El hundimiento de Japón

Promoted as an 'epic blockbuster', I was under no illusions that this was a film that was likely to be something in the mould of a typical US disaster movie, rather than a serious attempt at in depth story telling and character development. However, much like a Roland Emerich film, any attempt to suspend the audiences belief is abandoned in favour of a too unlikely scenario, occasional cheap thrills and shallow, paper thin characterisations and cliché. All of which I could have coped with if the film were at least vaguely entertaining.

Like Armageddon, 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow the film takes a huge pinch of salt and throws it at a premise that has some potential basis in fact; in this case, the precarious location of Japan along the Pacific ring of fire, and the likelihood of apocalyptic disaster; (the like of which we have seen in all to great a reality in recent months). It adds an uninspiring dash of flat; clichéd characters; (you know the ones; male and female protagonists who are divorced but forced to reconcile; cute little orphan girl (Awww); chain smoking, maverick scientist and a bunch of old, stubborn politicians)and shoves in the S L O W cooker until every molecule of freshness, vitality and energy has been vaporised; along with your patience, attention span and desire to keep watching.

Before I knew what a disaster this disaster movie would turn out to be, I had prepared for a schlock movie that might numb the brain but would at least delight my senses with elaborate special effects and multiple scenes of mayhem and destruction.... I settled down to watch and within the first few minutes decided that I might end up with just the numb brain. How right I was.

A veritable movie by numbers, it became clear that this was an Asain movie that would abandon the usually carefully constructed plot lines and interesting, 3 dimensional characters that usually inhabit the world of Japanese Cinema, rather it would aim to emulate American cinema in practically every way possible. After a rambling introduction that serves as a geology lesson for infants, we are 'told' that a series of events are underway that would ultimately lead to the entire Japanese archipelago sinking within 40 years... within the next hour or so however these events begin to unravel with unbelievable speed; erupting volcanoes, tidal waves and earthquakes soon begin to plague the good citizens of Japan, with an over used satellite POV showing us the scale of the disaster. And so the movie continues, peppered with some extraneous and totally predictable romantic fluff with the male and female 'leads', and the chain smoking maverick scientist coming up with a plan to save the rapidly ailing country.

All these scenes are nothing more than long episodes of pointless exposition, the scriptwriters and director using their actors to explain each and every event to the audience... because apparently, we are too stupid to work it out for ourselves; (I could have watched the movie without subtitles and told you exactly what was happening). All this is very, very boring and only sparsely interspersed with some pretty impressive set pieces, which at least have the benefit of being more believable than the rest of what is happening. Sadly, the special effects sequences are far too few and far between, and serve only to jolt you from the frequent bouts of approaching slumber that you will doubtless succumb to as the film plods on with a pacing akin to a snail race. Unfortunately, whilst worthy, these effects cannot do anything to save the film, which crumbles pathetically with each erupting volcano and rumbling earthquake.

The ending; when it eventually comes, is woefully inevitable from very early on in the script, rendering the 'plot' (such as it is) redundant for much of the film. With dull characters, predictable and unoriginal script, and a running time of 135 minutes you'll be wishing that the place had sunk in the first 5 minutes of inserting your DVD.

Nihon Chinbotsu is a science fiction story set in the near future. In this story, geologists discover that all of Japan is being sucked under the ocean by plate tectonics. It covers the ongoing disaster from the perspective of several people directly affected by the events, from ordinary people to scientists, rescue workers, and political leaders.

This movie is a remake of a 1973 film of the same title and, in many ways, is a major rewrite. While an excellent premise based loosely upon actual plate tectonics, the elements of social shock which were central to the original film are totally absent from this try, replacing the original message-laden content with Godzilla-style entertainment.

If there's any single impression one can get from a side-by-side comparison of the two films, it's just how far special effects have come over the last 30-odd years. Nonetheless, special effects alone cannot make a great film. I gave this a five out of ten rating.

This movie remines me on both Deep Impact and The Day After tomorrow with different plotlines that are happening and a disaster that are connected with each other. I found the movie to be just alright because the movie does try to have a lot of character development into it and the emotional parts throughout it. But I felt the movie is way too long with the movie mostly focus on explanation and drama that you see in any other disaster movies out there. It also kind of confusing to follow with the amount of stuff that happen in it and some of them isn't that interesting to watch. But the disaster scenes are pretty effective with the amount of danger that the characters are in and the destruction it cause to the countries. The CGI isn't that great, but I seen worst in other movies out there.

Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan is a passable movie that has some effective disaster scenes, but isn't that enjoyable to watch.

This film has some nice special effects, tearing apart the Japanese archipelago to a degree that would humble Godzilla. The two leads also put in above-par performances. Apart from that, it is all a bit ropey in this understated disaster flick. The incongruities in the pacing are bizarre. At one point we have Hokkaido sinking into the sea and pyroclastic snow falling on the rest of Japan, while Osaka is buried under an immense tsunami. Yet elsewhere in the country, people are still strolling around sightseeing and licking ice-cream when another tsunami rolls in... Kusanagi also manages to travel great distances without any hindrance, or even a crease in his cream shirt. Other people turn up with burns, ripped clothes and mud-streaks on their faces.

The Japaneseness of the film is both touching and repugnant. Kusanagi's sacrifice in his final evening with Shibasaki is a touch of chivalry seldom seen in this genre these days. However, the ill-fated PMs musings on the Japanese psyche and the seduction of death, and the fact that Japan is abandoned by everyone and has no friends in the last instance, hint at a darker paranoia that infects Japanese concerns regarding their status in the world.

Sadly, the final sequence is a rip-off of Armaggedon, edited with a cookie-cutter.

Finally, my own particular bug-bear - the heavy handed product placement for cigarettes. This time around, it is mad(-or-is-he?) scientist Toyokawa who gets to be the poster boy for Japan Tobacco. At one point, he manages to light up 5000 meters below the ocean surface, in a miniature sub the size of a phone box. Gimme a break.

Another "end of the world" film that begs comparison to the abysmal "Day After Tomorrow". Following the same sort of structure as DAT but with a distinctly Japanese style. How does it fare? That depends on your taste for Japanese melodrama.

I found that the small human touches to be what makes this film compelling for most of it's 2 + hours. Also the frequent title cards explaining some of the science. The effects are probably the best I've seen in a Japanese film and they compare very well to anything out of Hollywood. Many of the disaster scenes are truly horrifying even though the human carnage is usually off screen. And that is one of the drawbacks. While the terror of thousands of on- screen deaths like in the recent "War of the Worlds might have too overwhelming, we also don't really get a sense of the chaos of an entire nation crumbling into the ocean. A few scenes touch on the chaos but for the most part this part of the story is barely touched on. Regardless, this film works on a lot of levels and is way more realistic then DAT, that is until the end.

Unfortunately the story hinges itself on one clichéd plot device and another plot device that would be at home in the 1960's Japanese Earth in peril film "Gorath". After the reasonably good science and mostly realistic take on the disaster, this makes for a bit of disappointment. The sudden stopping of the film for a pop love song doesn't help either (unless you like the song). This made the "exciting" ending a bit of a drag for me.

The overall direction is good and the art design is excellent. Acting is all good as well. Recommended.