K-20: Kaijin niju menso den (2008)

Director:

Shimako Sato

Writers:

So Kitamura (novel)
Shimako Sato (adaptation)

Release Date:

20 December 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Set in a fictional Japanese city in 1949, a master criminal hones in on his latest victim. |

Plot Keywords:

Trick | Deception | Wink | Wanted Poster | Electricity

Cast

Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Heikichi Endo
Takako Matsu	...	Yoko Hashiba
Tôru Nakamura	...	Kogoro Akechi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kanata Hongô	...	Yoshio Kobayashi
Yuki Imai	...	Shinsuke
Takeshi Kaga	...	Mysterious Gentleman
Jun Kaname
Hana Kino
Fumiyo Kohinata
Jun Kunimura	...	Genji
Kazuyoshi Kushida
Toru Masuoka	...	Inspector Namikoshi
Yutaka Matsushige
Hideji Otaki
Kyûsaku Shimada
Reiko Takashima	...	Kikuko

Also Known As:

K-20: Legend of the Mask (International: English title)
The Fiend with Twenty Faces (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Japan:G | Hong Kong:IIA

Filming Locations:

Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan

Company:

Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)

Teslapunk superhero movie done right

K-20 was the most fun I had in a movie theater in a long time. Yes, there are deeper movies, and definitely more expensive ones, especially on this side of the ocean. But K-20 kicks Spiderman's butt (or any other recent costumed hero movie) any day of the week. Special effects are there, but this is first of all a movie about people.

Set in an alternate 1949, where Word War II never happened, K-20 takes place in a poorer Japan, that bears many signs of the alliance with the Reich. The sets are very well done, imagine a steampunk Blade Runner mixed with post-Dickens, post-Industrial revolution London. This is Teito, the capital of Japan, where orphans roams the streets and the Imperial aristocracy rules with fear and armed men. One ruthless vigilante roams the streets (well, perhaps the roofs): K-20, who in spite of his professed Robin Hoodism is less than loved by the population, who'd rather root for his arch-enemy, the aristocrat Inspector Akechi. Yet K-20 is not the main character here: the hero is Heikichi Endo, who is framed for the crimes of K-20, beaten and imprisoned. How he will be able to escape, clear his name (and save the world, in passing) keeps you glued to your seat for the over two hours and fifteen minutes of the movie.

The retro atmosphere reminded me a little of Chabon's Kavalier & Clay, if a movie could ever do it justice. Parkour lovers will definitely enjoy the antics of the hero in training. Everyone else, manga fan or not, will have fun.