks are carried out in the real world. She is providing Gantz with his soldiers, and unable to resist. Another addition is shady looking P.I Masamitsu Shigeta (Takayuki Yamada) on the hunt for answers about a black ball in a mysterious tower block, who begins to pick up her trail. His search leads him to a group of aliens living in the real world, indistinguishable from humans. They procure his services in exchange for information.


Ninomiya's acting was already beginning to show signs of weakness, but the spotlight of the love interest and added heroism required of him here really illuminates the cracks. For the majority of the film he is fine, but when he sends it up with a mixture of anguished shouting, and some injured, struggling for breath crawling, it puts even the most hammy thespians to shame. The PG-13 relationship with Tae is tiresome, cutesy, and hard to care about. She is a pretty hollow presence and going for meek ends up moot. Their love story eventually takes centre stage and all the clever ideas built up dissolve in its blandness.

SPOILERS!Kato (Matsuyama) is back, which if you’ve seen a trailer you’ll know already, and doesn't do much wrong. As he does spend the majority of the film in a creepy, not very chatty, doppelganger role it would have been pretty hard to, but he is dependable as ever. The double doesn’t quite seem to make a lot of sense, although does allow for some exciting fight scenes and nice Terminator 2 allusions.

The rest of the surviving Gantz players chip in a bit more here, with mixed results. The ex-salary man Yoshikazu Suzuki (Tomorowo Taguchi) not quite taking to his new life as an alien assassin is a good presence. He looks like a fish out of water and is very convincing. The rest suffer from some serious over-acting problems. It’s almost as if they were trying to maximize the effect these bit-parts will have on their CV. As division creeps into the team things get a little bit more exciting, though there are a few too many Mexican stand-offs.

The aliens this time round are essentially just humans. Veins of black smoke trickle down to reform their limbs and they do that standard flittery eye thing to denote their unearthly status thing, but don’t expect any of the giddy heights reached previously. Before each action scene in part one you were wondering just what on earth is going to happen next, well in this film you know. There are no crazy looking 1950’s cartoon character robots, no angry deities, no half vegetable Frankensteins, just plain old run of the mill humans.. I was reminded of that common criticism of sequels that the formula is simply make everything bigger and louder. Well, for once that might not have been such a terrible idea because here less is less.

By the time the first action scene finally arrives, though decent enough, it doesn’t have any of the sense of mayhem and feels like a pretty routine set-piece. It is shot on a subway with real passengers, who assume that the group of futuristic, leather suited people are some sort of advertising stunt. What follows is a claustrophobic melee with plenty of carnage, but little imagination or originality. It works yes, but it is nothing new.

Perfect Answer is not entirely dreadful there are some good things going on here. Direction wise Sato takes some chances that come off well. There are some good, and sparingly used, first person point of view action shots that fit well with the film’s slightly video-gamesy vibe. Thrusting the viewer into the action it does have a pleasantly immersive effect. Some of the action scenes seem to have been looking at Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon for inspiration as the characters float/fly across the Tokyo Rooftops, which looks nice. Perfect Answer is another technically well made film with convincing special effects and direction. It’s the stale pacing, sloppy plotting, and lack of surprise that let it down.

It’s unfortunate that Gantz did go on to suffer from Matrix syndrome ; an exciting high concept idea that gets lost in the following films. Like them, this is far more expansive stuff than the first and it loses its clarity. The simplicity of the action, plot, action plot structuring is out, and things are in full on epic-mode here. The need to follow the source material obviously made this a necessity, but it is handled all wrong. I said that no previous experience with the comics was required to enjoy Gantz. This is not so easy to argue with part 2 which squeezes a lot in that doesn’t seem to add up entirely. The intriguing first film was very good but, perhaps there is no perfect answer.

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O Nii Chan No Hana-Bi - Fireworks From the Heart - 2011

Director: Masahiro Kunimoto



Rating: 3/5





Fireworks From the Heart is a very sweet, and very sad little piece that carefully by-steps some of the pitfalls, not all it must be said, of similar films . It gains its gravitas from the superbly acted and very touching relationship of Kengo Kora and Mitsuki Tanimura, as brother and sister. It starts a little slow and the ending is over long, but in between is handled terrifically.

The story begins with Hana (Tanimura) being taken home after a 6 month stay in the hospital suffering from leukemia. While she has been away her older brother Taro (Kora) has become a social recluse. He hides away in his room, has cut off communication with his family, and is showing no signs of improvement. With their parents, played by Ren Osugi and Yoshihiko Miyazaki, essentially ignoring his problem Hana makes it her mission to bring her brother in from the cold. Set in rural Katakai the film is bookended by the small town's (pop. 5000) enormous fireworks festival, which Hana adores. Taro is approaching his 20th birthday, the start of adulthood in Japan, and is expected to participate in the rites of passage fireworks ceremony along with all the others his age. As his sister's health worsens the fireworks take on an even greater significance.

Tanimura gets your attention first, relentlessly upbeat in the face of adversity. She is a bundle of energy and drags Taro out of his malaise though sheer force of nature. In one nice interlude between the two she asks him to describe himself offering a positive alternative to every negative he throws up with a bit of alliterative wordplay. It is a true credit to her performance that she never begins to grate, as the perma-positive are prone to. She doesn't lose sight of the character even when Hana's health takes a turn for the worse. However, it is Kora in the slow-burning role who really excels. It is a quiet, shy, and reserved turn that is measured just right. He gives Taro subtle nervous mannerisms that are gradually shed as he overcomes his introverted ways. This change that Hana begins to foster in her older sibling is carried out in an impressively unhurried and non-rushed manner, and when the pair are on screen together the film is at its best. Their yin and yang relationship and its warmth makes the film.

The term for Taro's affliction, hikikomori is a surprisingly common occurrence in Japan. It has been attributed to various factors, the societal pressures and expectations of Japanese life, the mollycoddling of Japanese family, post-recession disenchantment, amongst others, and it is good to see a film being made on the subject. Without wishing to sound like a emotionless cynic it is Taro troubles far more than Hana, which although very sad are in familiar territory, that gives the film its intrigue. Their family's initial dysfunction, lack of communication goes some way to providing answers to the origins of Taro's problems, and while Fireworks from the Heart does explore this issue, it could perhaps have gone a bit deeper. What it is though, is a very plausible and real depiction of a problem that is far too often swept under the rug in Japanese life.

When things extends beyond the family itself the film falters slightly, but the focal point never strays too much that it becomes a real problem. The bit-part players are not quite up to the same standard as the family, and as such suffer in comparison. Some seem to have had their roles significantly downsized in the editing process, leaving some of the peripheral characters feeling a bit half-baked.There are several flashbacks in here that are unnecessary even when you take into account their brevity. They are only meant as a gentle reminder but it feels a bit lazy and undermines the acting that conveys things perfectly well without requiring this crutch. It is not unreasonable to expect an audience to remember something that was said a mere thirty or forty minutes ago. Musically too the film could have been less obvious, with violins popping up every once in awhile like someone tapping you on the shoulder and saying, "This is a sad bit. Okay?". A more low-key approach would have been fine and again, allowed the atmosphere to resonate in the performances rather than distract from them.

There is a loss of momentum in the final third and Fireworks from the Heart lags slightly, but this is a strong film with a good deal of maturity. Its simple direction lets the excellent performances take centre stage. Tanimura and Koga are definitely ones to look out for in the future. You hope they avoid some of the blander mainstream movies being made. In doing so perhaps they can retain the individuality and creativity shown here rather than sliding into the cookie cutter oblivion that seems a common career trajectory. They make this film into an endearing story about family and the bond between a brother and sister that is easy to recommend.

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Gantz - 2011

Directed by Shinsuke Sato

4/5

A surprisingly successful and accessible adaptation of the popular sci-fi thriller manga Gantz.

Toning down some of the more extreme elements of the manga source material Gantz manages to keep the inventiveness of the comic book and turn it into a far more accessible and mature film than expected. The result is part sci-fi, part thriller, with a little dash of superhero movies and social commentary thrown in for good measure. Well directed and well acted it is an enigmatic blockbuster that uses its central concept not simply as an excuse for CGI, though there is plenty of that, but also as a means to look closer at its effects on the characters wrapped up in it.

The story hits the ground running and whilst sounding a little far-fetched on paper comes through far more coherently on screen. Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya), an ordinary job-hunting college student, is waiting for his train on a busy Tokyo Metro station when he spots Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama), a long-lost elementary school friend. Helping in an accident with another passenger the pair find themselves on the tracks and with the glare of train lights fast approaching. When they come to moments later, they are in a non-descript apartment room at the top of a tower block with several other disorientated people who seem to have had similar experiences. A big black steel orb in the centre of the room, referred to as Gantz, is the only clue to why they are there. Gantz communicates to them via a muddled screen on the front of the sphere. It displays an alien target to them, provides them with the means to dispose of it, sets a timer, beams them into an alternate deserted Tokyo, and awards them points for their efforts. Is this some kind of bizarre, futuristic reality TV show or something a whole lot more sinister?

Despite probably being able to answer that question already, the film overall keeps you in the dark. This is one of the beauties of Gantz that things are never over explained. As the audience we learn things in real-time with the characters, which really propels this surreal story onwards. In these types of movies there is normally a kind of “expert” character who breaks down everything to the protagonists, and thus us the audience. That role’s absence here creates this refreshing uncertainty. Quite as to what it all means is never clear, are we in some sort of purgatory, is it some sort of malevolent game? The film looks at humans and how they function in a group, unable to put aside their individual drive to survive, and how ordinary people can in the right circumstances behave completely out of character.

Kenichi Matsuyama, best known outside Japan for his recent role in Norwegian Wood, is really good as Kato, and furthers the argument that he is one of the best young actors working in Japanese cinema. He and Ninomiya bring a human element to a story that could have descended into a simple special effects bonanza. The pairing works well together, with Matsuyama the more conventionally heroic, contrasting with Ninomiya the average Joe whose new-found abilities begin to unleash something inside of him. They have been transposed from high-schoolers to university students for this film version, and it leads it into far more interesting and relatable territory, eschewing some of the childishness. Before everything kicks off properly Kurono is hurriedly repeating his stock interview answers, about to undergo the rigorous stressful Japanese job interview process, but by the time he finally gets to use them, his world and their meaning have changed unalterably. It is a nicely thought out section that helps to bring the characters’ two worlds together.

Effects wise everything is spot-on, and the odd uninhabited suburban Tokyo battlegrounds that the characters are deposited into are well realized, instantly recognizable, and unnervingly quiet. It is undeniably the aliens that to kill that are the stars of the show though. Starting with a child and father that seem to be a mixture of the Incredible Hulk, a zombie, and a leek (yeah, the vegetable), by the two-hour mark assorted Buddhist deities, including the big guy himself, have joined the fray. These segments are gripping, swerving in unexpected directions, and the general confusion of the characters removes that sense of inevitability that blockbuster action sequences tend to have. The black cat-suits that gives the combatants the power to fight these combatants are intriguing, but perhaps just a touch under-done. Kurono in one scene, in a way reminiscent of Spiderman, begins to work out how to utilize the superhuman abilities he has at his fingertips, highly enjoyable it would have been nice to have seen a bit more.

Visually the film's print origins are evident throughout. The framing of the actors in shots has the distinct feel of comic books about it. Director Shinsuke Sato seems to have used the original at times as a straight storyboard for the film. Recent trends for live-action adaptations of graphic novels have tended to be more overt in displaying their roots, see Sin City or any host of others, striving to show their authenticity. The approach taken here is great and its subtlety allows the film to stay true, whilst forming its own identity. A prior knowledge of the Gantz series is not essential at all as this film really makes the material its own.

Yet, an illustration of the challenges of adapting material like this comes in the character of Kei Kishimoto (Natsuna Watanabe). She arrives on screen naked, having been beamed into the apartment room by the black orb Gantz. It is a well shot scene, a group of bewildered men deliberating whether they are alive or not suddenly stop dead seeing a naked woman materializing from the feet up in front of them. Compared to the print version, which features some of the less appealing aspects of Japanese manga culture, this is handled far more sensitively. However, as a character whose fundamental purpose in the comics seems to have been for little more than titillation, her body suit in the original was more of a body-bikini, there is nothing added only subtracted. This leaves her character a bit of a non-entity and it seems strange that they didn’t make a bit more of an effort to balance her out. Perhaps due to the constraints of time Kimono’s character development too, is not entirely convincing and feels a bit rushed as it veers suddenly.

It can be a bit frustrating when films end abruptly with the words, “to be continued” popping up on screen and the ending is rounded off in a Matrix-sequel manner that jars a little with the pacing up to that point. It would be a shame if this was a sign of what is to come in the two part series. Most frustratingly of all the spoiler-laden trailer to the sequel was shown straight after the credits, so I advise not sticking around until the lights come up. These qualms aside, Gantz is a slick and entertaining infusion of genres that comes together expertly. Sato has managed to reign in the more fan-boy elements of the series making the film a genuinely successful and entertaining adaptation. Here’s hoping that the second film doesn’t make me eat my words.

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Hankyu Densha - Hankyu Train 2011

Director: Yoshihige Miyaki

Rating: 2/5

Heartwarming, though very corny, multi-narrative story of passengers on Kobe's Hankyu line.

If you have Hitchcock's great Strangers on a Train on one end of the spectrum, a tale of a random encounter between two passengers that swiftly leads to murder and blackmail, then Hankyu Densha, with far more positive inter-traveler relations, sits firmly on the other side. It took away the Golden Ceasar and the Peace Award at this years Okinawa Film Festival. In the wake of the recent tragic events in Tohoku its message fits neatly into the general mood. It is a film that seeks to show the good-natured side of city life and remind us we are not alone. It is undeniably corny, yet hard not to be even slightly touched by it's relentless optimism.

The multi-stranded story begins with a beautiful business lady out for revenge on her ex-boyfriend. Every demographic is covered here; there is a university girl and her aggressive boyfriend, a sage old lady and her granddaughter, two country kids adapting to the big city, a middle-aged woman trying to fit in with the other mothers on the PTA, a high-school girl and her doting older boyfriend, and a bullied elementary school-girl. Gradually the characters narrative strands begin to weave into each other as they all begin to help each other through their problems.

While Hankyu Densha really strives not to leave anyone out, by ticking too many boxes it loses its focus. Some of the stories are genuinely interesting, and some of the others are decidedly less so. Muddling them up together weakens the stronger narrative strands and makes the weaker ones forgettable. The film starts promisingly with Shoko, played with elegance and dignity by the excellent Miki Nakatani, who has been summoned to a meeting in a crowded cafe by her boyfriend and her younger female colleague who has turned his head. She allows to let them marry without any fuss, but on the promise that she is allowed to attend the wedding party. It gets proceedings rolling with an icy bang, and it deserves its central role. But, when you contrast this to some of the other stories the drama just isn't there. In particular the mother who feels obliged to go to expensive lunches with the pantomime villain PTA mothers while her family eat left-overs is a non-starter.

Overall the cast are of a high standard. Nobuko Miyamoto, as the wise old grandmother gives a truly believable, charming, and well-judged performance. She is the anchor at the heart of this film, and its moral compass. When explaining things to her daughter, the insightful life lessons are often for the benefit of the others nearby, too. She is well supported by the afore mentioned Nakatani, who is the epitomy of glamor in her wedding dress and has you rooting for her from the off. There are no real weak links in the main cast but the story of the university girl, played capably by Erika Toda, and her violent boyfriend quickly becomes farcical. His character is just ridiculous and has no bearing on reality. He flies in to rages at the drop of a hat, is implausibly stupid, and plain two dimensional. He would be more at home on a daytime American soap, and it makes an important issue seem like a bad joke. It is amazing to think that no one involved could not see how absurd it is, luckily he is the exception and not the norm.

One of the films main problems is it just doesn't feel like a film, even with some decent acting talent. It feels far more like a national holiday Sunday night TV movie than genuine cinema. Half the pieces of the puzzle are in place with a strong cast, and a well thought out script. It really could of just done with a bit more visual finesse to carry it over. This seems to be a common problem in a lot of the "bigger" Japanese cinema releases and it is always a disappointment when within moments you realize the next couple of hours are going to filled by unambitious and middle of the road stuff. Hankyu Densha doesn't look shoddy or poorly made, it just looks like television.

This seems to have been made with the Japanese golden week holidays in mind. The multi-generational cast has the whisk of a corporate office trying to widen its audience. The majority female cast, and story-lines make this a solid holiday movie for the mums, daughters, and grandmas out there. It's not going to go down in history this, that said it is consistently watchable and if you are in for something to remind you that the world isn't such a miserable place you could do a lot worse. Personally though, I'll stick with Strangers on a Train.

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Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - 2011 - YUBARI Japan Premiere

Director - Edgar Wright

Rating: 4/5

In a recent interview Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, regular contributors to Edgar Wright, discussed the differing approaches between theirs and Wright's recent projects. Pegg and Frost with Paul went the route of compromise, prepared to make adjustments and play down the more niche-appeal qualities (i.e creationism debate), Wright with Scott Pilgrim went full steam ahead on the film he had envisioned, studio money bursting at the seams. One has since become a massive box-office flop, any guesses? If only there was a way to measure the number of torrents downloaded, perhaps it would paint a different picture, but alas, to many, the commercial line appears to be the bottom line in success. The film is saturated with post-modern referencing, swapping cinema structure for that of computer games, and splices it all with the comic-book origins it is adapted from. Not for everyone perhaps, but this is nothing if not astoundingly unique.

Scott Pilgrim - twenty-something video games geek, bass guitarist for battle of the bands contender Sex Bob-omb, and serial girlf-friend dumper(perceivably a mirror onto the target demographic) - lives in Toronto and is dating a high-school girl, Knives. However, after having his head turned in a chance meeting with Ramona, his true destiny, he begins a surreal adventure to win her heart. The only problem being that she has a past, a past that wants to beat the crap out of him. They come in the form of The Seven Deadly Ex'es, scorned lovers from Ramona's omantic back catalogue. Can Scott make his way through them all, without becoming the eighth member, and still be standing at the end? Thankfully, he seems to be blessed with the fighting powers of his video-gaming heroes, unfortunately so do the seven.

The ex'es that Scott must battle are where the film plugs into the world of computer-games. This is less three acts than seven levels. Each of the duels has a different vibe, ranging from Bollywood, 2D fighting games, The Matrix , to a CGI sound-wave monster vs. dragon. They use the video-game "beat-em up" genre mechanic as a starting point, and anyone with even a passing knowledge will see little references flying at them, left, right, and centre. Wright, however, said that the film takes its structure more directly from musicals, the songs and dances are simply substituted with fights.

When the pixelated Universal globe spins into frame at the start and its classic orchestral opening is done with sketchy eight-bit synth sounds, the film's modus operandus is established. From here to the end, almost every frame is decorated with some sort of retro flourish. Be it the music from old Zelda games introducing Scott Pilgrim as it once did a pint-size Gameboy character, ideas being signified by the kerching of Super-Mario grabbing a coin, or fights ending with a KO and points total flashing up on screen, there are a wealth of nudges and winks here. Apparently, Wright procured the use of the classic Nintendo sounds by writing a letter arguing that they essentially constituted his generation's nursery rhymes. If all of this sounds overwhelming, it never feels excessive, and really helps to posit the picture in this universe of straddled influences.

Despite everything going on, the film gets its feet from the pitch-perfect Michael Cera. Having watched him go from George-Michael Bluth in Arrested Development, to the split-personality of Youth in Revolt, all the while constantly refining his screen-persona, it is a treat to see him turn this into a comic-book hero, and in a strange way feels like the natural conclusion for this uber-geek.

Tropical Thunder claimed that going "semi-retard" was a sure way for an actor to target Oscar glory, well it appears that there is new rule to add to that tradition; if your career is flat-lining, play a snappy, wise-cracking gay man. Val Kilmer did it in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Keiran Culkin does it superbly here. He is brilliant, stealing every scene he is in, and every girl's boyfriend he meets. Gideon, the leader of The League of Ex'es, is played by Jason Schwartzman which surely makes him and Cera the most unlikely super-hero/super-villain pairing in cinema history. Schwartzman channels the angst he has into making Gideon a dislikable, but very watchable nemesis. The dialogue is punchy throughout without falling into over-hipness. There are some great tongue in cheek one-liners as well, "I cashed my last rain cheque."

The criticism leveled at this film is that if this is aimed at you then you're going to love it, but, If you don't have any basis in the cultural landscape being used here then it's going to zoom over your head. There is nothing exclusionary going on here, like Tarantino's Kill Bill, it is not post-modern for post-modern's sake, beneath all the layers this is just a really fun movie. Admittedly, it is a little on the shallow side, but it's not supposed to be anything more. The saddest thing about the commercial malaise here, is that when given the keys to the studio's cheque book, if there's not a sizable return on the investment you won't get them back for awhile. Before Wright can attempt anything on this frenziedly ambitious scale again we might find that he has to prove himself once more.

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Boku to Tsuma no 1778 Monogatari - 1,778 Stories of Me and My Wife - 2011

Director - Mamoru Hoshi

Rating - 2/5

Mixing surreal elements with the tearjerker formula, this ends up less than the sum of its parts.

Weepy movies based on true stories have the prerequisite of being sad, and this is in bucketloads. What marks this out from other films that demand a box of kleenex on hand, are the main character's short stories and their surreal visualization. However, confines of the genre ensure, though there are some nice ideas, the melodrama is cranked up to 11.

Sakutaro or "Saku" is a head in the clouds creative type, who is obsessed with robots that look straight out of 1950’s TV serializations. He writes odd fiction for a sci-fi periodical, and lives with his high-school sweetheart and wife Seiko, who acts more like his mother than his partner. When they receive the tragic news that Seiko has contracted terminal cancer Saku embarks on a mission to write a short story for her every day . He hopes that giving her something to smile about will help her fight back against the cancer. The film follows the two, and his writing, as her condition gradually worsens.

Japanese popster and TV celebrity Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as Saku is hard to warm to. Attempting to work the charming eccentric angle he comes off, largely, as irritating. There is this childlike quality to him that is unnerving. Seiko, Yuko Takeuchi (The Ring) is generally just the foil to her wacky husband. She does handle Seiko's decline in health convincingly, but the couple's dynamic is hit and miss. There is an excess of soap opera acting going on; in close-up someone will smile to themselves, give an exaggerated look of determination, or have a eureka moment and grin up at the sky. Someone involved was reading too much "acting for dummies". The two both have quality when allowed to perform, this much is clear. An argument between the two suddenly snaps a painful sense of realness to the screen, yet these brief moments are decidedly in the minority. Ren Osugi puts in a shift as the hospital doctor who deals with the couple and is, as always, very good.

The short stories link in meaningfully with the real-world, working sometimes as allegories for the plot. They have a nice quirkiness about them, if a little on the insubstantial side. Saku lying on his back in a park stares upwards as the clouds begin to transform into spaceships and the local buildings turn into lumbering robots. One about a group of old androids being run out of their artic world by the flashy new models stands out. These moments are interestingly done and work nicely, and the shots of sci-fi memorabilia cluttered around Saku's house establish a tangible link between this fantasy world and reality. Ironically though, it is the cold close-ups of the black blots on Seiko's cancer scanse that are the most arresting and alien images.

1778 really starts hammering on the tear ducts in the last 45 minutes. Needless to say there were not many dry eyes in the screening I attended. In fact from about the 90 minute mark there was a perpetual background sob, and only those as cold as ice will remain totally resolute to the credits. Yet, this is one of the fundamental issues with the film, it is so relentlessly sad that it becomes exhausting to watch. Not helping is the fact that it's on the flabby side as well. The third act particularly, goes on for an age. There are a few unexpected turns but, unavoidably there is an inevitability with that number 1778 looming over the film. A bit more conciseness and subtlety would have been a massive improvement.

The basic premise reminded me a bit of Michel Gondry’s The Science of Sleep, which in turn made me wonder what kind of film this could have been. Whilst it is impossible to remain unmoved by the melodrama, there is a clinical nature to its tear jerking that feels emotionally manipulative. It is quite sad really when you think that films have the ability to make an inherently decent, and true story come across as sentimentalized and gushy. The originality of the parallel world in Saku’s stories is not enough to save this from mediocrity.

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Akmareul Boatda - I Saw the Devil - 2011 YUBARI Japan Premiere

Director - Ji-Woon Kim

Rating - 4/5

Whenever a film starts with inoffensive background music on a quiet, dark, snowy road, alarm bells start ringing in your head. Especially, when said film is Korean, where the revenge flick is a refined art form. I Saw the Devil, misogynistic maybe, grotesque definitely, is pulsating, unrelentingly absorbing, heart in the mouth cinema from the off.

A young woman is waiting on the side of the road for a pick-up truck, on the phone to her fiancee, special agent Kim Soo Hyeoon, played by Byung-Hun Lee. Kyun-Chul passes by and offers her assistance with the flat tyre, which she politely declines. As she sits waiting, with the wind screen-wipers occasionally breaking the ominous silence, he comes back with a hammer to get her. He takes her to his underground kill-room where he proceeds with his ritual. The next day a young boy stumbles across a dismembered ear and informs the police. Kim, takes two weeks off work, starting his own vigilante mission, equipped with four photos of suspects. Having ruled out the first two, after beating them to a pulp, he finds his man and begins to exact his revenge. That old adage, to catch a criminal you have to think like one, is taken one step further as Kim decides to achieve, "a real complete revenge" you have to be 10,000 times as sadistic and cruel. Having forced Kyun-Chul to swallow a GPS tracker Kim hunts his prey, bringing him to the point of death, only to set him free to and start all over again.

At the heart of this film are the two immensely physical performances from Byung-Hun Lee (A Bittersweet Life) and Min-Sik Choi (Old Boy) as Kyun-Chul. Byung-Hun Lee is magnificent, controlled and brutal. The metamorphosis he undergoes from vengeful hero to morally gray psychopath is thoroughly believable. After catching Kyun-Chul and suffocating him until he loses consciousness there is a quasi-post-coital moment as he relishes in the relief. The pent-up rage of Kim is contrasted by the terrifying buck-shot performance of Choi. After Old Boy Choi comes to any film with baggage, and the moment his face looms up to the car window there is clearly only one direction this is heading. Choi gives Kyun-Chul the survival instincts of a trapped rat. In one incredible scene in a moving taxi he unleashes a stupendously bloody outburst, all the time the camera is revolving around the action. It is quite mind-boggling in its own right before you start to wonder just how Kim managed to shoot it. Choi is seethingly aggressive throughout, in one scene in a doctor's office the violence that emanates from him is heavy in the air. In his unbreaking glare there is a venom that sits just behind his eyes, it is emotionally draining just to watch. Kim begins to lose control and the two become flip-sides to the same coin, as the boundaries between good and evil are seriously muddied.

There are no lapses in pace so to speak, but the film sequentially snaps into action as the two leads lumber up for another round. These moments are laced with a tension and intensity other films struggle to get near to. When Kim interrupts Kyun-Chul mid-kill in the greenhouse it is a tour-de-force,　visually stunning and blisteringly violent. It seems almost the norm for Choi to have seven bells beaten out of him on screen, but he is really put through the grinder here in scene after scene of unflinching, savage attacks. These battles are electrifying and push the film ever onwards, eyes glued to the screen you can't avert your gaze.

Ji-Woon Kim's previous work skips from genre to genre, horror, neo-noir, and what has been termed the Kim-Chi Western, however, he gives every film a unique sleekness that it is instantly recognizable.The film lurks in the darkness, neon-lights fizzing in the background, ominous red lamps dotted about. So engaging is the film that the darkly comic moments that turn up every so often jolt you briefly out of your trance; A knife handle slips off, a door-bell rings mid kill.There are some nice visual touches, too; Kyun-Chul lying on his back in the hotel staring up at the stuffed deer's head as a reminder of his predicament, or after having had the back of his head smashed in, waking up in a tunnel with light beaming through at the end of it. The illuminated angel wings that are attached to the rear-view mirror are particularly creepy.

When you compare this to the artistically bankrupt output of Hollywood, in the genre, Hostel for example, you realize what a thin line must be tread in order for a picture like this to refrain from degenerating into mere torture porn. Well directed, cerebral, and stylish, this is not one for the ultra-violence Asian movie ghetto. It is the product of a film-maker in complete control of his medium. Kim, in defence of his actions asks, "Do you know how it feels to have a huge rock in your chest?" For 2 hours, I did.

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Space Battleship Yamato - 2010

Director - Takashi Yamazaki

Rating: 3/5

In the year 2194 Japanese morals are alive and well in this Hollywood-esque CGI spectacular.

This live action movie adaptation of the long running anime series of the same name, now in its 36th year on TV, arrives with a mega budget ($23.9 million), and a mega-star at its helm. Borne out of legal wranglings between creator and series director, it makes a decent stab at that Hollywood staple, the big sci-fi blockbuster, without losing its inherent Japanese-ness.


Survivors of an alien attack on earth are living underground, hiding from the radiation poisoning left behind after the onslaught. It seems that all hope is lost, but when Kodai, Takuya Kimura finds a remnant from a crashed capsule that has the power to stop the radiation, the humans are given a last ditch chance to reclaim their planet. The warp technology enhanced Battleship Yamato sets off on its maiden voyage to find the planet the capsule came from, with the hopes of mankind pinned on it. I confess that I was not familiar with the animation series before but subsequent research shows that the film keeps the retro stylings of the original series intact. Those snazzy leather jackets still look pretty cool and the naff sailor suits for the captains are at least authentic. There is no series reboot or re-imagining going on here.


The action may be set in 2197 but the message is one that has echoed throughout the ages in Japan. The importance of the group, fulfilling your role in it, and respecting authority all come to the fore here. At times the film comes across like a very strange sort of propaganda, not helped by the constant aggressive saluting. The series itself harks back to the real warship Yamato that went on what was essentially a suicide mission to Okinawa in April of 1945. This is evident not only in the design of the spaceship itself, basically a flying 2nd world war battleship, but in the perpetual taking one for the team message that reverberates from start to finish. Among Yamazaki's previous output as director are the two Always films. Polar opposites on the outside, they are sentimental dramas about post-war Tokyo that embodied the same conservative messages being presented here.


Takuya Kimura asserts himself well. He definitely has star quality and is one of the few modern Japanese actors with the star status to pull off a role like this. This said, the transition Kodai goes through seems to be set to fast forward. He starts the film as an aggressive loner but after every smidgen of exposition he seems to have changed immensely. By the 3rd act with Kodai suddenly all grown up, and not shouting at authority figures, it remains a little unconvincing. His dynamic with Mori, Meisa Kuroki the ass kicking female ace pilot, is overall a bit lifeless. Apart from a few instances when her strong woman credentials are being established, she doesn't maintain your interest. The cast as a whole is full to the brim with house-hold Japanese names, even in the blink and you miss it cameo roles, giving the film a nice meatiness.


The CGI is by and large impressive. The battle scenes show some unique touches. They feel like one of those old arcade games with spaceships and lasers flying in every which direction. The pensive space-scapes are mesmerizing and help to immerse you in this alternate reality. There are a few moments where the CGI has a noticeably fake sheen to it, largely when blended into actual scenery. When things are purely blue screen based though, it is of a high standard. The interior sets of the spaceship look the part, too.


Aside from the distinctly Japanese morals, we are in standard Hollywood emulation territory here. The film works in bite-size chunks of exposition washed down with a smattering of action, all paced in that very familiarly slick way. The cockpit scenes have an inevitable Star Trek dynamic to them. Even the final song by Aerosmith's Steve Tyler seems to be geared up to replicate Armageddon (why anyone would want to escapes me). One thing that is striking in its absence, there is no Darth Vader character, no supreme bad guy to unite against. The threat is largely a faceless one. For most of the movie the enemy is just wave after wave of spaceships and this lack of a focal point makes it a little hard to engage with at times. Perhaps for those inclined to, this could be read as a further example of a Japanese subtext, that general fear of the outside, but on face-level it leaves the story feeling a little unbalanced. Already a massive success in Japan, this movie is an admirable attempt at playing Hollywood at its own game.

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The Negotiator, The Movie - Koushounin The Movie - 2010

Director - Hidetomo Matsuda

Rating - 2/5

A by the numbers film based on characters from Japanese drama, The Negotiator.

The Negotiator, or to give it its full Japanese title The Negotiator – The Movie, Time Limit 10,000m Head Games, is a completely implausible, testosterone laden, mildly entertaining genre romp. It is the film version of the popular Japanese drama, and fans are unlikely to be disappointed as there is a distinctly TV special vibe to the proceedings. Those not acquainted with the show need not worry as the story keeps within the confines of the two hour running time. The movie itself twists and turns far more than is necessary and gets more than a little carried away. You don’t just need to suspend your disbelief; you have to forget you ever had any in the first place.

Three robbers are in a huge car chase after stealing 250 million yen. They escape into a shopping mall and begin taking hostages. The leader Mido is one of those smooth, charming, and charismatic criminals that seem to only exist in films. He waxes lyrical about social injustice, bizarrely citing Mark Chapman, John Lennon’s killer. He starts negotiations with our heroine, Reiko Usagi of SIT (The Special Investigation Team), but before she gets anywhere communications are terminated and the SWAT team are invading. When the criminals blow up the entrance, one uses the confusion to escape, and Mido is taken into custody. Days later as Usagi is preparing to fly off on holiday, she spots one of the hostages who was acting strangely boarding a flight at the airport. Suspecting that there is something bigger afoot’ she follows him onto the plane. She is proved right as the hostage and his brother have become tangled up in the criminals’ master plan.

The ensemble cast’s ability varies immensely, at times exposing the TV roots behind the film. Usagi (Ryoko Yonekura) is a pretty stereotypical rebel with a cause character, a strong woman in a man’s world. Yonekura is very earnest throughout but she just doesn’t have much to work with. Her fellow SIT colleagues. too, all give perfectly serviceable performances but don’t impress immensely. The bad guys fare a little better. Grand villain Mido, played by Masahiko Tsugawa, is slightly hammy but very entertaining. He enunciates all his words in a way that makes him seem like a Disney villain who’s landed in the real world, and it is a shame he doesn't have more screen time. Takashi Sorimachi as the cold criminal and hijacker deserves a mention as well. Overall though, a lot of the script feels like it's been written with caps lock left on, and the characters are under-developed and two dimensional.

The film has some monumental plot holes that are a bit distracting. Somehow the hijackers have managed to get a fairly decent arsenal of weaponry onboard. So much for the post 9/11 world that everyone has been going on about for the last decade. Thrillers have to jump left and right but this veers from totally predictable to completely ridiculous. It all winds up feeling a bit absurd. Perhaps you shouldn’t pick too many holes in a film with no delusions of grandeur, but when they are this glaringly obvious it does make all the overly serious acting seem a bit silly. If you do manage to make peace with it all. there is a certain charm to its callous attitude to reality.

The Negotiator is never less than watchable but its by-the-numbers direction and acting and its clichéd storyline are more suited to the confines of a television than the big screen. It hurtles along at a decent pace and is generally well made, but we’ve seen everything here before and there’s nothing that really stands out. Those who follow the TV series will enjoy seeing the extra money in the budget being splashed around, explosions, car chases, and stunts punctuate the movie. I never found myself bored but there are far better examples of this kind of thing out there.

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