The Great Yokai War
Seen 9 July 2006 at the Brattle
* * * * (out of 5)
Takashi Miike has a distinctive track record. Previous to this, I’ve seen “The Happiness of the Katakuris” and sections of “Ichi the Killer,” while repeatedly dodging my brother’s attempts to get me to watch “Audition.” Miike is one messed-up guy, and if you want weirdo, freaked-out horror, he is certainly the guy to go to. So it’s only natural that his latest work is a kid’s movie.
Well… MOSTLY a kid’s movie. There are sections here and there that I predict would sufficiently freak out preteens in the US. Part of why that happens is that Miike, in all his freakiness, is somehow able to bounce between cute and cuddly and mildly disturbing at the drop of a hat. Seeing a major character – and one of the few traditionally cuddly creatures – get dropped into a vat of boiling goo and reemerging as a killing machine might rub some kids the wrong way, but that’s how The Great Yokai War works: Miike sends his young hero into a nightmare’s nightmare, and forces him to fight his way out.
Tadashi Ino (Ryunosuke Kamiki) recently moved with his mother and grandfather out to the country after his parents got divorced, leaving his father and sister in the city. Tadashi is a small kid, and not at all used to country life, so he gets picked on somewhat viciously by the other boys in his new school. During a traditional parade and ceremony in the village he is “bitten” by the Kirin, making him the new Kirin Rider. The traditional duties of the Rider involve heading up the nearby mountain to retrieve a sword from the Great Goblin that guards it. He gets freaked out on his way up the mountain, and hitches a ride to go home. Suddenly, the bus is “attacked” by a whole plethora of freaky creatures and things. He comes to learn these are the yokai, peaceful creatures from Japanese mythology who are being threatened by an evil demon (Natsuhiko Kyougoku) and his accomplice (Chiaki Kuriyama). They plan to turn the yokai into evil killing machines, and use them to take over Japan (and presumably the world). The Kirin Rider, now Tadashi, has always been the one to maintain this balance, and he is prophesized to come to the yokai's rescue again.
The most striking thing about the film is the creature design. There’s some CG here, but the vast majority of the yokai are guys in crazy suits. Miike’s strength lies in his ability to sufficiently alarm the audience upon the initial appearance of these creatures, right in line with Tadashi’s reaction (but maybe without the screaming).
Read the rest at HBS!
* * * * (out of 5)
Takashi Miike has a distinctive track record. Previous to this, I’ve seen “The Happiness of the Katakuris” and sections of “Ichi the Killer,” while repeatedly dodging my brother’s attempts to get me to watch “Audition.” Miike is one messed-up guy, and if you want weirdo, freaked-out horror, he is certainly the guy to go to. So it’s only natural that his latest work is a kid’s movie.
Well… MOSTLY a kid’s movie. There are sections here and there that I predict would sufficiently freak out preteens in the US. Part of why that happens is that Miike, in all his freakiness, is somehow able to bounce between cute and cuddly and mildly disturbing at the drop of a hat. Seeing a major character – and one of the few traditionally cuddly creatures – get dropped into a vat of boiling goo and reemerging as a killing machine might rub some kids the wrong way, but that’s how The Great Yokai War works: Miike sends his young hero into a nightmare’s nightmare, and forces him to fight his way out.
Tadashi Ino (Ryunosuke Kamiki) recently moved with his mother and grandfather out to the country after his parents got divorced, leaving his father and sister in the city. Tadashi is a small kid, and not at all used to country life, so he gets picked on somewhat viciously by the other boys in his new school. During a traditional parade and ceremony in the village he is “bitten” by the Kirin, making him the new Kirin Rider. The traditional duties of the Rider involve heading up the nearby mountain to retrieve a sword from the Great Goblin that guards it. He gets freaked out on his way up the mountain, and hitches a ride to go home. Suddenly, the bus is “attacked” by a whole plethora of freaky creatures and things. He comes to learn these are the yokai, peaceful creatures from Japanese mythology who are being threatened by an evil demon (Natsuhiko Kyougoku) and his accomplice (Chiaki Kuriyama). They plan to turn the yokai into evil killing machines, and use them to take over Japan (and presumably the world). The Kirin Rider, now Tadashi, has always been the one to maintain this balance, and he is prophesized to come to the yokai's rescue again.
The most striking thing about the film is the creature design. There’s some CG here, but the vast majority of the yokai are guys in crazy suits. Miike’s strength lies in his ability to sufficiently alarm the audience upon the initial appearance of these creatures, right in line with Tadashi’s reaction (but maybe without the screaming).
Read the rest at HBS!
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11:55 AM
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