Afro Samurai: Resurrection

I’ve been wanting to get “Afro Samurai: Resurrection” since it came out. And I finally did it! Yay for me (and for my girlfriend, who also likes Afro Samurai).
This time around, instead of being 5 OVA episodes, it’s an hour-and-a-half feature. The action is just as good as in the first “Afro Samurai”, and the voice work is as excellent as you’d expect (Samuel L. Jackson! Lucy Liu!) (retroactive props to Ron Perlman [!] for his work in the first, and Kelly Hu [!] for hers). And… Oh. My. God. The RZA’s music is as incredible as ever.

I love this movie, even though the story has its logic flaws. Despite the flaws in the logic and characterization of the villains, the movie does a great job of discussing Afro’s motives and methods (he killed so many people just so he could avenge his father, and now it’s only natural that there are family members of his victims who would want [and deserve(?)] revenge against him).

I made sure to spend the extra bit of coin to get the 2-disc special edition director’s cut. Spending that money got me some nudity, sex, and swearing in the actual movie. It also got me “over 100 minutes of special features” that include:
-exclusive insight from creator Takashi “Bob” Okazaki
-GONZO studios interviews about the Japanese side of production
-interviews with people on the American side of production (including the awesome Sam Jackson, and the gorgeous Lucy Liu)
-a cool behind-the-music thing with RZA
-a look at “Afro Samurai: The Game” (which I’ve played and loved)
-a cool feature about the Afro Samurai stuff at Comic-Con 2008
-insightful video commentary with the Japanese side of production
-a little booklet with art and stuff from the creator, director, and RZA

Anime. Hip-hop. Samurai. Sword fighting. Japanese culture. Black American culture. Samuel L. Jackson. Lucy Liu.
If you like ANY of these things or people, go out and buy “Afro Samurai: Resurrection”.

Ponyo

“Ponyo” is the latest film by animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. The same cat who brought us “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away” has done a pretty cool movie about an adorable, magical goldfish who turns into a human girl.

Now, as a general rule, I’m not a fan of fantasy. Miyazaki, however, is a master of the genre and usually wins me over. I did enjoy “Ponyo”, but I don’t think it’s the masterpiece that most people are making it out to be. That said, I’m not sure if any of the Studio Ghibli films is better than the next, but personal preference winds up playing a big part in enjoyment of each film. I prefer the R-rated “Princess Mononoke” that contains violence and action and adults driving the plot over the G-rated “Ponyo” (the English version being about the love between the youngest Jonas brother and Hannah Montana’s sister).

I really enjoyed the action-y part in which Ponyo is running on the fish-waves (you’d have to see it to know what the hell I’m talking about). This part actually made me really want to see a Flash movie, and some of the underwater stuff made me want to see at least an animated Aquaman movie.

The other day in Japanese class, I overheard a girl talking about seeing the movie with a friend. Her friend was apparently like “This is dumb. I don’t get it. What the hell?!?” and she responded with “Just go with it. Let go of your expectations. You just have to sit back and watch.” I felt like this friend of my classmate had some fair criticism. There’s nothing wrong with you if you don’t like fantasy and want a movie to make sense.

Now, I was able to “let go” and just enjoy a kiddy fantasy movie, but it certainly wasn’t without its flaws. The number one rule for movies is that they shouldn’t break their own rules. A problem with this movie is that the rules aren’t very clearly established, so by the end I’m not entirely sure whether the rules are strictly followed or not. The end, unfortunately, is a bit anti-climactic.

The English voice cast is pretty good. I was originally a bit ticked that Disney went to such in-house pandering lengths as to cast Frankie Jonas (the little brother to the tween-oriented band the Jonas Brothers) and Noah Cyrus (the little sister of Miley Cyrus) in the lead roles. Surprisingly, the kids did well, though I think Disney should have gone with seasoned (adult) vets like Tress Macneille, Pamela Hayden, and Bumper Robinson (to name only a few). Tina Fey did alright. So did Betty White, Cloris Leachman, and Cate Blanchett. Liam Neeson was excellent as usual. Matt Damon was unnecessarily cast (his character had only a handful of lines! Why cast a big-name for that when you could get Billy West or someone like that for much cheaper?).
A problem was that the original dialogue doesn’t seem to translate well, so some of the actors are stifled by what seems to be bad writing.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get the DVD. We’ll see. “Spirited Away” had to grow on me over time.