yatterman review on nippon cinema

[kmakms.livejournal.com]

 I just saw this so thought i'd share...

Growing up in the 80s, there were a few Americanized imports of Japanese cartoons that captured my imagination as a kid; Voltron (1984-1985), Robotech (1985), G-Force: Guardians of Space (1986), and Tranzor Z (1985-1987) being the obvious ones that come to mind. Unfortunately, I don’t recall ever being exposed to Yatterman. In fact, before Takashi Miike’s live-action film adaptation of the popular late 70s cartoon series was first announced back in 2007, I had only heard the name mentioned in passing and really had no idea what to expect. Fortunately, you really don’t need to know anything about the original cartoon going into this one. In fact, it’s the perfect entry-level primer to the conventions of the original show. Miike takes great pains to forgo a Michael Bay-style revamp, instead choosing to emphasize the comedic and repetitive aspects of the show that made it so popular in the first place while occasionally poking fun at it with some clever observational humor.

In keeping with that idea, the story sticks pretty closely to the show for the most part. Basically, the Yatterman team -- made up of mechanic Gan (Sho Sakurai), his loyal assistant/girlfriend Ai-chan (Saki Fukuda), and their AA battery-powered flying robot Omotchama -- face off against the Doronbo gang once a week with the help of their giant mecha dog, Yatter-Wan. They pretty much always come close to being defeated, but then Doronbo inevitably sabotage themselves and are forced to retreat at the last minute.

After an initial battle to establish this routine, the film begins in earnest as an Indiana Jones-inspired archaeologist named Dr. Kaieda (Sadao Abe) discovers the second piece of the Skull Stone, an ancient artifact broken up into four pieces and spread to different parts of the world to keep it from causing a disaster. He’s approached by Dokurobei, the self-dubbed “God of Thieves” who steals the stones and takes over Kaieda’s body. Kaieda's daughter Shoko (Anri Okamoto) is in possession of the first stone, so Dokurobei sends the Doronbo gang, led by the intelligent seductress Doronjo (Kyoko Fukada), after her to retrieve it. Right on cue, Yatterman swoops in to protect Shoko, and Doronbo is forced go back to their old routine of conning unsuspecting people out of their hard-earned cash to raise enough funds for henchmen Boyacky (Katsuhisa Namase) and Tonzra (Kendo Kobayashi) to build their next unbeatable mecha. The middle portion of the film seems to be set up as a showcase for the mecha upgrades and catchy theme songs that were used in the cartoon, eventually culminating with a predictable face-off against Dokurobei himself.

Although Yatterman had a decent run at the box office and actually dominated for a few weeks, Japanese fan reaction was decidedly mixed -- with the most common criticism being the way the film is too adult for children and too juvenile for adults. It’s a perfectly valid criticism, but one that leaves out a pretty huge segment of the population: immature adults! As a card-carrying member of this group myself, I couldn’t really count how many times the film’s goofy gags had me cracking up, or at least grinning like a dumbass. From a pair of stunned schoolgirls witnessing the sudden disappearance of the “Pa” from a “Jumbo Pachinko” sign (look it up) to the otherwise diabolical Doronjo wistfully daydreaming about playing housewife to Gan’s salaryman (complete with briefcase and mask), Yatterman is wall-to-wall fun for anyone willing to look past the occasional sophomoric innuendo and oddly out-of-place sexual imagery.

CGI effects are predictably cartoonish and acting performances are appropriately silly, with Fukada’s Doronjo and Namase’s Boyacky being the obvious stand-outs (of course, they get all the funniest lines). Humping mechas and inner thigh-sucking aside, the only problem I could point to is that the film feels about 10 or 20 minutes too long, with parts of the third act dragging a bit compared to the quick start and frenetic pacing that leads up to it. Ultimately, however, that’s a fairly minor criticism of what is otherwise a ridiculously entertaining film. And while it probably won’t appeal to the fans who have Miike pigeon-holed as an “extreme cinema” director, it should appeal to just about anyone looking for a goofy, fun way to spend two hours.

Trailer:
here http://www.nipponcinema.com/trailers/yatterman_trailer2/    (sorry i don't know how to put the video)

Availability: Yatterman premiered at New York Comic Con on February 6, 2009 and has gone on to screen at several festivals such as Fantasia and Fantastic Fest. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any word on an English-subtitled DVD release yet. The Japanese-only version by Vap Inc is currently available on DVD and Blu-ray.

source ~ http://www.nipponcinema.com/db/review/yatterman/