Mr Worf, thanks for the review, and I'm about to chase it down in my area. If I can't find it, then it's off to see my contact at the mall...
On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 2:56 PM, Mr. Worf <hellomahog...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Movie Review – K-20 Legend of the Mask > > > What a wonderfully refreshing film. Made in Japan, K-20 is an anti-hero > similar to Robin Hood that is a mixture of Batman, and the Phantom thrown > in. It is believed that K-20 has 20 disguises that he can change into within > a blink of the eye. In K-20’s universe, it is 1949, and World War 2’s > Pacific theater never happened, because Japan signed a peace treaty with the > United States and United Kingdom effectively stepping back from the war. The > royal family of Japan is still intact. > > > In the film, Nikola Tesla was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his > invention of wireless electricity. A portable mock up of the device is given > to a scientist in Japan for demonstration purposes and is promptly stolen by > K-20 at the beginning of the film. > > > Meanwhile, a man named Heikichi Endo (Played by Kaneshiro Takeshi) works as > a circus performer at a poor circus on the outskirts of town. He is a bit > withdrawn and only seems to relate to the numerous doves that he takes care > of. In his act, he dodges a barrage of metal tipped arrows while performing > flips and jumps that is dazzling. One evening, a man approaches him from a > gossip magazine and offers him a job to take pictures of a wedding between > the Duke Akechi, a high-ranking police detective, and his bride for a large > sum of money. Heikichi was planning on passing on the offer but he realized > that he could use the money to help his ailing friend, the circus > ringmaster. Heikichi takes the risky job and climbs to the top of the > building where the wedding takes place. Just when he takes the picture, a > bomb is ignited disrupting the wedding! Heikichi is spotted and is promptly > arrested by the police who believe that he is K-20. > > > Fine detail was put into the film making the city that they live in actual > look like the late 1940s world. Small gadgets and cars populate the > background of the city adding a visual realism. Keikichi’s acrobatic skills > are purely Parkour with Keikichi leaping, flipping from ledges to rooftops > across the city. The addition of parkour was a believable fit with the > circus performer skills of Keikichi and a nice addition. > > > Overall, the movie does give the feeling of a larger than life portrayal of > an alternate world and the people within it. It is like watching an anime > come to life. If this movie were to be made into a television series, I > would definitely watch it. My only complaint is that we really do not get to > know K-20 in this film. We only learn about his legend second hand. It would > have been nice to see more of K-20’s exploits. > > > Pros: Steam punk / Diesel punk gadgetry from blimps to heliocars, > interesting story in an alternate universe. Using Tesla’s machine was a > stroke of genius! > > > Cons: The movie could have used a little more action. It is a fairly long > film (over 2 hours) but the time does go by fairly quickly. > > > Japanese with English subtitles > > > Rated PG13 > > > 3.5 stars out of 5 > > -- > Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! > Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ > > -- "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
