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Gô Naga's comic story comes to the big screen in a big mess of a live action film. If it were enough to survive on looks alone then this might have had a snowballs chance in hell, but as it stands now this is a movie thats tough viewing.
Where do I start? The plot is whats best described as episodic. Telling the story of two friends who are become changed when a scientific experiment goes wrong and demon energy comes into our world. One becomes "Satan" the other becomes Devilman, a demon with a human heart.There are other demons on the loose, many hiding in human form and they go about killing and eating any human they find. The remaining humans fight back and a war between the demons and the humans ensues, which becomes a war between nations. As Devilman battles his friend and humans and demons battle each other it looks like its the end of the world.
The simplicity with which I recounted the plot is misleading since the story makes no sense except on the simplest of levels. Things happen and are important until they are not. We learn of the creation of the demons in such a way that makes you think you've missed something. Who are these scientists? There is a newscaster giving news reports in English in the middle of a Japanese language film. We are given endless scenes of goofy soldiers in white suits and gas masks shooting people they think are demons. An old lover of Devilman's demon side shows up for no reason but to have a fight. Events take a global turn except only to suddenly end up back in Japan. Characters come and go and we have no idea who they are, even though they seem to be important. Nothing holds together.
The two leads are awful. Apparently they are non-actors, having made their mark a J-Pop idols. They should stay in the music field. They stand and stare. They walk or run then stand and stare some more. Mostly they look stoned. I've never seen a movie where the leads looked so completely fried outside of Dennis Hopper's Last Movie, certainly I've never seen a movie where the leads were so fried that they couldn't at least phone in a performance. They have no personality. Worse the kid who becomes Devilman is quite ugly for an idol and one makes you wonder why he was chosen to star.
The effects are from a bad video game or from some of those low budget animated series. The design is good but for the most part they never drop into the world of the film, they are forever outside of it. At times the fights between demons shows its manga/anime origins by using the frozen image that artists use to produce an effect of action on a limited animation budget. It doesn't work here and just produces laughs as the two demons in question suddenly become statues instead living objects. its a WTF moment. I won't go into the makeup effects which are even worse, as spiky bones act like comes of latex rubber.
And yet there is some good things in it. There are some nice designs, Devilman, his demonic lover and Satan all look great, at least in theory.The designs were what attracted me to the movie in the first place, and had they not been as good as they are I would not have even bothered with the film. The reaction of the frighten crowds is quite good, even if there is no logic, other than the need to move the story, for most of what they do. And there are some genuinely creepy moments such as the last moments of people's consciousness showing up on the back of the demon that ate them, or the weird eyes of the father of a little boy who doesn't know his dad has been taken over. These moments are sad because you get the sense of just how good this movie really could have been.
I can't really recommend this movie. It's one of those annoying films that could have worked but doesn't so sinks to the bottom of the pile. They actually got some things right, but the fact that the leads, the story and to a lesser extent the effects don't work destroy this films hopes. (Though if you study film visuals, then you might want to look, if you can see it for free) A sad major misfire.
score 3/10
dbborroughs 26 August 2005
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1158523/ |
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30-3-2021 12:05:23