User reviews

This movie reminds me a lot of the comic City Hunter. Although, this movie is comical comedic, the actions are not. They are very well choreographed.

Recommended for comedy and action fans.

Now, I am going for the part two. Hope it is as good.

The Fable is a film that shouldn't work. An action-comedy based on a successful Manga series, it revolves around Akira Sato (Jun'ichi Okada), a hitman who finds himself on an unexpected holiday after his latest job. Ordered to lie low, his boss gives him strict instructions not to kill anyone for a year and try his best to live a normal life. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done with two rival assassins looking to take him out, not to mention an ambitious young gangster attempting to start a gang war. It's also not helped by the fact Sato had an...unconventional upbringing at best and isn't really sure how to behave around regular people.

The end result is a film that's very silly, delighting in scenes of a stone-faced killer struggling to socialise with his new co-workers and avoid blowing his cover. Okada's deadpan performance is great, watching him work out how to eat fish in public and delighting in the antics of a childish comedian raises a few laughs and the film is consistently entertaining.

The comedy however is noticeably at odds with the violence. The opening gun battle is a blood-splattered introduction and there's a fast-paced brawl in a factory towards the end which is wildly impressive. The psychotic villains and references to sex trafficking also mean The Fable is only a whisker away from being a very dark film indeed. Sato's social awkwardness is endearing, but when he's blowing holes in torsos and gunning down gangsters en masse, he's borderline inhuman.

The two styles shouldn't mesh but strangely, they do. The Fable winds up being surprisingly enjoyable. It isn't as funny as it wants to be and it definitely handles the action better than the comedy, but for a good seventy percent of the run time, it's a blast.

Known as 'The Fable' an assassin has been trained since childhood to be the perfect assassin; now he has been told that he must take a year off. He must live as 'Akira Sato', an ordinary man. This means no guns and definitely no killing... if he kills anybody, for whatever reason, he will be killed. It won't be that easy though. He moves to Osaka where he gets an ordinary job. Unfortunately for him he keeps running into people who want trouble or want his unique services. Ultimately, when a new friend is kidnapped, he must try to rescue her from a large number of yakuza without killing any of them.

This film may not be the sort that is likely to compete for any major awards but it is a lot of fun. The action begins in the opening scene as we see just how efficient an assassin 'The Fable' is. This action is far from bloodless. The story could have been played straight but it is full of humour. Some of this, such as our protagonist finding a particularly silly comedian hilarious, does wear a bit thin at times but not enough to spoil my enjoyment. The cast is solid; frequently hamming it up in a way that suits the material. Overall I'd definitely recommend fans of action films give this a go. I'll definitely be watching the sequel.

These comments are based on watching the Film in Japanese with English subtitles.

The Fable has some really nice shots throughout the film as the central character, a professional assassin, goes on a hideout to live a normal life for a few months but is unable to and is instead driven to a world of crime again to save the lives of people he's not related with, but this time without killing a single soul. It is surprisingly funny, has a lot of action sequences, and is solidly clever in some parts, making it a fabulous experience for me. TN.

(Watched and reviewed at its India premiere at the 3rd Japanese Film Festival of India in Mumbai.)

It started quite strong but lost focus a bit afterwards. Its trying to be a comedy/action movie but on both elements there was more potential.

But overall a fun movie to pass the time.

Deliciously funny, action packed flick with comments on what's considered relevant I'm social behavior. Sarcastic and very efficient!

At first I didn't have a clue what sort of movie this would be. But when the ending credits rolled I kept watching as I did expect another joke.

The joke wasn't funny ... but even unfunny jokes can grow on you It deals with a pretty serious issue but it doesn't address the issue really. I don't like my movies to spell out things what we should think. Some movies do, but it should deserve a little more attention than it did.

The first action scene was solid and the climax of the movie was a good watch as well.

The best part of the movie is however the flashback to when he was a boy and in particular the one where special effects where used especially the flower.

That also had a nice narrative to it.

I did like the overall direction and despite that I think not all scenes should be in it, I think the director has a great feel for storytelling

So only a 6 because it wasn't funny and it missed the opportunity to address an issue. Acting was again great from both woman and the child in the movie.

The car owner was good as well. But the other actors could do with some more direction.

Will gladly watch the second one as some brainless entertainment.

This was the second Japanese film I've watched after Rurouni Kenshin (series)... this one is a pure action/comedy entertainer. I was not expecting this out when I started this movie on Netflix.. Just enjoyed throughout. Simply storyline, but executed very well.

If you are a normal moviegoer who has never heard about the source material, I can guarantee you that The Fable (2019) will be a solid time-killer but as a fan of the original manga which the movie is based on I gotta say, I expected a lot more than just an okay movie. On the surface level, I think the movie did a good job by staying as close as possible to the manga premise especially with the character design, the setting yet falls completely flat when it comes to how the comedy plays out in my opinion. There's a lot of funny gag in the manga that works brilliantly due to the subtle and grounded nature of the writing being butchered in the live-action version by needlessly putting over-the-top dialogues and exaggerated facial expressions to the character and the story. I also think the live-action adaptation will work better as a long-run tv series more than a theatrical release movie but I cannot praise the movie enough for 1UP the manga in the action with the last 30 minutes of the movie. In the end, I'm still glad this move exists cause Japan honestly needs more stable live-action movie franchise like this before they go on and adapt some of the weirder ones so I definitely recommend The Fable and looking forward to the sequel.

I recently read the manga version, which is absolutely amazing, something which this movie aint.

Sometimes the story moves too fast, comedy can be really cringe and only works in manga, but there are some good bits.

Final fight is messy and shouldve been done like in the manga not John Wick style. Fable is an assassin, not an action hero. But I can understand it was done for entertainment purposes. I just didnt find Fable the legend characters think he is, just some moderately skilled guy who is not invincible.

Which brings me to conclusion: this shouldve been adapted to a TV show, which wouldve flashed out characters waaay more.

5/10.

Very seldom I watch Japanese movies. I gave this a shot, never heard of any actors or director and didn't know about the manga. It was a pleasant surprise. Very engaging characters, odd stories, very sweet fun humor.

The story is a about an mythical assasin "The Fable" - his real name Sato. He is taking a sabbatical year in another town together with his companion Yoko. He is struggling to live a normal life, but of course other criminals and assasins cannot leave him alone.

The pace of the movie is perfect. The story is bound in the everyday life they are trying to live. This gives them so much more character and depth than a typical action movie. The action is also very well done with some nice unique moments, and it is always mixed with their personal traits and interactions.

This is a light movie in many ways, both visually with much of the shots done during daytime, when it comes to the motives and actions of the warm hearted characters and with some very sweet humor. I strongly recommend it.

A thriller with 'comic' elements which is neither thrilling not funny. Okada is utterly wooden - with apologies to wood. Fumino Kimura is totally wasted as a whiny voice with a drink problem. The plot seems to have been made up as they shot the film. Really, not all not mangas can be adapted for film!

I first watched the sequel and then this. Both are kind of similar, although the sequel felt a little more grounded. Great action scenes, all actors do a great job, even the stupid faced Yakuza types that normally just bug out their eyes and jut their chins and shout rude slang, in this film they have a personality and act with care for their characters. As others noticed, it is a film threading a fine line between comedy and dark action, which doesn't always work, but mostly does.

In fact, the film feels really inconsistent: good acting in a manga adaption, forced sex trafficking followed by comedy, great action scenes in a rather unentertaining story, although not a formulaic one, deeper levels of characterization in a movie about an autistic assassin. Worth a watch.

The movie originated from the comic The Fable, and does a pretty good job representing the comic story lines. The pistol shots scene is great and awesome, the movie as a whole smoothly includes certain comic elements into screen presenting. Yet, it fails to deliver the unique humor of main character The Fable, its rather embarrassing.

This movie was on my watchlist for some time before i actually had the courage to start watching it.

Wasn't expecting much but the action scenes were amazing and the humour was just my thing.

The main actor delivers a splendid job portraying an estranged hitman trying to fit in.

Watched the sequel as well and I'll probably read the books now that i found out about this.

Youko is top notched. Everyone else is meh.

Satou, a genius young assassin, turns out to be a late 20s old man.

Unlike manga, plots are all over the place. Thugs/yakuzos look underfed. Why do Kojima and the one eye dude look so young? The Vice is also uncool. The president though... And the missing small characters?

There is not even one cool moment.

In conclusion, the director probably tries to turn this into a John Wick movie, but obviously he understands neither American audience nor Japanese audience.

Moreover, the plot is cut and rushed too much because the movie is supposed to be a comedy, then a sudden cool action at the end. However, the funny part is not funny, and the action is even lamer than the manga.

This is one of those rare movies that parodies a genre, but is at the same time one of the best movies in that genre. Like how Kill Bill spoofs the martial arts genre, but is at the same time one of the best martial arts movies. So The Fable is a spoof of the professional assassin trope, but at the same time one of the most enjoyable and satisfying examples in the genre. Perhaps the Branded to Kill of our age? The aggressively unfunny anti-humor, especially the bits with 'Jackal Tomioka', reminded me of Norm MacDonald's legendary roast of Bob Saget, and never failed to make me laugh out loud. Would give a 10/10, but I choose to keep that spot vacant for the sequal. (I'm in an optimistic mood.)

The open scenes are very interesting and seeing that you could expect something more in the Tarantino s vein but the movie is derailing from there. Except for other couple of scenes that have interesting aesthetics/editing process too, this manga adaptation flick cannot deliver the good for real. Also the comedy factor is bland no matter that have all the supposed cliches of these type of action movies (an sports Datsun included!); however, has that "Japanese tweak" that makes it watchable (may be the long action shooting in the trash compacting factory is too "Hollywoodesque" included the music and is barely watchable); at least to pass the time. -I read what other commentator is saying about plenty of messages included in another level of the filming; could be but I am not sure enough But is good to mention it. -There are couple of well known actors in the credits.

By far the best movie for 2019 with all thrill and action delivering fun touches even at the peak of the action without compromising the thrill. An underrated movie by the ones who expect usual soap Japanese style movie, which this is really not such what expected from usual Japanese movies. Slow motions shots are fully iterated with some mathematical equations as well. Fun factor is to be found even at the heart felt moments which in many films ended up with a bad scene but not this movie. The balancing all these flavors and delivering the viewers an edge of the seat experience and address small social norms that laid down by the human sarcastically questioning the stupidity of their very existence such as people eating and drinking hot things which is far more bad to the oral health than not brushing your teeth and overall digestive system. Not eating the bud of the beans and skin of the watermelon. Doing a job which people don't like and pretending they are normal citizens but burying themselves for $/hour equation which lead to questioning are they really normal citizens if they live unhappily. Ones who pretending to be happy by bullying the other and one who really enjoy the moment and stay happy for real. Addicting to digital gaming and becoming a nerd. Loyalty comes first than the one's own so called freedom not the real freedom. Difference between the sugar coated humans and straight forward people and their respective Curriculum Vitae. Defining the meaning for loneliness. Power of nature. Many such real strong messages are hidden inside the movie and to catch them no matter how much a genius you are and how sophisticated your movie player to slow down the frames per second and play, you definitely have to watch this movie several times and it is not boring to watch again and again while the Oscar winning movie "Parasite" can not re-watch no matter what. This surely not such a "Only one time though" kind of a movie.

It tries to be funny but not quite; there are funny moments but some are too contrived and artificial that these scenes don't work.

The action sequences, however, are well-executed no doubt. But there's nothing significantly different that really grabs the viewer's attention.

Pure entertainment, it's the sort of movie you can just sit back, relax and enjoy with a bucket of popcorn. The action sequences are superb and it does that Japanese thing of combining violence, drama and silly slapstick comedy in a way few Hollywood movies try. The story is about a legendary hit man who is ordered to take a break, but who finds living a normal life away from the criminal underworld harder than expected. The cast deliver their roles with aplomb, Fumino Kimura is wonderful and some of the set pieces are stunning. At times it veers close to becoming silly and breaking down but it pulls it off and ends up offering that rare thing in modern cinema - pure, exhilarating entertainment.