Hero (2007)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Masayuki Suzuki

Writer:

Yasushi Fukuda (writer)

Release Date:

8 September 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Takuya Kimura	...	Ko'hei Kuryu
Takako Matsu	...	Maiko Amemiya
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hiroshi Abe	...	Mitsugu Shibayama
Haruka Ayase	...	Ririko Izumiya
Arata Furuta	...	Shuji Gouda
Renji Ishibashi	...	Masahiro Oyabu
Masayuki Ito	...	Yuzo Kawashima
Takuzo Kadono	...	Yutaka Ushimaru
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Yasaku Mayuzumi
Masanobu Katsumura	...	Tatsuo Egami
Ittoku Kishibe	...	Kaoru Kayama
Kiyoshi Kodama	...	Toshimitsu Nabeshima
Fumiyo Kohinata	...	Takayuki Suitsugu
Ryoko Kuninaka	...	Megumi Matsumoto
Byung-hun Lee	...	Kang
Bokuzo Masana	...	Shuji Ido
Hidekazu Mashima	...	Katsuhiko Higashiyama
Koshiro Matsumoto	...	Issei Gamo
Megumi
Satomi Nagano	...	Setsuko Kashiwagi
Kiichi Nakai	...	Akihiko Takida
Kazuki Namioka	...	Keisuke Umebayashi
Kaoru Okunuki	...	Ryoko Shibayama
Nene Otsuka	...	Misuzu Nakamura
Gregory Pekar	...	TV Shopping Host
Sawa Suzuki	...	Misa Kurokawa
Tamori	...	Renzaburo Hanaoka
Yoji Tanaka	...	Master
Shione Yamazaki	...	Shibayama's mother
Norito Yashima	...	Kenji Endo

Also Known As:

Hi ro (Japan) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

Japan:130 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Hong Kong:I

Filming Locations:

Seoul, South Korea

Company:

Cine Bazar

Movie Connections:

Follows "Hero" (2001)

A successful film adaptation

FujiTV's HERO aired back in 2001 is my favorite conclusion-per-episode dorama series of all time and I had an extremely high expectation for this movie. Long story short, it met and exceeded my expectations, unlike the SP aired in 2006.

What I love most about this movie was that after 5 minutes, it felt like I was brought back to the world of HERO dorama series. This movie was directed well enough for cinema, yet it retained all the great qualities we HERO fans are familiar with from the TV series. A lot of dorama SPs (including the HERO SP) and movie adaptations have failed in this respect, and many others failed to make it to silver screen standards (i.e. GTO, Saiyuuki, even 1L no Namida felt like a made-for-TV SP) but HERO staff succeeded in this movie where so many others failed. The producers of this film didn't forget about the fans by providing some information for unanswered questions from the dorama series and SP, and connects the stories in dorama, SP, and the movie in a convincing manner.

All the main character's funny habits still makes me laugh, and the interactions between Kuryuu and Amemiya were great as usual. The chemistry between all the main cast was perfect even after all these years. It must be this bond that united ALL the original cast even after 6 years, in which time Abe Hiroshi has become a major presence in Japanese cinema, yet still returns in supporting role.

The cast in this movie is absolutely incredible, with KimuTaku, still popular as ever; Abe Hiroshi, as mentioned; Kohinata Fumiyo, who has also become a major presence in cinema and TV, though still in supporting roles; Ayase Haruka and Nakai Kiichi in same character as SP; Matsumoto Koushirou, multiple-award-winning stage actor, 9 years since his last film appearance; Tamori, the great MC of Wratte Iitomo and Music Station, 17 years since his last film appearance; even Korean actor Lee Byung-hun and many other recognizable faces in supporting roles.

Not only did this movie made me laugh and was a star galore, there were also many moving and inspirational scenes. The story was very well-written and it was very well-directed. The ending completely caught me off-guard. I absolutely loved the dorama series' leave-the-rest-to-your-imagination ending, but the movie ending was just as good, surprise ending fitting for this great franchise. The only thing I didn't like was the lack of Utada Hikaru's "Can You Keep a Secret?" as theme song (understandable, but it felt like something was missing), and a few unnecessary scenes to recreate the greatest scenes in the dorama series.

I've seen MANY dorama series and movies since HERO in 2001, but watching this movie once again reminded me that Kuryuu Kouhei is one of the greatest character ever created by Japanese live-action writers. I recommend watching the entire dorama series before the movie. It's definitely worth your time.