Review of The Great Yokai War (2005) by Will C — 28 Jul 2008

So now the nearest Blockbuster is a 20 minute drive away from my home, which explains why it took me a whole month back in NJ to make my first visit there. What is going on with our society...Blockbusters, Starbucks, everything is closing down. I thought the mega-corporations are suppose to be the evil doombringer of mom-and-pops shops, and look at them now... I don't even want to think about where we headed next. I always enjoyed physically going to the video store, so I guess now the visits are just that much more special.

So I picked up Takashi Miike's [i]Great Yokai War[/i], a fantasy-based children's movie he made couple years back. It wasn't on my must-see list of films, but the premise was good enough. Not the premise of the actual film though, but rather the premise of Miike, the director infamously known for his brainfucking cult classics and gory V-cinema ventures such as [i]Ichi the Killer[/i] and [i]Audition[/i], making a children's movie is quite enticing for the curious minded. The result is much like the "premise" suggest, a mixed bag of standard mainstream plot progression sown together by Miike's unique tone and pacing, and then sprinkled with a touch of his trademark deadpan humor. While I definitely can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I can't write it off as rotten either.

The plotline is average enough: world in trouble, wimpy boy with a troubled family gets chosen by the fairies and saves everyone. And that is just fine, no one should blame Miike for not pulling any narrative party tricks out of his ass, as with all big budgeted films (for the Japanese industry in this case) comes the responsibility of making sure that the movie is accessible to the targeted audience, especially if that audience is mostly 10 year olds. What makes this movie interesting is that, as with all Miike flicks, there is a genuinely unique tone that carries the story, and you can sense Miike's presence throughout the film. Sure, the special effects pale in comparison with the latest Hollywood product, and even the costumes and makeups of the Yokai are at times laughable, but that is the point. Miike, being the great subversive manipulator that he is, was able to sneak in enough wit and spirit between the mediocre plot to make it interesting. There are certain scenes that just don't happen in movies made for children and scenes so subversive that any Miike fan would just chuckle along with the in-joke. But most importantly, the movie had a good message about childhood and didn't treat it with the usual sentimentalism and sap you see in mainstream movies.

It's not Miike's finest hour, but there is enough integrity to appease hardcore Miike fans and to pay honest tribute to the ample culture of Japanese folklores. However, I doubt the accessibility will translate well outside Japan, especially for the children. But for the culturally-trained and fun-loving kids, and adults, this movie could be the equivalent of a cool summer evening. Nothing special or exciting, but comfortable nonetheless.