Review of Gantz (2010) by Jason J — 15 Feb 2011

Pretty good adaptation of the manga/anime which follows 2 childhood friends who die when a subway train hits them. However they wake up in a room dazed and confused, in an apartment furnished only with a giant black sphere and populated by others who have recently died and have no idea what they are doing there. The sphere, called Gantz and operated by a bald, naked man in some sort of trance, contains exotic weapons and form-fitting suits that they are to use on missions in the world they have just departed. Their goal: to kill monstrous aliens within a set time. If they succeed, they will receive points. A total of 100 will allow them to leave this limbo â" or send someone else back to life. If they fail, they get nothing and may even die for good.

There is also a certain repetitiveness to the story: mission, aftermath, mission, aftermath but with each alien threat they face getting stronger and more tough to destroy. The acting by both Ken'ichi Matsuyama and Kazunari Ninomiya is competent enough to zip the story along. Eye candy is provided by Natsuna Watanabe who makes her entrance in the movie in a quite revealing way if you know what I mean!!

Having not really read the manga or even watched the anime, I know from reading other reviews that fans aren't happy with it's PG-13 rating considering the original work is dark but I was satisfied with the results I saw onscreen. It was exciting, entertaining and it kept me engaged for the 2 hour plus running time. Roll on Part 2 which comes out later on this year.