K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces (2008)

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

Director:

Shimako Sato (as Shimako Satô)

Writers:

So Kitamura (novels) (as Sô Kitamura), Shimako Sato (screenplay) (as Shimako Satô)

Stars:

Takeshi Kaneshiro, Takako Matsu, Tôru Nakamura

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Heikichi Endo
Takako Matsu	...	Yoko Hashiba
Tôru Nakamura	...	Kogoro Akechi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ryôhei Abe
Kanata Hongô	...	Yoshio Kobayashi
Yûki Imai	...	Shinsuke (as Yuki Imai)
Takeshi Kaga	...	Mysterious Gentleman
Eiji Kakutani
Jun Kaname
Hana Kino
Fumiyo Kohinata
Jun Kunimura	...	Genji
Kazuyoshi Kushida
Tôru Masuoka	...	Inspector Namikoshi
Yutaka Matsushige

Storyline

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

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Plot Keywords:

nikola tesla | hero | disguise | based on novel | non comic book superhero | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The names Akechi and Hashiba may have roots in the historic Azuchi-Momoyama period. Akechi was a general who betrayed his overlord, Oda Nobunaga, and tried to become shogun. Hashiba was a son of Oda who joined in the battle to punish Akechi.

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Goofs

It is 1947, but the special camera is defended by lasers. Not invented till 1960.

User Reviews

K-20: Legend of the mask

K-20: Legend of the mask is considered a Japanese superhero movie although K-20 is not a superhero, he is more of Japanese robin hood but only more evil. The 2 billion yen movie has the realistic special effects that you rarely see in Japanese movies and its action scenes are breath-taking especially the acrobatic stunts and famous Takeshi Kaneshiro with good music

Story: It is set in 1949 where there is no world war, which is lucky. There is K-20, stealing priceless items from the rich. He frames an acrobat, Heikichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro). Heikichi is caught and soon escapes. He then vows to unmask/catch K-20 and proves his innocence. The fight scenes with K-20 and Heikichi are stunning with amazing acrobatic stunts. I wish there will more of the breath-taking stunts in movies. As Heikichi races to find what K-20 is going after, it leads to the final battle between them where there happens to be a twist.

Overall: This is not to be missed for Takeshi fans or those who are fans of Japanese movies. K-20 may be a little long- the runtime is 2 hours 17 minutes but the plot is engrossing that you won't care about the time and watch how K-20 battles with Heikichi with wits and power. It is nice to see a big-budget Japanese action movie as the past few years, there are mostly Japanese thrillers like 20th century boys and death note.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] YouTube - trailer [HD] (Flash) (English)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

20 December 2008 (Japan)

Also Known As:

K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces

Filming Locations:

Moji Port, Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka, Japan

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,443,265

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dentsu, Imagica, Nippon Television Network (NTV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1