Review of Casshern (2004) by Ross M — 11 Dec 2007

After a short time into watching this film it became apparent that I had to think of it in pure entertainment terms. The film thinks it's a lot smarter and meaningful than it comes off as which in turn makes it seem pointless and empty. But looking at it from the entertainment angle it makes for a pretty enjoyable time albeit one that leaves an almost transparent impact.

Like I said the problem this film has is that it thinks it's a lot better than it is. It attempts to be impactful and meaningful in terms of having something to get your teeth into. But what it is an entertainment film with little of whatever else it thinks it has or is. I don't hold something being just pure enjoyable and nothing else against a film if that's what it both is and attempts to be. I do however hold it against a film when it tries to be more than it is.

The second problem with the film is the muddled, confusing and badly handled storyline. I literally could not sum up what happens in this film or necessarily what it's about. It would be more of a list of random things I remember being part of the plot. There was some good ground work and basic plot that the film had but it just seemed to handle it in completely the wrong way resulting in a fairly incoherent film.

And the third problem, and probably my main one, is the length. Coming in at just under two and half hours the film is just needlessly long. There were several points where I was thinking that it was going to end and it just kept going and going until it reached it's almost 150 minutes, at a time when my patience was left far behind.

Having said that I did quite enjoy Casshern. It was once I thought of it in entertainment terms rather than it being something deep and meaningful that my enjoyment level started to climb. There is some pretty engaging fight sequences and the visuals are virtually what makes the film.

So for all it's wrong doing Casshern is still a worth while film to give a try. It doesn't make much sense and it's far too long but it has enough there to keep you watching till the end.