If you are a big zombie film fan, this should be your next flick to check it out. This is a Japanese live-action film adapted from the manga series of the same name. I am not saying it was the best zombie film ever, or the decade or even the year, but surely a better film compared to the recent ones. First of all the story is same as most of the same themed films, that the zombie outbreak brings chaos everywhere, and followed by the survival game. The difference in here was the characters and some of the great scenes that lifted the film up.
Hideo, also pronounced as Hero is a 'best newcomer' manga artist award winner a few years back. Now in his 30s looking for a breakthrough in his career. But after receiving a backlash when his book was denied to publish and followed by break up with his girlfriend, he begins to witness a series of strange events around him. While the entire city turned into madness, he and a random school girl join the hands to escape from the horror. So their journey begins to nowhere, but be safe. Later a couple of twists come into play and brings an end to the narration.
The script was not praiseworthy, but the filmmaking was, including the performances. The actors had given their best shots. The scenes involving the conflict between humans and zombies were carved so awesomely. Being a film fanatic, I'm used to this kind of themes, so none of these flicks can scare me. Not just the sci-fi horror films, but also the supernatural horrors. That's a drawback. But if I was a normal guy or a little kid, this film would have been in a different league. Still, I enjoyed it. Because overall film offered me a great entertainment.
"What you seek isn't dream anymore! It's delusion. Only a small, special group of people can achieve success."
I don't understand the Japanese, except a few simple words, but from my observation, they never mentioned the word 'zombie'. They called it by the virus that caused it, ZQN. I don't know what those alphabets stand for, but all I got was the word 'Zokyun'. The equivalent English word is 'bang', like a sudden sharp thud sound. Anyway, coming to the film, the characters are unpredictable. You can't trust anyone of them, except our lead guy. Not just because of the infection, but their intentions, more like it is about survival of the fittest. I mean like usual, the man's weakness, power hungry.
After Hideo, the school girl Hiromi is the next in the lead, but there's nothing much to expect from her. They kept that role very mysterious, that I was looking for an explanation which never came. That was really disappointing, but it also mean a hint of a possible sequel. I hope they make one, after all this film was received so well. The details in the film were very impressive, even the small ones. Not just they focused the human characters, they have given strength to zombies to strike the survived human ruthlessly, but uniquely like an athlete. So basically, no traditional zombie theory was followed. They bent the rules to make it a unique product, as well as to entertain the viewers, mostly funnily.
Shot in the fine places, especially in the second half. This film redefined the zombie film from those days before the evolution of superheroes and space-age flicks. It was a perfect mix of comedy, action and thriller. But I laughed surely better than those recent full length comedy flicks that had best comedians. This is not a remake material, so I'm not expecting the west to do that. Like I always say, whatever world film I watch, I'm happy to end up in a Japanese or a French film. It was a bit long, worth it though. I am not overwhelmed and blindly recommending it, but this film was really good, particularly if you like black comedy, sort of.
7/10
