Forum - View topicREVIEW: Tekkon Kinkreet
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Aw, I was afraid of something like this happening. Ever since I first heard about the project (Black & White... animated by Studio 4°C?? How can it go wrong?) I've been floating on Cloud 9, but this has brought me crashing back into harsh reality. I actually re-read the manga for the dozenth time about a week ago to pump myself up for the Los Angeles screening next weekend and it reinforced the delicacy and brilliance of Taiyo Matsumoto's storytelling. It's going to break my heart to see such a wonderful story handled so haphazardly. Then again, each critic approaches a film differently, and there's always a chance I'll come out of the theater satisfied.
And I'm still looking forward to the eye candy, of course. |
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Deltakiral
 Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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Well looks like I am not going to have to worry about missing this flick then. My sick days are few and far between and I am not going to waste them on something that's a prettier version of Spirit Within. Very sad news, I can't believe this but I guess this gives me a reason to order that new edition of the Manga with all 600+ pages for $20.
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Let's see... He's not an anime fan per se (doesn't see any TV anime), but sees pretty much every new theatrical film coming out of Asia, anime included. So he's a fan, needless to say, of most Studio Ghibli movies and Satoshi Kon. He shared my astonishment at Paprika as well. 
As I'm slowly moving into live action as well (profession-wise) he's a good friend to have. |
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aorta
Posts: 24 |
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The music was done by Plaid, who are not really amateurs when it comes to electronic music.
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nicomorr
 Posts: 127 Location: London, UK. |
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Since I'm moving in exactly t'other direction, and have not seen the film, I can only say that I have read some positive reviews (Japanese press, who are NOT necessarily kind - they panned Goro Miyazaki in that elliptical manner they have). I'lll have to make up my own mind. If it's ever going to have a showing in the UK, hopefully the NFT will have an evening as they did with Innocence & funnily enough my daughter (who is a film-maker) fell asleep during it (she WAS tired) while I sat entranced by the visuals & the music, manging to totally ignore the interminable philosophical musings! |
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GATSU
Posts: 15356 |
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I'm guessing the Japanese had it in for Goro, because he was Miyazaki's son, and trashing Howl would mean questioning Hayao, which-given his current status there-is a big no-no.
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nicomorr
Posts: 127 Location: London, UK. |
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Agreed - but the key ingredient here surely is a fundemental respect for the creators, inheritors of a beloved cultural tradition. You don't rip them apart - you obliquely insinuate that they might do a lot better next time. What I find missing in much Western criticism. Slightly offtopic - the Arte docu on Ghibli showed that very clearly I thought. We miss a lot of the cultural context. |
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mikehiroaki
Posts: 1 |
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jsevakis wrote:
I mean, there's one scene where a yakuza thug has to kill his boss (for reasons that are not adequately explained). The boss (Rat) is full of resignation and love, and while the guy is trying to pull the trigger, he just keeps firing off clichéd "daddy advice" lines, one after another. It just DOESN'T STOP and serves absolutely no purpose. --------------- jsevakis wrote: I like their translation, but having never read the Japanese (and not really being literate enough in Japanese to do so), I have nothing to compare it to. People always bitch about translations, especially if their adapted, but I tend to prefer slightly more adapted scripts, as they read better in English, which is the point in the first place. --------------- --------------- Hey I don't mean to call you out on this but I am. I have the Viz translation and that scene in the movie that you said "serves no purpose" is basically lifted almost word for word from the manga. Page 54 Kimura: (holding gun) I joined the gang because I looked up to you. You were my- Rat: What'd I teach you, Kimura? Keep quiet when you are about to whack someone. Kimura: (points gun at Rat) Yes, sir. Rat: And don't do something stupid afterwards, like tossing your gun into some shallow stream. Kimura: (tears streaming from his eyes) Yes, sir. Rat: And remember to burn your clothes to get rid of any traces of gunpowder. Page 55 Rat: Take good care of your wife, you hear? Kimura: (crying, gun in his shaking) Yes, sir. Rat: 'Cause that's what counts. BLAM!! Now if I remember correctly, the dialogue was altered a bit so at the end he said "Love your wife and child ... 'cause that's all you need." I myself, enjoyed the film. It wasn't perfect and there was stuff that was cut that I wish was in it but I think as an adaptation of an epic work, I think it held its own. Matsumoto himself felt the film was "the treasure of his life". Different strokes for different folks, I guess. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15356 |
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I haven't read the manga, but I'm going to have to mostly agree with Justin, though I'd give it a higher score of a B-, due to the animation. The production runs out of steam halfway through the running time, and what we get stuck with is Akira by way of Linkin Park. I don't really feel for the yakuza like I should, and the kids just act like they're off their ritalin. Considering how popular Pulp's adaptation of the manga appears to be, I think Arias should have brought in Macias's crew as consultants.
Oh, and it kind of pissed me off that off-hand comments weren't subbed, and some of the main dialogue was subbed loosely. In general, Tekkon Kinkreet felt more like a Hollywood production done anime-style rather than the other way around. Arias is clearly trying to be another Kitano, but he doesn't have the same sense of subtlety. Edit: I will add that it was better than City of God. Last edited by GATSU on Mon May 07, 2007 12:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Cloe
Moderator
Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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I just got back from the screening, and I have to say I thought it was an extremely faithful adaptation of the manga. I agree with Justin that there are significant pacing problems, which results from cramming a three-volume manga (and one already incredibly dense) into a two-hour film and hardly cutting anything out. Although I liked the music, I thought the way it was used was a little over-the-top. I mean, do we really need BGM for every single second of film time? I thought I was watching a Michael Bay movie for a while there.
However, I thought that despite those problems it was a very solid film. I would definitely have given the story a higher rating, seeing how it's lifted almost word-for-word from the manga, but appreciate Justin's comments and analysis. It just goes to show how personal taste and criticism varies from person to person. I'd recommend this film to anybody, to be honest. And I think that fans of the manga will actually have a higher appreciation for the film than people who aren't already familiar with the story (I went with another animator who was already familiar with the comic and a filmmaker and musician who weren't, and the latter two had trouble keeping the various yakuza/police/crazy-ass disneyland bad guys apart--they still loved the film, though). Oh, and the climax was incredible. I loved the art techniques there. |
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Okay, fair enough. That scene stood out to me because the poor pacing and dramatization made it lose whatever impact it once had. I'm glad I didn't use that example in the review.
Good point. A friend of mine pointed out that one of the things that makes anime so distinctive from US animation is its artistic sense of timing, which is what is missing here. (The dialogue seemed to me to be originally written as it appears in the subtitles, then adapted loosely into the Japanese dialogue you hear.)
Yeah. I tend to put much more credo into story than I do visuals. I'm sure I'd be much less disappointed if I were more visceral. |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Maybe having an American director did affect the film. Anyone know Arias' background? And how exactly is Tekkon similar to Kitano.
 Why don't you throw in a James Cameron knock for good measure.
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GATSU
Posts: 15356 |
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Kagemusha:
He's just a techie on productions like The Animatrix and The Abyss. And it's similar, in that it goes into a debate about the yakuza code. Plus it's trying to use introspective scenes to tell the story.
A couple people on a different thread got pissed, because I said Terminator 2 was really a sequel to a Harlan Ellison idea, with the only new aspect to it being morphing robots blowing each other up real good.
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Gatsu, can you use another emoticon? It seems like you're ALWAYS rolling your eyes at something...
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Deltakiral
Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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But that's how you know it's a certified GATSU post, witty comment about Michael Bay/Transformer followed by this. , oh GATSU your so adorable.
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