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The Butterfly
Tornado Alley
This review may contain spoilers
My first thought when watching The Great Yokai War was that it was a Miyazaki Hayao animated film come to life. The film was filled with strange spirits call yokai who were being turned into steam punk monsters to aid the demon lord Kato in covering the world in darkness. When the fate of humanity is at stake, who can you rely on? Only a grade school boy with a fancy sword and a handful of colorful characters.
Tadashi’s parents have divorced and he is living with his mother and grandfather in a rural area while his sister lives with the father in Tokyo. The other boys pick on Tadashi even after he is chosen as the Kirin Rider, the boy who will preserve world peace. What Tadashi doesn’t know is that the demon Kato and his dominatrix henchwoman Agi are rounding up yokai and turning them into destructive metallic monsters. Tadashi rescues a furry yokai and carries him everywhere as no one else can see it. The Goblin Mountain calls to him and he is tested by the yokai living there and deemed worthy. The Goblin gives him the sword of destiny before Agi and her metal minions carry the giant goblin way. Kato has created a giant frog airship to take to Tokyo. Some bystanders think Gamera has returned. Gamera was a turtle people, come on! Tadashi meets with other yokai and upon discovering Kato’s nefarious plan they travel to Tokyo to try and stop the handsome demon. A bean washing yokai joins them and is heavily foreshadowed as being key to thwarting Kato’s evil goal.
The film was extraordinarily creative. There were not just a dozen different yokai, but around 100 had some form of screen time. Tadashi’s team had a red spirit whose hair warned of danger, a turtle, and a water princess. They met a walking talking umbrella, a walking talking wall, a long-necked woman, and strange animal yokai to name a few. The Transformer elements were inventive if not unique, sadly the CGI was lacking.
The acting was about what you’d expect from this kind of movie. Some of it was quite over the top. Toyokawa Etshushi as Kato grounded the film and avoided chewing the scenery. A good thing as the yokai actors and the human artist didn’t leave much after they were done with it. The child actor did the best he could but his performance wasn’t compelling, one of the problems with putting the weight of the world on a pre-pubescent boy. Kamiki Ryunosuke has gone on to do numerous dramas and films. The music wasn’t memorable for the most part. The only funny element to me was the azuki bean song at a key moment. It was hilarious.
Kato’s revenge was based on humans ridding themselves of things that no longer serve them. Maybe it was a translation problem, but I found it confusing. “He is the resentment humanity has earned from those things you use no more and throw away.” With the example Tadashi was given about throwing away worn out shoes being bad, I wasn’t sure if Kato wanted people to be hoarders or run around naked. The yokai had good advice, especially from a country that has experienced many wars. “Those who discard their past have no future.” “Wars must not happen, they only make you hungry.”
If you want to show this film to younger children, it might be good to know that Agi and the Water Princess were sexualized. There were also dismemberments, blood, and what could be seen as scary monsters for young ones.
Director Miike went overboard to make an artistic fantasy world awaken. The biggest drawback for me was that the film took a long time to set up the story, too long. Forty-minutes passed by before the adventure began. Despite his innovate spirits, the theme was a familiar one. For once again, the only force in the universe that could protect humankind was a small boy. This time aided by a sword and a little red bean.
10/5/23
Tadashi’s parents have divorced and he is living with his mother and grandfather in a rural area while his sister lives with the father in Tokyo. The other boys pick on Tadashi even after he is chosen as the Kirin Rider, the boy who will preserve world peace. What Tadashi doesn’t know is that the demon Kato and his dominatrix henchwoman Agi are rounding up yokai and turning them into destructive metallic monsters. Tadashi rescues a furry yokai and carries him everywhere as no one else can see it. The Goblin Mountain calls to him and he is tested by the yokai living there and deemed worthy. The Goblin gives him the sword of destiny before Agi and her metal minions carry the giant goblin way. Kato has created a giant frog airship to take to Tokyo. Some bystanders think Gamera has returned. Gamera was a turtle people, come on! Tadashi meets with other yokai and upon discovering Kato’s nefarious plan they travel to Tokyo to try and stop the handsome demon. A bean washing yokai joins them and is heavily foreshadowed as being key to thwarting Kato’s evil goal.
The film was extraordinarily creative. There were not just a dozen different yokai, but around 100 had some form of screen time. Tadashi’s team had a red spirit whose hair warned of danger, a turtle, and a water princess. They met a walking talking umbrella, a walking talking wall, a long-necked woman, and strange animal yokai to name a few. The Transformer elements were inventive if not unique, sadly the CGI was lacking.
The acting was about what you’d expect from this kind of movie. Some of it was quite over the top. Toyokawa Etshushi as Kato grounded the film and avoided chewing the scenery. A good thing as the yokai actors and the human artist didn’t leave much after they were done with it. The child actor did the best he could but his performance wasn’t compelling, one of the problems with putting the weight of the world on a pre-pubescent boy. Kamiki Ryunosuke has gone on to do numerous dramas and films. The music wasn’t memorable for the most part. The only funny element to me was the azuki bean song at a key moment. It was hilarious.
Kato’s revenge was based on humans ridding themselves of things that no longer serve them. Maybe it was a translation problem, but I found it confusing. “He is the resentment humanity has earned from those things you use no more and throw away.” With the example Tadashi was given about throwing away worn out shoes being bad, I wasn’t sure if Kato wanted people to be hoarders or run around naked. The yokai had good advice, especially from a country that has experienced many wars. “Those who discard their past have no future.” “Wars must not happen, they only make you hungry.”
If you want to show this film to younger children, it might be good to know that Agi and the Water Princess were sexualized. There were also dismemberments, blood, and what could be seen as scary monsters for young ones.
Director Miike went overboard to make an artistic fantasy world awaken. The biggest drawback for me was that the film took a long time to set up the story, too long. Forty-minutes passed by before the adventure began. Despite his innovate spirits, the theme was a familiar one. For once again, the only force in the universe that could protect humankind was a small boy. This time aided by a sword and a little red bean.
10/5/23
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