Enough celebration. Lets get right down to it. Today's selection: Yatterman.
I've been on a bit of a Takashi Miike kick lately. If you don't know who he is, you should.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0586281/bio
Here is a trailer to kick things off:
Way outside anything we see here in the US, right? So what is it about?
First I want to say something about the title. Now I could be wrong here, but I think the name Yatterman has a root in the Japanese exclamation, "Yatta!" In the US when the hero saves the day we throw a fist in the air and shout, "Yes!" Yatta is pretty much the Japanese version of that (I'm being simple in my explanation here).
Anyway, we have the teenage superhero team Yatterman, which is made up of Gan and Ai. They happen to be dating. They're superhero names are Yatterman No. 1 and Yatterman No. 2 respectively. They go into battle with the help of Yatterwoof (a giant dog), and later Yatterking (a gianter dog), their mecha. Yatterwoof and his successor Yatterking were created by Gan. Ai is also an inventor. She created Toybott, another faithful mechanical sidekick. Toybott can retract all of it's appendages and appears as a large six-sided die (d6 to us nerds ;-).
They are opposed by the Doronbo gang, which is made up of Lady Doronjo, Boyacki, and Tonzra. Lady Doronjo is the face and the leader of the group, Boyacki is a mecha-building genius, and Tonzra is...the muscle? The comic relief maybe? Anyway, he dreams of one day being the heavy weight champ in the pro wrestling circuit. They are secretly being aided by, and taking orders from, Skullobey, the God-King of Thieves.
I want to take a moment here to mention that Kyoko Fukada 深田 恭子 is a stone cold fox (she plays Doronjo).
But I digress.
The basic plot is that there is a great crystal skull (don't worry; no refrigerator rides in this movie) that was broken into four pieces and hidden across the world. Legend says when the four pieces are reunited a miracle will occur. Skullobey wants those pieces, and Yatterman is all that stands in his way.
It sounds like your typical kids show, like anything from Inspector Gadget to TMNT to Power Rangers. Well, it is based on a long running anime, but this is no kids movie. It contains numerous overt visual and verbal references to the naughty bits of human anatomy. One example would be Titty Cannon (their words not mine), one of the hidden weapons on a Boyacki-built mech. But don't get me wrong, this isn't just a case of difference in culture. In Japanese anime stuff like that might actually slide by if they don't draw too much attention to it. So just to drive home the point that this isn't meant to be kids fare, I'll throw in this tidbit: In order to engage the Titty Cannon the mech actually tweaks its nipples and moans while doing so.
So, what did I think of it? I actually enjoyed it. If I were to employ a rating system I would have to give it somewhere between three and four stars.***(*) I was afraid it might be too kid oriented for me, or that some of the ideas might be lost in translation. The movie actually had a good sense of humor that comes across just fine on its own, but deepens tremendously if you have watched some anime. And, well, it definitely wasn't a children's film. I saw a video where the director stated that this was Japan's response to Americans making films like Speed Racer and Dragonball. It certainly is a big movie for Takashi Miike. I mean that in terms of its scope. There were lots of CG effects, and he adapted his directorial style well to the genre.
I should probably recommend this one only conditionally. If you grew up watching the shows I mentioned above, or you have a knowledge of anime tropes, then this one is for you. If you are a fan of Miike, I think you will enjoy this one too, even if it is a little out of his wheelhouse (Zebraman and Zebraman II not withstanding). I think this movie is a bit of a satire, so if you are just thinking you have an open mind and want to try a foreign film, check out some of his other movies, and/or check out some other giant robot stuff first, then come back.
Now, I only intend to post about a movie if I have just recently seen it, so there are quite a few other Miike films that I won't be writing up. So, for a quick rundown of a go-to list if you want to see some other movies by this director, here are some of my favorites:
Audition
Dead or Alive
The Happiness of the Katakuris
Ichi the Killer
Gozu
One Missed Call
Sukiyaki Western Django
13 Assassins
Lesson of the Evil
Now, before you go rent one and pop it in for a date night let me forewarn you that this man doesn't always make movies based on cartoons! Hop over to youtube and watch a trailer before you decide to watch something from this list. I'm not at fault for anything that you see that you can't unsee!
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