(Movie Reviews)This film came out a couple years ago in Japan and, like "The Men of Yamato" (which came out roughly about the same time) it sparked a lot of concern among Japan's neighbors, and there were a few articles in some of the Japan based English publications.
On the face of it, this is a pretty harmless movie if we only look at the plot. A terrorist of foreign origin (I could never tell if he was Chinese or Korean, perhaps I missed something) takes over a Japanese Self-Defense-Force ship, together with a group of disaffected senior Japanese military officers. They have a secret weapon called Gusoh, some sort of super chemical weapon stolen from an American base. They threaten to release it in Tokyo unless their demands are met.
Fortunately, we have two heroes who are on the boat who battle through the decks. The whole thing is so amazingly similar to the plot of "Under Siege" you almost wonder why a lawsuit was never filed. (I've also seen this movie described on the Internet as "Die Hard on a boat").
Like "Returner" this is a Japanese movie that seeks to compete with Hollywood by emulating Hollywood. You can almost count off on your fingers the Hollywood cliches this film follows. There is the bad guy who owes his defeat to only wounding our hero, and then walking a few feet away and assuming for some reason he won't be attacked from the back. (In fact, he does this not once, but twice.) There is also a "Terminator" like ending in which the principle bad guy can't seem to be killed no matter how many times he is shot.
Also near the end the ship is slowly creeping into Tokyo bay up to the point of no return. There is a discussion in the "War Room" back in Tokyo whether to bomb the whole ship or give our heroes a chance to compete their mission and retake control of the ship. The seconds tick by. Finally planes our sent out to bomb the ship but just at the last moment....
...Well, I don't want to spoil the end for you. Suffice it to say I think we've all seen this kind of thing a million times before in a million different movies.
Tired Hollywood cliches aside, the reason this movie caused so much unease in Korea and China at the time of its release was not because of the plot but because of all the speeches made throughout the movie. There's a lot of talk about the what Japan as a nation stands for, and what the future of Japan should be.
Japan as a nation is obviously experiencing an identity crisis. They used to be a strong militaristic nation, but they got absolutely creamed in their last war. So they adopted a pacifist constitution and focused on becoming an economic powerhouse. And then the bubble economy burst. Right now they're really not sure what they stand for.
As a cinematic example of the current zeitgeist, this film might have some value. One can easily imagine it being cited in research papers years from now as an example of the Japanese attitude towards themselves at the beginning of the 21st century.
However viewed in its current context, I'm not sure how much the film really adds to the debate other than to simply ask the question. There's a lot of scenes with characters standing around talking about the problem of Japan's identity, but no solutions are put forward. And even as far as stating the problem not much is ever said in concrete terms. (Maybe a domestic Japanese audience would catch onto the subtleties of these discussions better than I would).
The best I can say for this film is that if you ignore all the Hollywood cliches and if you ignore some of the plot holes, there are some halfway decent action sequences. It has some mild entertainment value.
Link of the Day
(via This Modern World)
Family of those in Iraq more opposed to war than anyone
According to a new LA Times poll, 69% of family members of soldiers in Iraq, and Iraq veterans themselves, want U.S. troops brought home within the next year. This compares to 64% of Americans overall. Details here.
Aegis: Movie Review (Scripted)
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