The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill

Not so fond of reading subtitles, but this one earned my time to do just that. Fun flick with a bit of romance, comedy, and some killing here and there..and best of all, our hero doesn't even look the part. Really enjoyed it//

The first was good. The 2nd was amazing. Kampai!!

One of the best Japanese action movies that has been in a while now, packed with great stunts ,actions and funny charming characters.

The story may build more slowly than most action fans would prefer, but keep watching. The farfetched series of seemingly random pieces of past and present converge well for dramatic weight, if not for probability. Most of the package, including some fine performances, warrants a 6 or 7. But the penultimate action sequence in which Fable is set upon by seemingly endless minions in and around a high-rise apartment building is among the best of its type you can find. Think of Jackie Chan's frenetic agility on various scaffolds and multi-level structures - minus the comedic touches - and that lengthy sequence is what boosts this one up to an 8.

The story is tired and old: good hearted assassin has to protect innocents from bad hearted assassins, I guess. The acting is not stellar, but the action is good. I actually did not know it was a sequel (thought it was a remake) and so I watched this before I watched the original (or read the manga). Truth be told, I am not particularly thrilled for either, but I may do it if I am bored. I just wish the acting was a little better. I liked a lot more the actor playing the villain (Shin'ichi Tsutsumi) than the one playing the hero (Jun'ichi Okada), although the first is an actual actor, while the latter is a boy band member and a martial artist, so his performance was brilliant considering. The girls were there just to look pretty, for example.

Bottom line: why not make this an anime? It would have looked cooler and could have focused on the story and characters more.

The choreography and stuntwork for the action scenes are excellent and far better than what I was expecting for a Japanese movie. It rivals any other movie. The story and the mannerisms of the actors are uniquely Japanese, so don't expect it to be a Hollywood movie. It is a very entertaining story and the acting is fine, again better than most stuff coming out of Hollywood these days. Some scenes are very bloody, but that's typical of Japanese movies. Don't overthink it.