Good but not great adaptation of an Osamu Tezuka comic. May play better once the sequels arrive

dbborroughs

Film adaption of Osamu Tezuka's comic about a swordsman who's father sold 48 of his body parts to various demons for help in taking over the country and the world. As the swordsman kills the various demons he gets the parts back. He travels with a young thief named Dororo whom he picks up along the way. As the story progresses the pair encounters many demons and move ever closer to the revenge Hyakkimaru, the swordsman, desires.

Its an okay adaption of the comic (just now being published in the US), with several changes to the story (Hyakkimaru's father is wounded in battle and angry at his Lord when he makes the deal with the demons not just desirous of power, the creation of Hyakkimaru's prosthetic body is something out of Frankenstein instead of carved from wood, the source of one of the swords that serve as arms has been changed and it appears that how and what our hero can see has changed), the film travels close to episodic nature of the comic in spirit if not in actuality. This presents a problem since much of the first half of the film is exposition, setting up back stories and who these characters are.Its okay but it doesn't allow for things to really take off until the second half (which angles towards two promised sequels). There is also a weird shifting of tone from action to comedy to drama to horror in a way that doesn't quite work. (It doesn't help that there is an over abundance of CGI that often makes things seem less real) I like the film but I don't love it. Its not because I'm really enjoying the comic and the film doesn't match it, rather its just that the film is long winded and doesn't work for its own reasons. Frankly the almost two and a half running time is too much for a film that is too episodic to fully buildup momentum (perhaps the next two films will play better with the need for set up removed). The look of the film is often breath taking and the action is quite good and over all the film is worth seeing if you are willing to allow for its flaws. I don't know if I'd pay to see this at 10 bucks a head (a possibility since this has been popping in and out of theaters) but I would rent it or wait for a cable appearance should a station actually purchase the broadcast rights.

6.5 out of 10.

--------- Addendum: I recently spoke with a representative from Vertical Publishing who is putting out the comic. He said that there will be no sequels because the Tezuka estate dislikes this film enough to stop production.

score 6/10

dbborroughs 26 May 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1880820/