Dororo

[benwfelt]

Dororo is a 2007 Japanese live-action film based on a manga that I've
never heard of before (which isn't saying much-- manga has never been
my 'thing'). While I was watching the movie, I kept thinking that the
original manga must've been quite good. The concept is great: a
warlord makes a deal with 48 demons in return for the power to conquer
the "world" (the world being Japan or wherever they are). In return,
each of the 48 demons gets a body part from the kid in order to derail
his destiny as a demon slayer. The kid (Hyakki-maru) is born with out
any body parts except a torso and a featureless head. This basic
premise is set up very early in the movie and the rest of the movie
shows how the kid gets replacement parts, including awesome sword
arms, then goes about collecting his original parts from the 48
demons.

The movie is 80% awesome and 20% hilariously bad. Jonathan sent me a
trailer a while back so I knew the basic premise of the movie and the
first 30-40 minutes totally lived up to what I expected. The bad 20%
is when he starts fighting the worst CG demons ever created. They are
incredibly cheesy. Besides the CG demons, we're also treated to some
super bad Power Ranger-like guys in costumes. It's hard to believe
their budget was so tight that they couldn't throw in some better
effects. They kinda make a joke out of how bad the villains are (they
keep on blowing on on Hyakki-maru's side kick) so I wonder if the
lameness was intentional.

Speaking of the sidekick: she's a boyish thief who presumably wants
Hyakk-maru's sword when he's through with it (although that seams like
such a lame reason that we have to assume that she likes him or his
company). The actress is too attractive to pull off the boyish thing
so she comes off a little annoying instead but she definitely adds to
the movie. She steals the name that Hyakki-maru jokingly calls
himself: Dororo, meaning "monster child". I read a comment on the
internet saying that it didn't make sense that they named the movie
after her-- to which I respond: "duh, block head! Dororo isn't named
after the sidekick, it's a reference to 'monster child'. Those words
at the bottom of the screen are meant to be read!"

They left the movie open to a sequel (or more) so I hope that they'll
get a bigger budget and fix the 20% lameness of their first attempt.
The concept/plot definitely deserves to be done with 100% awesomeness.
I'm hoping that they'll do better job on the demons, trim off a bit of
time (it's about 2 1/2 hours), and develop the relationship between
Hyakki-maru and "Dororo". They'll also need a new conflict to replace
the one that's resolved in the first movie-- just plain demon slaying
would be too predictable.

Dororo was pretty good. If you go into it expecting some serious
cheese, I think you'll enjoy it. Let's hope for a better sequel.

~Ben