Wednesday, March 21, 2018

T5W#136-Top 5 Worst Live Action Anime/Manga Films Ive Seen

Sigh, let’s face the facts: bad Live Action Anime/Manga Films are about as frequent as bad Live Action Video Game adaptations.  We always wonder what it would be like to see some of our most beloved and cherished Anime played out in this medium…but it hardly ever turns out as good as we hoped, or its so bad it makes the world cry with rage.  And today I’m here to count down five of those bad films that can either be a buzzkill or a rage inducer after watching them.  Although, I should note that while todays focus will be on the Top 5 Worst Live Action Anime/Manga Films Ive Seen, next week will be looking at better examples with the Top 5 Favorite Live Action Anime Manga Films Ive Seen.  So, let’s get the venting out of the way.

 

#5: L-Change the World
The 2006 two part adaptation of Death Note was a huge success in Japan.  Faithful to the source material, spot on with its casting, the films were a mega hit of that year.  So finding a way to continue the success through spin off films seemed inevitable.  Focusing on a case involving L, played brilliantly by Kenichi Matsuyama, seemed like a good idea.  Set during the last remaining days of his life, L sets out to solve one more case involving a stolen bio weapon, two young prodigies and a former ally turned villain.  The biggest problem with L-Change the World is that is doesn’t seem to lack the stakes of the Death Note case.  Granted after dealing with a mystery involving Killer Notebooks, what case could ever top that?  Also, the supporting cast is pretty dull and, while Matsuyama does have some good moments, none of them contain the same amazing chemistry he had with Tatsuya Fujiwara’s Light Yagami in the Death Note movies.  Even all to brief cameos from Misa Amane and Ryuk cant do much to save what could have been a fun spin off to a great series of films.  Maybe a prequel would have been better?

 

#4: Casshern
I actually never knew this one was based of an Anime until well after I saw it.  In the future, bio weapons left for dead by their creators declare war on humanity.  The only thing standing in their way is another weapon of a different kind: the cyber warrior Casshern.  What got my attention about this film is the same thing everyone else saw right away: Casshern is gorgeous, no question about it.  However, some cool visuals and the occasional cool fight scene are hampered by a story that makes no sense, a less than likeable cast and the fact that it is seriously depressing.  Finishing watching Casshern was like finishing watching Darren Arronosky’s The Fountain, you just want to hug someone when the movie is done (and actually The Fountain is a much better movie).  Some said that Casshern was everyones answer to the abysmal Matrix sequels.  Were they watching the right movie or were they just really desperate to like it?

 

#3: Death Note (2017)
While there are one or two things I do kind of enjoy about it, at the end of the day Death Note 2017 was the trainwreck everyone expected.  From the change in scenery to the mostly disappointing cast to the equally shoddy story to the total betrayal of Light Yagami’s character, I know the Otaku community was in an uproar about this.  The film feels more like a very bad CW pilot trying to bring in the nerd crowd when the Arrowverse shows are doing just fine in that department.  Honestly, it almost makes me want to rewatch the movie and do a whole new, more honest review cause I think I was probably in denial about a lot of things I talked about in my original review.  Granted I rectified that, with the help of friends, in another Top 5.  If there were two prime reasons for the US to never bother making another live action anime, Death Note would be one of those films.  The second would obviously be…

  

#2: Dragon Ball Evolution
A American high school kid named Goku is thrust into the adventure of a lifetime when his grandfathers Dragon Ball is stolen by King Piccolo.  Teaming up with a martial arts legend, a beautiful scientist adventurer and a bandit, Goku must stop the…you know what no, trying to write a proper synopsis is too much effort for this one.  What the hell was wrong with the powers that be to let this film see the light of day, much less a final cut of the film?  The action is less than sub par.  The casting is beyond crazy to the point of insulting.  The story isn’t even worthy of a terrible Dragon Ball Anime Movie, it’s just some stupid American adventure flick with the Dragon Ball title slapped on to get people to go see it…and even then it tanked like a brick at the box office.  And the funniest thing of all?  As mad as this movie makes me, Dragon Ball Evolution is still only #2 on this list?  What Live Action Anime film could do worse for me?

 

#1: Ghost in the Shell (2017)
Now this…this review I wrote was an act of pure mercy in retrospect.  I did try to give an honest and professional review of Ghost in the Shell after letting myself vent for half an hour after seeing the film.  But had I written it right after I got out of the theater, you’d know that this movie is #1 on this list because I have a far greater love for the Ghost in the Shell franchise and this movie feels like a betrayal of most of what it stands for.  Rather than embracing the lore and the metaphysical nature of the story of Motoko Kusinagi and Section 9, the 2017 travesty ignores that, goes for the most generic 80’s style scifi plot possible AND what it does to Motoko is beyond criminal, it’s worse than insulting.  The fact that they had to add in the most infuriating of all plot twists to justify the casting of Scarlet Johannson as The Major is the nail in the coffin.  I wanted, REALLY WANTED this movie to be good.  Maybe I was so lenient on Death Note because this film scarred me badly and I didn’t want to believe the US could frak up twice in one year.  I know I said Dragon Ball Evolution and Death Note were the two main reasons the US shouldn’t make Live Action Anime films.  Ghost in the Shell is the signature on the bill that should make that kind of rule legal.

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