In the world of Tokyo Ghoul, humans are not at the top of the food chain: creatures called Ghouls, who take human form, serve as predators. All other kinds of food repel them; humans are their sole source of nutrition and their only means of survival.
I have not read the original Tokyo Ghoul manga, and I have only seen a few episodes of the anime, so I cannot comment on how good the live action Tokyo Ghoul is as an adaptation. (The movie adapts the first 8 or so episodes of the anime). That said, as a standalone movie, Tokyo Ghoul is quite entertaining, tackling topics that are relevant in today's world.
We view the movie through the eyes of Kaneki (Masataka Kubota), who becomes a human-ghoul hybrid after a series of very unfortunate events. Confused at his new nature as a ghoul, he finds refuge in a community of ghouls that seek to coexist with humanity (or at least make as small an impact as possible.)
Tokyo Ghoul depicts a community demonized by the actions of some of its members. On one side, the CCG (the film's main anti-Ghoul faction) aims to eradicate any ghoul, good or not. Their sense of justice is absolutist and uncompromising, and for a while it feels justified why they are doing this, considering the number of people killed by the Ghouls. On the other hand, Ghouls aren't all murderous hunters treating humans as food; while some Ghouls certainly fit the bill as dangerous predators, others do not wish to harm humans and want to live their lives in peace. Their appetite for humanity is something innate within them, but they try to control these impulses for the sake of fitting into society. Tokyo Ghoul refuses to paint either side as black or white, and I found this moral ambiguity fascinating.
Kaneki sees this morally ambiguous landscape and sees that something is terribly wrong and must be changed, that neither side is completely right or wrong.
The film drags in some places, but is generally well-paced. The two leads, Masataka Kubota and Fumika Shimizu are great in their respective roles; Shimizu in particular uses her experience from tokusatsu productions to give a great performance as Touka. I'm guessing some story elements are vaguely explained due to the nature of the film as an adaptation, but I'm not really in a position to say so. The blood and gore is pretty satisfying, though the CGI is iffy in some places.
Even if you haven't seen the original anime or manga, Tokyo Ghoul is a pretty fun watch. Hopefully a live action sequel is in the works, as I don't mind diving headlong into this world's universe again.
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