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The long wait
It is very seldom that I watch movies. I find the activity
expensive, time consuming, the-book-is-better-than-anything-else,
I-would-rather-run, and all the excuses I can think of to not go. However,
in the case of Rurouni Kenshin Live Action movie, I waited for it – patiently
waited for it to be released in the Philippines ever since I saw its trailer
online some time 1st quarter of 2012.
It was shown August in Japan and I was hoping to watch it
September. I have always assumed that since I am a fan, the rest of the
Filipino movie-goers are and it will only be a week or so after the Japan
screening, the movie will come in to the country. Alas, initial date pegged for
the showing was October 18, only to be moved again to December 5, 2012.
Since I must watch it on the first screening (I said to
myself that there are no other options), I filed a leave of absence for the
morning as soon as I got confirmed the date.
The plan almost did not push through for an important meeting was set at 0930 H
of Dec. 5 whereas the first screening is at 1100 H. Luckily, the meeting was
postponed.
By 1030 H, having bought a ticket, I bought and quickly ate
a cheese burger as my fuel while watching since I don’t want to have any
distraction. I hate eating while watching – really.
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| Takeru Satoh as Kenshin. Image taken online. |
True to story, true to the characters
The movie did not fail Rurouni Kenshin fans. The movie was
loyal to the theme, characters and philosophy of the original manga. Some arcs
were melded but beautifully - I guess in the interest of conciseness. As for
me, I find myself to be in awe more and more as the story progresses.
The cinematography was very apt. Gloomy during the battle
scenes and yet watchers can vividly picture the brutality of the war and of
Battousai. The fights scenes – oh, the fight scenes couldn’t be any better.
Sword fights were fluidly executed. Fast enough to show the skills the
characters are supposed to have but very realistic to convince watchers that
these are humans doing the scene. (Think of this: No need for suspension of
disbelief).
The actors were so into the character they were portraying.
Kenshin played by Takeru Satoh, shifts from being the wanderer to the killer
convincingly enough – just like in the manga. Saito who looks more sinister in
print was given justice by the way Yosuke Eguchi delivered his lines. One can feel Saito has no feelings. Jin’e in the movie could have used more lines
to explain his obsession with the Battousai though most of the explanation came
during the duel. Since the first story is a revelation about Megumi, not much
focus was given to Kaoru much less to Yahiko. I am confident this will become a
series of movies as we have yet to see Hiko Seijuro, Aoshi, Sojiro and Sishio.
I was overwhelmed
Just like the OAV, I felt overwhelmed after watching the
live action movie. I don’t know if this is just the fan in me but the
complexity of characters and richness of plot, can be seen, heard and felt
throughout. I was actually half-expecting for the movie to be mediocre knowing anime fight scenes are difficult to execute by humans. Glad to be
wrong. I have never seen a movie adaptation as good as Rurouni Kenshin. I will
definitely wait for the official video to be released.
* While I was writing this entry, I learned only that an
advance screening was held last December 2. My thought was: “What?! Why didn’t
I know it?” Anyways, I was scheduled to watch a stage musical at that time and
would have been subjected to a very tight schedule had I known.
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