Gacchaman (2013) User Reviews

The Japanese superhero film that could have been great.

[Quebec_Dragon · 6/10 · 1 September 2013]

I saw the international premiere at Montreal's Fantasia festival at the start of August. I only had vague memories of watching some of the anime this is based on, better known to North-American audiences as Battle of the Planets starring G-Force, a 5-person superhero team with a bird theme. I was curious as to how a live-action film would translate. Storywise, we have a mysterious invading force who mostly look like helmeted military/cops from a number of sci-fi/modern video games (think Half-Life 2) sporting almost-invincible forcefields with a few ludicrously-clad leaders. They have taken over half the world. The only ones who can effectively fight them are young people powered by a magical ancient stone (our 5 heroes but others too in the past). Soon enough, an operation with the ominous name of Last Suicide comes to be known and its true nature must be revealed.

The movie started off with an amazing outdoors battle in a big metropolis (Tokyo, I think) involving a giant mechanical wheel and the introduction of our main characters. Although obviously looking computer-generated in parts, it was very cool and exciting, bringing to mind the best American superhero blockbusters. The heroes moved with astounding agility and speed yet remained trackable and fun to watch. This impressed me. The costumes weren't faithful to the cartoon, but I thought they looked mighty fine for the modern age, especially the helmets. In that regard, the costumes of the main villains didn't fare as well looking somewhat ridiculous, especially the helmet of the main antagonist. But perhaps it was that way in the anime, so let's not be too severe. Unfortunately, that outstanding first battle was the highlight of the film.

In the middle part of the film came a lot of exposition and story background mostly showing our heroes in civilian attire. It wasn't uninteresting and I did like most of it. I was hoping for the return of costumed action though. There were some nice twists and even effective dramatic moments, but not all of them (some played out corny or too predictable). Of particular note, a confrontation between 2 of our heroes regarding the fate of a bad guy was quite intense with a surprising end. At that moment, I thought, Wow, this movie is turning out great, it's unexpectedly dark and mature. But I was wrong. One reveal involving a villain might have been predictable, but I didn't expect it to play out that way, so kudos there. Speaking of villains, disregarding the 2 totally-undeveloped costumed underlings, one of the main bad guys was appropriately sly and menacing (the one in civilian clothes), but I was disappointed with the other sporting the ridiculous blue helmet with the "fox" ears. There was something lacking in the performance that didn't help the drama. Some scenes that should have been heart-wrenching seemed a bit forced and fake. Some bad dialogue (was it the translation?) didn't help the drama, even provoking some inappropriate laughter in the audience. This jaded viewer did fear for the lives of our heroes a few times, so any movie that manages to do that deserves a few extra points in my book.

However, things kinda fell apart for the finale at the enemy's base where we were stuck with fights in underlit cramped caves and rooms. Even the main room with the floating platforms was underwhelming. Not helping was the way the action was so quickly cut. It was disappointing and was a poor contrast to the spectacular city action. The final confrontation also felt underwhelming and seemed to drag on. Something really interesting involving the corruption of one of the heroes was going on but it kinda fizzled out. I did like how at one point of that whole sequence, it did feel like a suicide mission. Overall this seemed like a worthy effort to modernize anime icons and bring them to live-action, trying to approach the American superhero movies in terms of action and sophistication, but in the end it kinda felt short. If you have any interest in the subject matter though, it's worth watching, I think, unless you're a true purist. In which case, you would probably feel offended by the liberties taken.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10 (average-good)

Wasted Potential

[dctcool · 4/10 · 2 September 2013]

I'm pretty fond of Japanese Otaku hero shows, I've followed Super Sentai, Kamen Rider and after seeing how well the standard could be set with Gantz a few years ago I had high expectations for this.

I saw this as part of Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal and suffice to say it sure did know how to draw me into the film.

Its a really interesting plot buildup: An invading force known as the Galactor has laid siege to countries all over the world with the worst affected area being in Europe, Japan is one of the few safe havens left on the planet but is still under threat from constant attack, with Galactors personal energy shields rendering human weapons useless they instead turn their attention to powerful crystals which select their owners to become the superheroes the Gatchaman.

The film starts out really strong with a fantastic opening action sequence rivaling that of many Hollywood action films with great fight scenes some decent effects (to a degree) and it really left you with some great on your seat action for the first 15 minutes.

After that, it all falls apart.

The next hour of the film almost becomes an annoying slog with so much exposition and back story being tried to get cramped into the film, with most plot point revealed to be rather uninteresting or just flat out silly, not to mention one rather obvious plot hole towards the end of the film where it almost felt like the director said "screw it"

In fact what it actually feels like is that the movie blew its budget way on the opening scene that they had to go all melodramatic to fill in the rest of the film.

The climax of the film isn't any better either whilst we do see a return to action the fights are in to close corridors making it hard to make out whats going on and one ridiculously stupid over dramatic death scene that is almost laughable had it not been for the fact that by this stage I was pretty much bored out of my mind.

Comparable to say Pacific Rim which knew what it was, it knew it was a silly setup which compensated with awesome fight scenes. But in Gatchaman while the setup was strong what was holding it together was silly, yet they tried to make a silly plot serious and sadly it just doesn't work.

Not helped are some of the Japanese actors bad attempts at speaking English, And while I can forgive some actors who have to learn what to say on a whim some of the spoken English dialog from one character doesn't even match the subtitles for whats being said on screen.

In the end Gatchaman could have been a great film to introduce Western Audience to Japanese Super Hero films but unfortunately its incredible boring and silly 2nd act renders the whole film almost unwatchable. I would recommend finding the opening action scene on the Internet for some good entertainment while killing time but thats about it.

Different take on the classics series

[grendelkhan · 5/10 · 2 June 2014]

I'm a huge fan of Gatchaman, going way back, so I was interested to see this film, based on the trailer. It's definitely not the original story. It's been tweaked quite a bit, although the basic elements are still there. The Earth has been attacked by an outside force, although here it is a virus that has altered part of the population, who are then destroying and subjugating the rest. Conventional weapons seem useless; but five young heroes lead the charge. The enemy, Galactor, is led by a mysterious being, known as Berg Katse. That's all still there; but the rest is decidedly different.

The Gatchaman team aren't so much the product of technology as they are the conduit for some kind of energy gem, which gives them their heightened abilities. However, only a select few can harness the power of the gems and only these gems an defeat Galctor's soldiers. It's gets more convoluted and the movies run time doesn't really sort things out well. It suffers from the same problem that the 1994 OVA series had, in that it is trying to cover the same ground as the 1972 TV series, which spanned 105 episodes. It gets rather confusing.

The look of the film is very much influenced by the redesigns from the OVA. The costumes and the Phoenix share pretty much that same look. Galactor and Berg Katse have been significantly altered. It's also rather darkly shot, during much of the action. This, coupled with quick edits, makes it hard to really follow the action.

The story is a mixed bag. The film starts out with some cryptic exposition, which raises more questions than it answers, then moves right into the action, with a Galctor assault on Tokyo and the International Science Organization, the parent body of the Gatchaman team. After that, we get more exposition and backstory, and a heavy focus on the emotional element of the story, the conflict between Ken and George, as well as the looming presence of Katse and Galactor. It seemingly takes forever to get to the climax. The structure isn't much different from the average TV episode, as they hit you with action, character drama, then an epic climax. Same thing here, though the drama seems protracted and never really seems to resolve itself. In many ways, the movie reminded me more of the Super Sentai shows that drew inspiration from Gatchaman, rather than the original series. The biggest change is the nature of Berg Katse. Without giving things away, it has elements of the original, but they are pieced together in a much different manner.

In the end, I thought it was a decent attempt, but felt disappointed. The story needed to be simplified so that it flowed better. The opening section is great; but the middle needed rewriting, paring the story down more. The climax has some good stuff, but it gets confused in sections. Things are left open for a sequel, so we will have to see if one arrives and if it can deliver a tighter story.

Fans of the series will be able to fill in some blanks on their own, though non-fans are likely to be left scratching their heads through most of the film. There are homages to the original; but it tries to be its own thing. It could be a lot worse; but it could also be a lot better. At best, it's an interesting experiment.

It's cliché. So what?

[davidgraf · 5/10 · 23 March 2015]

Yes, it's cliché. So what? Have you seen many Japanese live action adaptations of powered superheroes in the last twenty years? Then I rest my case. Cliché is practically a genre unto itself. But there are a few surprises here, and the moments ripped directly from the series will (perhaps shamefully, but it's dark in the cinema so no-one will see you) have you clapping your hands like a kid again.

Sadly, the story was cheesy. It was too melodramatic. The plot saves were sloppy and the dialog was groan-inducing. In the hands of the Japanese equivalent of Joss Whedon (if he even exists), Gatchaman could have been something magnificent, but instead what you get is pretty much exactly what's described on the box, except with real actors and sometimes sub-par special effects. If you have complaints about this, then perhaps you should just think about the number of live action adaptations film-makers outside of Japan have been responsible for that have ruined your childhood for you. I could make a list. It would start with the Thunderbirds, and it wouldn't end there.

Surprisingly enjoyable...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 3 July 2020]

Okay, well first of all I can't claim to be familiar with the "Gacchaman" franchise in any form or manner. I happened to get a chance to sit down and watch this 2013 movie from director Tôya Satô here in 2020. And being an avid fan of Asian cinema, of course I did sit down to watch it.

Granted, with no knowledge of what I was getting into here, I had no expectations to the movie, nor any prior lore of the franchise or anything to compare this movie to.

And I must say that I was entertained. Sure, this was geeky in a manner that only the Japanese cinema can produce, but it was oddly enjoyable nonetheless.

The movie's storyline was entertaining, albeit very straight forward and generic, to the point of being very predictable. But luckily enough the characters, costumes and special effects drew the attention away from the generic storyline, so the focus point was shifted in favor of the movie.

Now, I wasn't particularly familiar with the cast ensemble that portrayed the various characters and roles in this movie. But I will say that they actually had put together a good cast list, because the actors and actresses were doing good jobs.

I was genuinely entertained by this 2013 movie, and as such I am rating it a six out of ten stars.

a nice adaptation

[blackmamba99971 · 9/10 · 25 June 2014]

Well as far as anime to live action goes... this one did alright. I have to say though it had a lot over tones of the mighty power rangers on steroids. It does appeal to every age because of the innocent way each character is portrayed. Four buddies together fighting off what is known as Galactors.

A virus sustained on earth eons ago emerges as a mutated virus called 'Virus X' That once when infected with it the individual loses all inhibitions to know what is right, and what is wrong. They strive to become something more by means of freedom rather than to listen to ordinary rules, and obey the laws. Yet within themselves is a constant battle of turmoil of emotions that run amok, which then turns to destructive means.

Between this power struggle, emerges a team, which consists of high tech ninjas with great powers. Each one can use a mysterious stone to their own means by way of creating or architechtually build a defence, and offence using energy. As the Galactors strive to destroy everything on earth it is up to the team to stop them.

But with all facets of evil, there are some dark closets, which should remain closed. For Ken (Tori Matsuzaka) his demons in his closet come to the surface when he faces off with a long dead ex-team member who is now head of the Galactors. Naomi (Eriko Hatsune). Between her, and his team Ken is backed into a corner ready to either go out in a blaze of glory... or save his team even Naomi if need be.

All in all I thought this was a refreshing movie about friends, life, dread, despair, and sheer will. The film presented itself as a young only audience which strives on good action. And this film has it. Lots of action. Great music sound track, and wonderful martial arts display. However, it fell a bit short on the emotional aspect from each person. They seemed to try too hard to present a harsh reality to their plight. Whether its about a friend or foe. Much like the power rangers they delivered a kind of drab state of feeling. And with the masks they wore in the series it made it much worse to believe.

In this film though no masks were worn to show their feelings. But again they tried too hard to present it. Except to be fair to those actors they are new. More experience will allow them to blossom into fine actors in the next decade. Gatchaman is a unique movie, and series. Filled with fun, humour, slapstick kinds of jokes between characters, and above all good friendships. I figure the production studios will start a second phase to the genre soon enough.

When they do I hope they use the same people as before. This way we can see how much more they have all developed into their roles. Highly recommend to all ages. Fantastic movie.

Rebirth of Gatchaman

[jasonforce · 8/10 · 11 September 2013]

Although it doesn't look like the original Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets) Cartoon, it gave the 70s' classic animation all new life and made it amazing and recreational!

In the beginning, when Dr. Nambu introducing Gatchman to others in the meeting, my blood was burning and I was really touched!!!

When I saw Gatchman flying like superman and jumping like Spider-man, I felt very excited!

Yes! they are Gatchaman indeed! My dreaming hero is back to reality now!!!

I have to say "Classic can't be copied, Only innovation can recreate classic!", and this movie recreated classic successfully!

I love this movie much, and can't wait to watch its sequel.

Power Rangers meets Superman meets Battleship meets The Avengers: A Kung-Fu Laden, Explosive Sci-Fi Adventure

[totalovrdose · 8/10 · 28 March 2015]

When it comes to all things Gatchaman, I'm a novice. Ask me trivia about any of the plots, characters or creators, and I will provide you a bewildered expression every time. After watching the live-action Space Battleship Yamato, without any previous knowledge of the Anime, and thoroughly enjoying the feature, I had reason to believe going into this recreation without expectations would equal just as good an experience, and for the most part, I was accurate in my assumptions.

It's the future, and Galactor, a villainous group, with unequaled power, have ravaged much of the world, under the authority of their ruthless leader, Berg Katze. Although initially their origins are largely unexplored, as the film continues, much of how their regime came to be is explained. In order to halter this antagonistic threat, Gatchaman, a collective of five brilliant young agents, are assembled by Professors Nanbu (Goro Kishitani) and Kirkland (Ken Mitsuishi). Their childhoods stolen from them, these agents, who are the only humans on the planet capable of merging with the technology needed to stop Galactor, must put aside their emotions, differences, and spite for their creators, in order to become the heroes they need to be.

Ken (Tori Matsuzaka) leads the beautiful Jun (Ayame Gouriki), the adolescent Jinpei (Tatsuomi Hamada) and often comedic Ryu (Ryohei Suzuki) as the East Asian Gatchaman squad, their fifth member, George (Gou Ayano), who has, for the past few years been fighting in Europe, returning early on after being incognito. George and Ken suffer the most complicated relationship, both of them once being in love with the attractive Naomi (Eriko Hatsune), who unfortunately died at the hands of Galactor agent Iriya (Shido Nakamura) as a result of one of them being unable to control their stubbornness.

Unable to forgive each other, Ken has sworn to put duty before anything else, while George is willing to put duty aside to claim his revenge. At the same time, Jun (who is unfortunately portrayed as the love-sick young woman often encountered in Anime, though Ms. Gouriki is not to blame for this stereotype) cannot hide her feelings for George, yet occasionally, it's difficult to fathom whether it is really he she likes, or Ken, the writers also appearing to be unable to decipher this dilemma. The drama exhibited between the characters is often very intense, albeit sometimes over-exaggerated, the team frequently forcing themselves into each others faces, the threat of a physical altercation often never being far off, the actor's presence on screen working remarkably to build the tension.

The costumes take little time to become acquainted with, potentially because each of them are a combined assortment of cliché designs familiar to other programs, while at the same time matching the feature's genre, the musical score furthering the superhero ideals frequently employed. Katze, during the opening scenes looks especially peculiar in the Galactor suit, while the women on the other hand, and pardon me for saying so, fit very snugly into their uniforms.

The effects are incredibly alluring, and beneficially assist the action scenes in not only appearing extraordinary on screen, but feeling as equally impressive too. The vibrant assortment of color is incredibly gorgeous, in not just making the fights come alive, but assist the viewer in determining the stereotypical heroic and villainous nature of the characters.

Although Gatchaman may originally appear similar and predictable in accordance with other like programs, especially in regards to the climatic moments, there are some exceptionally great twists that keep the viewer enthralled until the very end. It's a shame the feature is so male dominated, and further insult is inflicted by the female characters often being reduced to discussing relationships. Though emotional ideas are employed, the film is hardly affected by them, while the ability to produce a film without resorting to buckets of violence and continuous profanity is admirable. Character driven, fun, occasionally humorous, and action packed, Gatchamn is sure to entertain audiences familiar and new to the franchise.