Cyborg Girl (aka Cyborg She) Review

Check out my updated review! http://thevagrantrises.blogspot.com/2016/02/updated-review-11-cyborg-girl-aka.html

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: At the end of his life, a man sends his cyborg companion back in time to his younger self in the hope he will teach her how to be more human.

Review:  Okay, now, at first, with a title like that we both know this sounds like this will be a porno or something, right?! Wait, you weren't thinking that?! Oh well. Let me clarify that the genre for this film is a romantic-sci-fi-comedy-action-drama (in that order). Yeah, wrap your mind around that one. The story is kind of complicated but to simplify things: the main character, Jiro, played by Keisuke Keide, meets a girl he immediately fell in love with. After waiting to meet her the following year, since they share the same birthday, he is shot by a gunman which leads to him creating a cyborg version of the girl as his companion. He's able to do this since he conveniently won the lottery and can dedicate the next 65 years to making her. Since he's too old and crippled to help her learn to be human, he sends her back in time to his past self to be that Jiro's companion and to change the past. We then follow their little adventures and the romance between the two as the cyborg and Jiro bond. Remember how in the reviews for "The Incite Mill" and "Ichi" I kept mentioning the incredibly beautiful and deliciously, voluptuous Haruka Ayase? Well, she's back and we finally get a good look at those curves! But more than that, she does a fantastic job here and brings a lot of heart to the character of the cyborg. Actually, it's really annoying they did not give the cyborg a name, so, for practical reasons, I will refer to the cyborg as "Haruka" from here on out. Ms. Ayase is so cute and likable I couldn't help but also fall in love with her by the end of the film! Even though she is supposed to be an emotionless cyborg, you can't help but see her personality slowly forming. And that smile she gives is priceless. At the same time, she provides a lot of the comedy and does that quite well. Many of her antics are truly funny, and I found myself laughing aloud many times. I honestly could not give her enough praise since she does such a wonderful job while looking so devastatingly beautiful in the process! At the other end of the spectrum is Mr. Koide, who also does a great job with Jiro, bringing out the chemistry between the couple (lucky bastard!). I mean, Ms. Ayase is amazing, but this was never going to work if someone wasn't able to match her equally and Mr. Koide does this excellently. Jiro can be annoying quite often because he's too emotional, but at the same time when you understand all that he seeks to accomplish, you realize he really cares about people even though he has no real friends or family. It's never really explained why he seems so lonely and has only acquaintances for peers, but we do learn a bit about the fate of his family and how saddened he is by their loss. In many ways, Jiro is endearing due to his compassion, and since he is always respectful of Haruka even though she technically has to do everything he asks; although don't think he doesn't try to cop a feel here and there! But of course, there has to be some lame drama to bring them apart for awhile since Jiro grows tired that Haruka is not becoming more human. We later learn Haruka was feeling things, but holding back for whatever reasons. Unfortunately, Haruka ends up being destroyed during a giant earthquake (this was an eerie premonition of reality) as she attempts to save Jiro. Don't fret however, because the future Haruka that the cyborg was based on eventually makes her way back and everything works out happily ever after. I know it won't make a lot of sense since the ending is really confusing given the unusual way time works in this film. If you want my analysis, just skip to the bottom, and I'll do my best to interpret it! The confusion regarding the ending is one of the few things I don't like. The only other things that hurt the film are some jokes that fall flat, some cheap effects, and the "love" between Jiro and Haruka could be interpreted as not real depending on how you want to perceive their relationship. None of these things really hurt the film in my eyes, but I keep them in consideration. The movie is surprisingly 2 hours, but you never even feel it which is a great credit to the writing and pacing. I personally felt the love story was good and appeared genuine enough without being overly dramatic. The characters were strong and made me want to see their journey continue although I am still a bit jealous of Jiro! The music was good, the acting and chemistry works believably, the action and comedy are balanced well along with the other genres, there was a bit of originality in the presentation, and, of course, Ms. Ayase is the single best thing about this film! I know I mostly review horror movies, but if you are looking for a break or a date movie, I highly recommend this one. Or if you just want to drool over Ms. Ayase for 120 minutes, that works too!

Notable Moment: When the cyborg is first trying to act more human by mimicking what she sees. There's specifically a part where she sees some dumb girl jumping all over her boyfriend and the cyborg tries to do the same. It's so subtle but so funny.

Final Rating: 7.5/10

Ms. Ayase looking as beautiful as ever!

My rant on explaining the ending and the timeline of events:
Let me try to explain it the best I can in a way that I understand their flow of events plus some speculation of how all of this could come into existence. Since the film shows us that time can be altered we can infer (and the film supports this) that different time lines are being created. So to speak, each change creates a new series of events that don't necessarily reflect the future we're being told about. For example, the future where Jiro was shot in the back is now altered. Likewise, since time is altered the same scenes can layer on top of each other from the different versions of time. Anyway, there must have first been some future where Jiro attracted the time traveling Haruka. Since we know Jiro had money and tried to live a life of good deeds, perhaps his actions made Haruka want to see the real man himself. This would have led to the first series of events whereby she sees Jiro, goes home, but Jiro waits for her the following year only to be shot. So that Jiro creates a cyborg based off the girl of his dreams but she just doesn't have the personality of the same girl so he's still unhappy. So he sends the cyborg back in time hoping young Jiro will make her more human while also programming her to fix all the bad things that made Jiro feel sad and powerless. Since Haruka is altering time left and right, this leads to the main story we see unfold in the film. By the end, we see another alternate future where Jiro finally recreates Haruka toward his death. The future Haruka sees her cyborg version, downloads her memories and falls in love with Jiro. That's why things are different at the end because now future Haruka truly knows Jiro unlike the first time. Now she is so in love she is willing to stay with him for good which is yet another alternate future which the film ends on. So we are talking at least 5 alternate universes with the possibility for many more leading into the film's opening. Hopefully you can make sense of that because in my head it does!

February 29 (aka The Curse of February 29th) Review

Check out my updated review! http://thevagrantrises.blogspot.com/2016/02/updated-review-12-february-29-aka-curse.html

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A tollbooth operator believes she is being stalked by a serial killer that murders victims every 4 years on February 29th.

Review: It sucks that last year was a leap year, but since my blog wasn't around then, and I'm not waiting another 3 more years before I get to this film, I thought I would shoehorn this one in at the end of the month. It's extremely difficult to properly describe the genre of this film since it's essentially an unusual combination of horror, mystery, and thriller. I say unusual because sometimes the movie is deliberately unclear on what it wants to be: throwing out jump scares while playing it slow with tension all accompanied by a mystery regarding what the hell is even going on! The story is surprisingly original as some journalist interviews the main girl, Jiyeon, from a mental hospital where she reveals to the audience the circumstances that led to her institutionalization. Jiyeon was a tollbooth operator working on some strip of road, apparently in the middle of nowhere, when she began to notice some woman with burn scars following her constantly wearing the same clothes as her. Then one night there is a momentary blackout at the tollbooth coincidentally at the moment a mysterious car approaches that turns in a bloody ticket. The police eventually collect the ticket as they reveal someone violently murdered another ticket operator not far from Jiyeon. It is of note that the detectives in this film are probably two of the most inept imbeciles we've ever seen in fiction as they handle evidence with no gloves, tell a suspect crucial facts, make the ridiculous claim that most murders turn out to be serial killers (quit watching too much TV buddy), and do one blunder after another. But it's fairly early into the film that the police, and even the audience, will begin to suspect Jiyeon herself is probably the killer since her story sounds crazy and she becomes increasingly unhinged. Then this mysterious car appearing and more people dying becomes a regular thing leading up to February 29th. Many plot elements will start to happen that may confuse the audience, but most will come to make sense by the end of the film and maybe even excuse the idiocy of the detectives. For instance, there is some legend about a bus full of prisoners that crashed and burned but one serial killer was unaccounted for that Jiyeon believes is either a ghost or a stalker; the film goes out of its way to make it unclear of which is true. The whole reasoning of why the ghost/stalker dresses like Jiyeon makes little sense especially since her friend claims she also sees the individual. Jiyeon becomes unnerved by the dark and has an apartment full of lights along with increasing hallucinations due to insomnia. I did feel a lot this was a bit detrimental to the story since not enough plot elements occur to change the audience's way of thinking away from simply suspecting Jiyeon. Anyway, by the end, the ghost or whatever appears, kills the detectives, and leaves Jiyeon in a state of insanity as she is blamed for all the murders. It is at this point that we are shown many moments from a different perspective implying that the police always suspected Jiyeon and were trying to catch her in the act. They conclude that there was a minor blackout only in Jiyeon's tollbooth which brought about a psychological breakdown after discovering she had been trapped underground for 5 days as a child. She had heard the tale of the undead serial killer from flyers being distributed by the mom (actually it's never clear if this woman was even a killer), and all the scenes of Jiyeon supposedly being attacked are then shown that Jiyeon was choking herself. But before you go thinking things are cut and dry and that Jiyeon must be guilty, there's never any physical evidence Jiyeon did the killings, they never deny the friend saw someone dressed like Jiyeon, they address the fact that the police were dumb and might be covering their asses, and they could never properly account for how Jiyeon got to the crime scenes and back unscathed. I felt that leaving the conclusion up to the audience was a nice touch, but the addition of a possible ghost felt a bit dumb as a forced element to throw into the mix; and let's not forget that fucking zinger that makes no sense at the end! For the love of god! I really like this film for effective atmosphere, creativity, and originality. The mystery could have been fleshed out more and less one-sided, but I understand what they were going for. The music helps build the tone effectively, and the scares are okay for the most part. On the other hand, things don't necessarily make sense by the end, the ghost/stalker is not scary looking at all, and too predictable plot twists. This film is most certainly worth a view just to see such an offbeat tale, but definitely go into this with the understanding that this is more mystery than a horror film.

Notable Moment: When we first see the killer pull up to the tollgate. The atmosphere was just right and the tone for the rest of the film was set nicely.

Final Rating: 6/10

Hide and Go Kill 2 Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: Students and teachers alike find themselves wrapped up in the mystery surrounding the "hide and seek alone" internet game.

Review: Having almost no connection to the first film, save for a few of the internet handles seen in the first film, this entry involves a teacher, named Ryoko, as students at her school begin to disappear due to the ghost summoning ritual known as "hide and seek alone." Anybody want to play? It is of note that the ritual seems to have been tweaked slightly with a few more rules added. The storytelling formula is mostly the same as before with unsuspecting idiots trying to hide from ghosts until they bite the big one, but the main change up comes in the fact that Ryoko is something of a medium, whereby she sees spirits, although, she appears completely oblivious to this fact. It is implied that ever since a friend from her childhood was found dead she probably had this ability, but how convenient that she and her friend were playing hide and seek, right? The same depressed, emo-esque vibe to the students is there as they are aimless, coping with a meaningless existence. This would appear to be a common theme examined in Japanese cinema, but it feels off-putting in a horror movie for me; I feel the subject matter should be better explored in a drama. However, there were two individuals that got to me: I would have liked to have seen the Ritsuko and Aikawa characters get together. I know they are only hanging out with each other over mutual depression, but can't they just shut up, stop being emo, and hook up?! Like the first film, the tone, mood, and atmosphere are all great except it is even better this time around. That deliberate, slow placing remains intact and it truly enhances the tension building with each scene; an improved, eerie musical work, however simple, greatly adds to this effect. The scares are improved and more frequent while implementing some creativity and originality. There was a more subtle attention to details as well that made many scenes memorable and on par with the legends like "The Grudge" and "The Ring." The ideas and story are more fleshed out as we understand the ritual to summon the ghosts a little better and there is a more concise storyline without tons of padding; speaking of which, the scenes of just text have improved as they are layered onto the screen so the audience is actually watching something and the story is moving as we read the internet messages compared to the shenanigans of part one. That's not to say that there aren't plenty of plot elements we are still left in the dark about. For instance, are the people that are still playing "hide and seek alone" from the first film stringing people along or are they genuinely surviving the encounters? I find it hard to believe as much as the ghosts start to cheat, wouldn't these individuals have been killed by now if they weren't somehow involved in coercing others into playing the game? If someone is hosting the website that started this all, then surely someone has masterminded a lot of this. I would have liked to see more of the origins explained or at least hinted at, but I guess you can't have everything. Perhaps if there is ever a third entry we may have more of the mystery developed. Also like the first film, I wanted so badly to give this movie a higher rating, but the last 10 minutes or so really dropped the ball. The climactic final ghost is not scary, and, in fact, the makeup effects on that particular ghost are bad not to mention the lighting was way off. Oh, and of course they just had to end on a fucking zinger that makes no sense given the previous scene! You gotta love it when that happens! There were so many great things going on here I don't understand how they could let it all fall apart at the end when it was most crucial! Despite this, there were too many good things going on that mostly make up for the lame ending, so, of course, I highly recommend this film; actually, watching these two as a double feature is great and makes for a more engaging experience. I saw these films a long time ago online, but sources seem to have disappeared and there's not even a wikipedia page so I suppose you might have to just cough up the money for these bad boys like I did!

Notable Moment: When the one teacher, Ms. Tamura, is watching the "hide and seek alone" webpage, and we see a ghost just slightly creeping out from behind a closet door. Then the screen jumps and we see the ghost at the window behind the teacher. Then the ghost is behind the teacher!

Final Rating: 7/10