trust the japanese to get it right…

If I were to choose what my favorite movie for 2012 was, it would have to be the live action movie of Rurouni Kenshin. Thank God they decided to release this movie in the Philippines (why the limited release though? I think they’re underestimating the community!) when it wasn’t in the initial worldwide list. It was a visually treat to be able to watch this in the big screen (did it twice, was itching to do another round but there’s not much time) and enjoy the experience with people your age who loved the manga and the anime releases more than ten years ago.

I shuddered at first when they announced that they will be making a live action version of what I consider as my most favourite anime of all time. Heck, have you seen Dragonball? (I haven’t seen it since looking at the trailer I knew it would be wreck, and it was) Or the on -and-off news that the US is planning an adaptation of Akira (God, no. I’m cringing at the thought of a US interpretation to the giant blob at the end). But when I found out that this was a Japanese venture (backed by Warner Bros. Japan), I decided to give it a shot by looking for the trailer. At least if there’s one thing they know how to do right, it’s the action scenes. The trailers, surely did not disappoint:

First and foremost, THANK YOU KEISHI OTOMO FOR CASTING TAKERU SATO! I’m not too much exposed to the Otomo's nor Sato's body of work so at first I was thinking—really? That’s your Himura Kenshin? Oh boy, did I eat my words not even 5 minutes into the film. How he managed to capture exactly how Kenshin stands in the non-fight scenes is beyond me. I was worried on how he will be able to be an assassin and be the bumbling helper at the same time --- and to my surprise, he managed to do exactly both convincingly.

The plot was tightly-written, and the movie amazingly gave us around 3(?) story arcs and combined them well enough to be appreciated by both fans and newbies. The fight scenes were expertly choreographed, I swear my mouth was open half of the time at the awesomeness I’m seeing. And I guess because all of the fight scenes were done with wirework, it brings a sense of realism that would have not been there otherwise. For the entire film, the movie made me believe that a human can really have enough skill to pull off all of those moves.

The movie is even funny at its intended moments. And while most of it is composed of action scenes, it does manage to insert moments (where we can take a breather) to explore backstories (at least the important ones) and get to know each character. I think my favourite moment is when Kenshin donned the red kimono (aka his trademark look) from Kaoru’s father in the dojo. I’m not sure if that’s canon (haven’t read the manga), but dang, that scene gave chills and brought a whole wave of nostalgia. And it’s so beautifully-shot. I’m impressed.

All the side characters were sooo enjoyable, even the villains were fun to watch. I can still remember the collective breath of the audience when we get a glimpse of Sano in prison and when Saito does his sword stance before attacking Takeda. I think the only weird moment was Kaoru’s super looooonnnggg monologue at the forest during the Kenshin-Jinie fight. Hahaha, I just find it weird that she was able to talk like that (I think it was a whole 5 minutes of screentime, and she just paraphrased what she said in her first line, heh) while out of breath and fighting for your life.

My friend who went with me to the screening described it best: it was mind-blowing. I’m so happy that they’re going to do a sequel because heck, if you can be this awesome with these minor villains (I think this is just within the first 10 episodes of the anime), how much more awesome will it be when we get to the Shishio arc? Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.