Review of Casshern (2004) by John P — 01 Feb 2010

After watching this "live-action anime" I am left with a very pretty but hollow film. I saw elements of good storytelling but the director felt it was more important to show flashy anime-style stuff.

I like it every now and then and done with high quality. This is one of those things that more or less requires a huge budget which it's clear it didn't have one. I am willing to forgive some faults if the action supports it.

The fighting robot sequence is done with remarkable flare and precision. Truly anime brought to life, which I imagine was the auter's goal. Really, what anime has a strong story supporting it? I can think of only a few.

So what boggs this down is the authoratative tone, sometimes glacial pace, and confusing plot points. Solid performances all around, though, sometimes giving the dialouge a bit of life to spin. If there was a bit more skill and polish put into Casshern it could have been amazing.

For instance, I loved the Death Note movies. They had the forethought to split it up into two movies. This should have been done with Casshern. At 2 hours and 20 minutes it is a bit daunting, considering the quality of the story, and quite frankly isn't worth it.

I feel the storytelling could have been tighter, with more room to fit in details from the source material. It could have culminated in that grander scale the last half an hour tried so damn hard to achieve.

As far as the story's translation from the anime? It is condenced, perhaps even nerfed entierly. In summation, I've seen live anime done better and, ironically, by americans (Speed Racer). Some potential here, but ultimately a missed opportunity.