Review of The Great Yokai War (2005) by Justin H — 15 Jan 2011

Takashi Miike directs a children's film. Take a minute to let that sink in, and you'll start to get an idea of just how bizarre this movie is. Given that this man also directed films like "Audition," and "Ichi the Killer," this film is a lot darker than you might expect from a story about a young boy using a magical sword to save good spirits from bad ones. And yet it works.

The story has a lot of holes, but somehow none of them seem to detract much from the overall experience. Similarly, the effects are never top-notch, but something about the mix of CGI, puppetry, and costuming (especially when the Yokai army shows up toward the end), is endearing.

Part of why I liked "The Great Yokai War" so much is probably due to the fact that I knew a bit about Japanese mythology, going into it. So, being able to pick out and identify various critters from the menagerie (and there are a LOT), was a fun exercise for me. If you're not familiar at all with Japanese myths, then you might well end up being lost, and thus you should probably take my 4-star rating with a grain of salt.