Yattâman (2009)

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Tatsuo Yoshida (characters and story)
Masashi Sogo (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 March 2009 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Plot:

Every week, toy-shop owner Gan and his cute assistant Ai battled the evil Doronbo gang. The gang led...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Anime | One Word Title | Based On Japanese TV Series

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sho Sakurai	...	Gan Takada
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sadao Abe	...	Dr. Kaieda
Kyôko Fukada	...	Doronjo
Saki Fukuda	...	Ai-Chan
Shingo Ippongi
Kendô Kobayashi	...	Tonzuraa
Katsuhisa Namase	...	Boyacky
Anri Okamoto	...	Shoko Kaieda

Also Known As:

Yatterman (International: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:119 min (European Film Market)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Company:

Horipro

Trivia:

The characters Doronjo, Boyacky, and Tonzler first appeared in the 1975 animated series "Time bokan" (1975).

Movie Connections:

Remake of "Yattâman" (2008)

A lot of fun but a little overlong.

Once again somebody let Miike get a hold of something originally intended for children and family audiences and let him go with it. Once again, as in "The Great Yokai War", he manages to stay true to the source while having some fun with it. There's a decent number of funny scenes and the look of the film is imaginative. While I'm sure Japanese audiences who remember the original television series can appreciate it more, other viewers can enjoy the silliness regardless.

The actors are having fun with their roles and the effects (while frequently cartoony) go with the self-conscious storyline. The few downsides are the editing which slows down by the second half and the inevitable Miike-isms which get through in this movie a bit more than "The Great Yokai War". While most of this movie can be considered a family entertainment at one point the Bad Guys create a female robot with exposed breasts that shoots bullets and missiles out of it's nipples. Whenever the robot fires, it goes into increasing orgasmic convulsions. Some might laugh that off but soon Miike has mini ant robots bite the female robot's left nipple off which results in a spray of oil out of the gash along with more orgasmic vocalizations. Suddenly the Good Guy's dog robot gets sexually aroused by the mutilation and leaps over to passionately kiss the female robot. Ichi the Killer anyone? Anyway, aside from another scene involving a girl's inner thigh (he did this in Yokai War as well), the film could have been a fun family entertainment. As it is, it's recommended for adults.

Overall it's good and be sure to watch through the credits.