Whew! It's been a crazy fun two weeks, mostly spent vacationing in the land of the rising sun. That unfortunately leaves less time to watch movies in lieu of sightseeing.
But, being Japan, what are the movies that are being shown over there right now?
Now Showing in Japan
There were a lot of anime adaptations showing in Japan at the time, including an adaptation of cycling anime Yowamushi Pedal. Mad Max was just on its way to theaters when we were there. Three movies in particular piqued my interest:
Two of the three movies are based on bestselling books. The first one, boasting a readership of 1.4 million readers, is Initiation Love, starring perennial favorite Shota Matsuda and AKB48 ace turned actress Atsuko Maeda. I saw this movie promoted heavily everywhere, and based on the trailer it has a bunch of crazy twists near the end.It's probably not your typical love story.
The next movie I'll be talking about is Biri Gal. It is based on the true story of Sayaka, a gyaru who is at the bottom of her class ("Biri" means at the bottom) who finds an inspirational teacher in Mr. Tsubota (Atsushi Ito) and aims to pass the entrance exams to Keio University, renowned for being one of the hardest universities to get into in Japan. I saw a feature on this real life story during a late night program, featuring the real life Sayaka and her mother and comparing her real life to the movie. It's one of those feel good inspirational movies you tend to see in Eiga Sai. (Probably next year. Heh.)
And finally, we have Gokudo Daisensou (Great Yakuza War, also called Yakuza Apocalypse) about Yakuza Vampires. Let me repeat that. Yakuza. Vampires. Based on the trailer this is classic Japanese zaniness all around, which is an instant selling point for me. Hayato Ichihara seems to be cast repeatedly in tough guy roles. I'm still waiting for a return to the sensitive roles he had when he was starting out with All About Lily Chou Chou, but in this particular case, I don't really mind.
BECAUSE YAKUZA VAMPIRES. YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID.
Anyway, let's get on to movies I did watch in the past two or so weeks.
A Jurassic Park movie and a Terminator movie in cinemas!? What decade is this?
The first Jurassic Park movie was a wondrous experience for myself and many other moviegoers in the nineties. It showed us the magic of CGI on an epic scale for the first time, it was an engaging story on the dangers of man playing god, and it had dinosaurs. The next two movies were just so so, and were ultimately forgettable.
More than 20 years later, the Jurassic Park franchise undergoes a soft reboot with Jurassic World, a sequel to the first film. While man's hubris in the first film was contained thanks to laser guided karma, this film has mankind overcoming the technical limitations of making a dinosaur theme park. This time, however, we one up ourselves by trying to make a horrible dinosaur hybrid that predictably breaks loose and wreaks havoc on our protagonists.
Man vs. Nature comes into full swing here, but in a way the film also criticizes our overly materialistic spirit of always wanting more. In a related way, the film self-reflects on the state of the blockbuster film as we know it: in the years in between the first Jurassic Park and this one, we have escalated our endless hunger for always wanting more exciting films, more loud spectacles, to the point that every new chaotic, cacophonic creation is more numbing than inspiring. The Michael Bay manufactured products and the nostalgia-exploiting flicks of the past decade are the Indominus rexes of the movie world. This movie may well be one of those films.
And thus, while it is an entertainingly worthwhile popcorn flick, there really is nothing new on the plate as far as this movie is concerned. The sense of wonder in the original film feels muted here, and while the references to Jurassic Park are appreciated, there's a feeling of playing things safe in this one.
(Also, I am a bit miffed at the fact that the dinosaurs do not reflect current scientific knowledge on what dinosaurs actually look like i.e. with feathers, which makes this a step backward in the whole popularizing science angle.)
I'm not the biggest fan of Doraemon, but I'm well aware of its impact throughout Asia. I've seen a number of episodes and I love the comedy. For Stand by Me Doraemon, the latest in a line of the franchise's cinematic features, the series makes a ballsy move to 3D CGI. While the Japanese are known as masters of 2D animation, their reputation in 3D CGI is not as impressive, with only a handful of titles matching the quality of animation of their western neighbors.
Surprisingly, Stand By Me Doraemon manages to look really good as a 3D film, and as a film in itself, it's an affecting and touching emotional roller coaster ride that is guaranteed to get a laugh and bring a tear to one's eye at the same time.
The film consolidates and condenses several story arcs from the manga/anime to create a self contained story that anyone can appreciate even though he or she has seen little to none of the original manga or anime, starting from how Doraemon and Nobita met to various adventures. This movie emphasizes the friendship between the two characters and how they influenced each other over their many hijinks together.
The CGI is very well made, mixed with miniature animation making the whole thing feel even more realistic at times. It's a marvel seeing this kind of animation compared to animation produced ten years ago that looked really rudimentary - Japan's CGI animation techniques have evolved.
The film is quite serious at times, and I was surprised to see myself tearing up at some points in the film. I'm guessing the effect is enhanced if you're a fan of the film. The movie was dubbed in English for local release and the voice cast sounds fine compared to the original Japanese dub.
I want to see this film be appreciated more than it already is. It's one of the best movies to come out this week, whether you're a fan of the franchise or not.
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