Rorouni Kenshin ~ るろうに剣心
Dec. 1st, 2012 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spsn
I like this poster more instead of the regular official posters which are now pasted over the theater in Singapore (yes, only 1 theater screening the movie here). I just happened to gaze over the newspaper and almost choked when I saw Kenshin show times was on the newspaper (yeah, nowadays I'm not that up to date on which Japanese movies to be screened here) on Thursday, and guess what, when I checked the seating for Saturday screening, it's already 70% full! So, I quickly booked one ticket and... yeah it's a full house for 1pm time slot (first screening of the day). As Kenshin is a life action based on the anime that we all know and love (I assume everybody who read this know what Rurouni Kenshin is >o<). But is this movie worth the hype?
Normally I always keep my expectation on the ground over any life actions because you know, it can get screwed and may end up like Dragon Balls live action (the worst of them all where everything went wrong). But from the moment I saw the first trailer, I knew somehow this movie will be a good one (the amount of blood on the trailer attracts me LOL, but fret not, it's not like the battosai is bathing in a pool of blood). And it is a good one. Maybe the otakus will have more things to rant (they always do when it comes a life action version of their beloved anime anyway :p), but let's just assume that we never read the manga, we never watch the anime (and I didn't finish the anime, it's just... too long!). Character-wise, they may not include all the characters (can't remember), but they include all the ones that people remember and the must have. Story-wise, if you watch the first 10 episodes of the anime, you'll see exactly the same plot, but the movie speeds it up to the next 20 or 30 episodes later without confusing the novice audiences, which I think it's the strength of this movie. Fighting scene? Lots of awesome moves. And I just read other reviews, there's no CG!!! So that means Satou Takeru really jumping up and down and doing saltos here and there? It makes this movie even cooler now! And there's no slow-mo, no matrix moves! Cast wise? I have no complains! Satou Takeru is wonderful as Kenshin. He can be awkward or even to the point of being blur but super kakkoii when he fought with the bad guy. Even Takei Emi is bearable as Kaoru-dono, still not fond of Takei Emi, but her voice is not so annoying here and she didn't have too many lines so I'm cool with it.
They slot in enough drama and humour into this movie so it's not too stressful like what we have in Gantz. The drama comes from Kenshin's past. It's what made him who he is now, what haunts him and what resolves him to become. And we get to see how Kenshin gets the scar in this movie (so no need to watch until x episodes, I have no idea in which anime episodes they reveal this) and it's not pretty, but the scar is sort of a reminder on what he resolved to be. But no matter how strong Kenshin's resolution is, he's still a human being and can weaver too, and I like how they place this point in the movie, and I think Satou Takeru acted it right as well. I like how they play around with the perspective of sword, to kill or to bring life? Now, the funny parts. I like the scene where they try to tackle the machine gun, by surrendering and Kenshin's awkward way of surrendering really looks like it come out from the anime. Another funny scene is when Sanosuke fought the bad guy in the kitchen. He requested a time out... to recharge, by gobbling up a chicken and share it with the bad guy and unfortunately the bad guy is vegetarian, but he didn't decline the wine though, LOL!
I don't do the story summary this time because, the trailers below says it all!
The very first trailer out, see the blood? It looks real, that's why it goes straight to my movie list LOL...
Rurouni Kenshin has so many fans that it got a youtube subbed for its trailler (all the trailers)
I like the second trailer the best because it basically compress everything that I like from this movie :).
So, bottom line, it's a must watch movie! Seriously, if Rurouni Kenshin is screened in your nearby movie theater, quickly grab a ticket and watch it! You won't regret it and you better be quick because the rest of otaku will also watch this movie, so tickets are selling out... fast! For non anime fans, keep an open mind that samurais don't just slash their swords when they fight, they also have 'techniques' because this comes from Japan where even baseball or soccer players have a name for their special attacks!
