Kingdom 2: Far and Away (2022)

wish they would turn this to live action series but the budget would have been huge, perspective having read the source material, they stick pretty close to it focusing only an arc in the manga. casting is excellent, especially love the character of General Ouki, cuts for the source material was a little noticeable but giving the time given it was nice! the story keeps u wanting for more, the casting of Tamaki Hiroshi was a surprise cant wait for the 3rd film. if your going to watch this movie make sure to wait for the trailer at the end. you have to watch the first film, and this movie is not a waste your time movie, its fun, war adventure movie!

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Good, but still could be better

At first it startet really great. Starting of war, the “GO” squads, everything was good, but at some point in this second movie the fights wasn’t this great as the previous one. It was interesting with the new characters and especially with Kai, her story was really touching. Shin as always was himself and that probably made me watch till the end. My only question is, is the general there only for the show? I’ll probably get my answer in the next movie, but he is still very interesting character as well. And at the end of the movie, this open ending with Eisei was quite surprising.

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Good Enough

Japanese Movie '' Kingdom 2 : To The Far Land '' is the second movie of the Kingdom series and it takes place after the events of the first movie.

The pros of the movie were its characters and that great battle. The characters, especially the one that was introduced for the first time in this movie, had strong background stories and strong personalities to boot. They were those who supported the story, which wasn't much in the end. The great battle was, also, well handled and had enough action and nicely choreographed scenes.

On the other hand, the plot was stretched out too thinly. There wasn't much going on for most of its length, and things only picked up towards the ending, giving us hope for the third movie. So, as a whole, this movie serves more as a bridge between the two movies, with only a battle to show for it.

Finally, the performances were pretty great by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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EPIC

Really enjoyed it but I don't think I would have if it wasn't for the first movie.

I didn't care much for Kyoukai's life story. As ridiculous as it was ( I mean literally Shin is running around everywhere fighting here and there with barely any sleep nor food for days and the guy is still as pumped up as when he started his journey) and as obnoxiously LOUD Shin was (typical of MANY Male manga characters), it was EPIC.

The battles were impressive but my brain couldn't switch off the fact that all these generals are literally sending people to the slaughterhouse in order to get brownie points from the King. It's all in the name of uniting Qin, but the truth is, they all want the glory, the fame, the personal army, castle and money that comes with it.

I usually flee from war stories because they're just pretty sad overall, for me it's just mindless killing for this or that King. People at the bottom honestly don't care about who rules but they sure pay the price whenever a new lord wants his own little kingdom...

This is being said, it is refreshing to see a show that focus on the big lines in history book. Forget the deaths count, just enjoy the ride through the lens of those at the top and a nutcase who has a big dream. I wish I had seen this in a movie theater though. The scale of the battle and the insane castles are worth the investment. A small screen just doesn't give it justice.

Anyway. Count me in for Movie Number 3.

A solid 9.

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Un zeste d'histoire, une pincée d'action musclée et jouissif, une touche d'humour...

Ma critique concernera le film 1 et 2. Je sais, mais ce sont les vacances et je suis en mode "lazy".
Les actualités parlent de vague de chaleur, mais ici dans le nord, la pluie domine ces derniers jours notre belle campagne. Ce qui nous permet de rester bien au chaud et de regarder des films à tout hasard trouvé dans mon disque dur. A tout hasard? Pas vraiment, Ado1 lisait déjà le manga et n'a donc pas hésité à nous clamer " ah oui, trop bien ce manga" et hop nous voilà parti pour les deux premiers films de cette saga ma foi plutôt rondement bien menée.

Posons l'Histoire. Avec un grand H. Oui, car l"intrigue se passe durant la période des Royaumes combattants en Chine. Inspirée de la vie du général Li Xin et de l'empereur Qin Shi Huang , l'histoire nous raconte le rêve de Li Shin (prononciation japonaise) de devenir le plus grand général de tous les temps. Il est évident que l'intrigue sera "romancé" afin de nous vendre un film à l'action musclé. Bien loin d'un documentaire, cela a tout de même le mérite de nous donner ensuite (ou pas) d'en savoir un peu plus sur cette période de l'Histoire. Après tout, Qin Shi Huang deviendra l'empereur unificateur de la Chine et aura à son compte la standardisation de l'écriture, la monnaie, les poids, les mesures, les soldats en terre cuite et celui qui aura commencé la fondation de la Grande Muraille de Chine...Quant à Li Xin, il est décrit comme un général brave et courageux et ayant apporté une grande aide à l'empereur durant les batailles des royaumes combattants.

La réalisation, sans atteindre l'excellence de la sage "Kenshin" est dynamique avec des couleurs chaudes oscillants entre des tons sombres et ocres. Nous sommes plongés dans l'intrigue sans fioriture . Rapidité ne veut pas dire bâclé, le scénario prend le temps de nous faire apprécier les relations entre nos protagonistes. La simplicité de l'intrigue nous permet de suivre avec intérêt l'avancé de la guerre et les enjeux de l'état de Qin.
L'action est fluide et les combats dynamique. La petite touche d'humour typiquement japonaise parsemant les films déride, le film n'a pas vocation à se prendre au sérieux et c'est tant mieux. Le sentiment de se trouver devant un manga ou un animé est très plaisant, bien que parfois "absurde", nous n'en voulons pas au réalisateur puisque c'est un parti pris.
Le jeu d'acteur est plus qu'honorable et on apprécie grandement les personnages que cela soit principaux ou secondaires. Une petite mention au général Ouki qui provoque un sentiment entre respect et effroi. Son sourire carnassier et la lenteur voulue d'une voix lancinante engendre une impression de perversion (à la limite du psychopathe) très vite démentie par des actions qui piquent notre curiosité.

C'est donc avec une grande impatience que nous attendons le film numéro 3 qui ne saurait tarder, puisque prévu pour juillet 2023!

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