 |
| Who in the world designed this logo? It is like a cross between "Samurai Pizza Cats" and "Dexter." |
Dear Internet,
It has
been some time since I watched "Ichi the Killer." It is either one or two years since I saw
that shocking film. My memory of the
plot may be a little hazy, so I hope you do not hold me responsible for any
mistakes I make. The reason I bring this
up is because "Ichi the Killer: Episode 0" is a direct prequel of the
aforementioned movie. The plot of the
original is not all that important in this context, but remembering that the
two are linked directly is. There are a
few other bit of links that I will try to cover, but I should probably say a
few words of what I can about the first movie.
"Ichi
the Killer" followed the story of the exploitation of a psychologically deranged
murderer, Ichi, who kills because of his mental unbalance and because he is
lied to about the people he kills. The
film also tracked the investigation carried out by a yakuza trying to determine
who is killing of his fellow gangsters.
Then there is the man manipulating Ichi for his own personal goals. That is about all I can off-handedly recall
about the film's plot, but that is probably not what most people recall about
that film. The thing that usually sticks
in people's minds is the absolutely over-the-top amount of violence and visual
effects that the movie showcased. People
were sliced in two, had boiling oil thrown at them, and cut out their own
tongue. The amount of violence could
make one vomit, and apparently did in early showings of the film. When watching it, there are two ways to view
it. Either you can become absolutely
horrified at what is occurring or you can realize that the violence appearing
on the screen is so unrealistic in its quantity and quality that it becomes
comical. The story was originally made
in comic book form, which the film's extraordinary scenes reflect. Nobody in real life, when their carotid
artery is cut, has blood shoot out like a pressurized hose.
"Episode
0" does carry over this gratuitous level of violence. People are beat up, cut and mauled in various
ways. There is no lack of want for
action in this short film. But adding to
an already large repertoire of visually chocking scenes is not what this
prequel is trying to accomplish, even though it does do this at least. Episode 0" tries to elaborate on the
back story of Ichi. The film shows the
various things that caused Ichi to become the mentally broken character that we
have already seen. Ichi was bullied,
mocked, hazed and blackmailed by his peers.
His parents misunderstood him with little to no attempt in correcting
their perceptions. His teacher forced
him into live animal vivisections. The
list goes on and on. It almost gets to
the point that the film wants to throw as much grease onto the fire. Even after Ichi had murdered and entered a rehabilitation
center, he was mistreated by nearly everyone he meets. The film here gets to the point that there is
not a single individual who is not a psychotic who does not care for anyone but
themselves. It paints a grim picture
with no hope.
 |
| I hear this new piercing thing is all the rage with young adults. |
The
animation should definitely be addressed.
The original film was live action with minimal computer effects only
used when stage effects could not get across the image needing to be
shown. "Episode 0" is
completely animated. In a reasonable way,
this would make sense since the original story had been done in comic book
form. Taking static drawings and reinterpreting
them into animated ones is a common decision.
The problem arises with the quality of the animation here. The original comic was extremely
detailed. It had to be with the kind of
content it was depicting. Creating a
stylized comic that reflects the aesthetics commonly found in ones aimed at a
younger audience would not work well in a comic that was specifically aimed at
adults. "Episode 0" loses a
lot of detail and line work that made the original comic so graphic and
engaging. The animation is constantly
taking shortcuts. The characters have
very little amount of values and hues.
Expect to see at maximum only three shades for each character: the
highlight, the shadow, and the midtone which is not even a midtone but the
local color. The characters are drawn
with next to no detail and can vary in style sometimes in the same scene. A majority of the time, only one character is
on screen at a given time with their head taking up most of the image. There are repeat cells throughout that you
can start to spot the same shot after a while.
The whole thing is such a deviation from the standard set by the comic
that the end result is laughable.
 |
| Like a cross between Mr. Potato Head and Clayface. |
About
the only thing that that is of a high quality is the music. The background songs are wonderfully
done. They create a technopop exhilaration
during the action sequences, which is a relief considering the story. I want to say that the music is taken from the
first film, but I cannot make that assumption.
I would not be surprised if "Episode 0" took the score
directly in an effort to cut costs even further. The original songs from the first film are
sporadic and eccentric, reflecting the unstable minds of the various characters
being showcased. Here, they do much the
same which is a good thing.
"Episode
0" wants to explain further about how Ichi became who he was. The problem is that the first film did a good
enough job at explaining him. Ichi was a
man who had been abused for most of his life and taken advantage of. "Episode 0" merely paints a black
canvas with black paint. It beats an
already dead cat, hoping to kill it further.
The fine details of Ichi's past never mattered to the extent
"Episode 0" hoped to illustrate.
All it ends up being is an add-on to a movie that did not need an extra
film riding its coat-tails. As a standalone
work, "Episode 0" is a miserable failure that cannot hold its own. It relies on themes that the first movie went
into great depth but does not do anything better or equivalent. To a certain extent it does explain why Ichi
is a sadist, but did anyone ask the question?
All in all it was a great let down whose only redeeming values are the
few action scenes. I just keep wondering
why this was made. Is it just for the
sake of making and watching violence for the sake of violence? If it is, then it falls into the trap that
the first film set. People get a kick
from gore.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop,
P.S. Tomorrow looks like a mixed day with a record album being first.
No comments:
Post a Comment