REVIEW: DVD Release: Goemon

Film: Goemon
Release date: 16th August 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 124 mins
Director: Kazuaki Kiriya
Starring: Yosuke Eguchi, Takao Osawa, Jun Kaname, Tetsuji Tamayama, Susumu Terajima
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD
Country: Japan

Goemon proved an Asian box office hit on its cinematic release. Helmed with a bold fresh eye for visuals by Casshern director Kiriya Kazuaki, Goemon is a multi-layered historic action epic tinged with fantasy and impressive swordplay. With elements of Western legends such as Robin Hood and the mythical Pandora’s Box thrown in, Goemon is ultimately the story of one man’s battle with his need to be free and his destiny.

The year is 1582 and Lord Nobunaga has died, leaving the country in the despotic hands of his head General Lord Hideyoshi. Goemon (Eguchi Yosuki), a self-proclaimed master thief and “ally of the poor” steals an artefact of great value and is hotly pursued by Lord Hideyoshi’s commissioner, Mitsunari. Saiko, former childhood friend and ninja training partner is also in the hunt for Goemon.

Goemon, however, aided by his own ‘merry man’ Sasuke, has given the blue box to an orphaned urchin. In taking the box back and taking charge of the boy, they uncover a fragmented map that leads to the metaphorical ‘Pandora’s box’, a letter stating Lord Nobunaga was murdered by a close consul. With this information, it is up to Goemon, an adopted son of the late Lord, to decide if to continue the Lord’s dream of uniting the country, or simply return to his humble life as a man of the poor.

Sprinkles of sub-plots concerning a lost love interest of Lord Nobunaga’s niece Lady Chacha, the personal ambitions of Hideyoshi’s right hand man Lord Leyasu, and the orphaned street urchin adds up to a heavily laden piece. Goemon bluffs and weaves through plots and schemes and double-crosses and even an appearance by legendary ninja Hattori Hanzo…


The first thing that strikes about Goemon is the visuals. The live action is fused with anime and, at times, over-stylised CGI. The rendering of colour is baroque in scenes - gaudy. These scenes are interspersed with washed out bleak landscapes, in near black-and-white and sepia for flashback sequences and back story exposition. The shift in styles is jolting, but undeniably effective. It just falls short of sumptuous, however. Also a mix of traditional Japanese architecture plays strangely against the Western cathedral-like gothic stone windows of the palatial home of Lord Nobunaga seen in cold flashback.

The visuals, as wonderful as they are, seemed stretched and over-rendered, the film unsure if it wants to be anime or simply a CGI fantasy. The mix of both appears too heavy on the eye, ruining any honest attempts at realism - the calling card of fake CGI blood spatter taints fight and battle scenes, as does the astonishing speed Goemon runs and how high he’s able to jump - and the quality of some images are mixed from high quality to borderline cheap.

Once the visuals and extravagant European influenced costumes have been sighed over, the story comes to the fore. Convoluted and hard to decipher in places, the many different aspirations of characters like Sasuke, Saiko and Lord Leyusa become hard to follow. Are they on the verge of backstabbing the despotic Hideyoshi or are they loyal? And Goemon's internal emotional battle, the core of the piece, is hard to understand as he bemoans revenge yet ardently wants it himself. He wants a world without war, yet carries twin blades that proclaim “rule the world...by force”. Eguchi Yosuki wanders round in places unsure of his goal and purpose in the narrative. No acting performance therefore is outstanding, but no character is unessential either.

The female support in the shape of the lovely Lady Chacha, Lord Nobunaga’s niece, is nothing more than pretty fluff. The representation of women is as soft delicate creatures - the one female fighter in Saiko’s ninja squad is the first one despatched in the final reel. The men bear the weight of the world and power, and the will for peace if they so desire it.

This is also an era of Christian missionaries, and Lord Hideyoshi fortifies his army with guns and cannons smuggled from the West by these European visitors. However, as the film reaches its denouement, this battle between the traditional samurai sword and gunpowder revolution falls short. Swords can take out entire palatial stone support columns but a cannon bullet can’t find a single target.

The film perhaps would’ve been better in two parts, or even as a trilogy, to allow time to completely unlock each integral character’s own story and ambitions. Or, simply the sub-plot list could’ve been slimmed down and the emotional struggles of Goemon clarified. Each actor looks as though they know they’re carrying a huge film on their talents, and are slightly overwhelmed by the challenge rather than buoyed by it.


Goemon is a stunning visual treat, but too convoluted in essential plot points. Undoubtedly watchable, it falls short of the epic it wants to be by simply trying much too hard. JM

TRAILER: Cinema Release: Goemon

Film: Goemon

REVIEW: DVD Release: Casshern

Film: Casshern
Release date: 10th April 2006
Certificate: 15
Running time: 142 mins
Director: Kazuaki Kiriya
Starring: Yusuke Iseya, Kumiko Aso, Toshiaki Karasawa, Akira Terao, Kanako Higuchi
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action/Drama
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD
Country: Japan

One could reasonably assume that with such a talented cast on show, and a frankly stunning amount of effort put into imbuing the film with an original aesthetic, there seemed little scope for Kazuaki Kiriya's directorial debut (and a production debut for the Casshern Film Partners) to do anything but garner mass critical acclaim. So what went wrong?

Set in a 1984-esque future, where the world is divided into various super-states that are constantly at war with one another, Casshern focuses on the lives of a father and son. The father, Kotaro (Akira Terao) – as one of the leading scientists in the Eastern Federation – is obsessed with cracking the code to neo-cell (read: synthetic human) technology, ostensibly to help his country, but in reality it’s because his wife is terminally ill and can only be saved through such a breakthrough. Meanwhile the son, Tetsuya (Yusuke Iseya), is away fighting for the Eastern Federation in a conflict with Europa that has lasted fifty years.

The film takes its first turn when Tetsuya is killed in action and Kotaro, overcome with grief, submerges him in the neo-cell gene-mix in the vain hope of resurrecting him. What in actual fact happens is the rebirth of 'Legendary Hero' Casshern through Tetsuya's body, and the subsequent creation of a race of rogue androids through the neo-cell mixture, calling themselves Bio-Roids and led by the fearsome Burai (Toshiaki Karasawa). So far, so cool then.

Supplementing the main storyline is the bratty-but-smart son of the Eastern Federation's Head of State, and heir to his throne, Kaoru (Mitsuhiro Oikawa), a man whose aim is to usurp his father and establish 'The Fed' as the leading global power through any means. You've seen this type of chap before: he's borderline Machiavellian and classical in his composition as a character.

Notwithstanding, on the other side of the fence we have the innocent Luna (Kumiko Aso): Tetsuya's girlfriend and a character around which much of the protagonist's story revolves, even if she rarely has an impact herself.

The story follows this group of characters as they attempt to hunt down, negotiate with, avoid or utilise Burai and his Bio-Roids but, as the story develops, it becomes clear that these beings - wrought as they were by human hands - do not wish to involve themselves in human affairs, unless by 'involve' you mean 'obliterate entirely'…


Casshern is undoubtedly pretty. Not in the sense that Avatar is visually stunning, more in the sense that it has such a bold and striking aesthetic that it is impossible to mistake the film for anything else. The seamless blend of almost anime-like backdrops and marching robot armies with live-action fight sequences is stunning, and the way these are complimented by impressive special effects and character and set design that is frequently jaw-dropping only adds to that experience.

However looking great does not a movie make, and there are problems beneath Casshern's shiny surface - the main bone of contention being that the film’s ambition in presenting an over-arcing aesthetic and a vibrant world for the plot to take place within is also its greatest drawback. Too often it performs leaps of faith from scene to scene as it attempts to cram two or three films worth of substance into a 142 minute running time. There is just so much going on that it often leaves the viewer behind in an attempt to fit everything in, and this frequently leads to apathy, unable to get to grips with what’s happening.

The acting is solid (at times very good - Karasawa and Oikawa's performances are both brilliant), but there's little scope for anyone to perform because of how frequently Casshern attempts to encapsulate literally everything that is going on within the world. There is political intrigue and upheaval, a love story, a tale of a husband’s love for his wife - and that same man's deteriorating relationship with his son. It is, quite frankly, too much for one film.

As something to just sit back and watch it really is entertaining: the design is good enough to cover for unexplained elements of the plot and the action sequences are pretty much constantly stunning, but there feels like there's so little substance behind what's happening that it's difficult to fully recommend Casshern, despite the areas in which it excels – notably in the action and sci-fi – because it lacks drama. Drama is certainly attempted, but none of the characters get enough screen time to ever gain any real empathy from the viewer, and so ultimately Casshern fails in this category.


Should appeal to people of most ages, who want to see a visually pleasing film, but too frequently Casshern substitutes looks for substance and in doing so can become incredibly frustrating to watch. JD