The Live Action JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a run of the mill anime adaptation

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a voluminous work spanning thirty years of manga, anime, video games and more, covering decades of in-universe time. While its popularity is limited overseas (most people will probably recognize the series from the memes it produces,) it has a dedicated following to this day.

The 2017 Live-Action adaptation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is directed by prolific director Takashi Miike. On paper, this would seem like a sweet deal: Miike is known for crazy, over the top films, and JoJo's a series known for its flamboyant badassery. However, some of Miike's recent films are films such as Terra Formars that are more safe than anything else. Unfortunately, this film seems to fit in that category.

The film adapts the first part of the Diamond is Unbreakable story arc, which originally ran in the mid nineties. An anime adaptation of that arc recently aired last year, so it's an understandable place to start. The story follows Josuke Higashikata, a teenager with a crazy hairdo and a heart of gold. Josuke has a special power called a Stand that allows him to fight and heal others. This puts him at odds with mysterious individuals that seek to create new Stand users in the relatively peaceful city of Morioh.

The fights are relatively fun, with strategy often winning the day against brute force. The movie, however, doesn't completely capture the craziness of the series and it can be quite dull in some places. This works as a setup for later films, but that has the unfortunate effect of ending just when things start to get interesting. Instead of embracing the over-the-top-ness of the series, the movie takes a step back and keeps things unremarkable.

The performances are okay, and it's a joy to see character actor Jun Kunimura in any role. The rest of the cast are okay, but many are underutilized thanks to the way the story is set up.

As a fan, I'm willing to stick with this movie series to see what happens next. Judging from the original title, sequels are being planned. That said, at this point the anime is a much better alternative and this live action movie series will probably appeal only to fans.