Yattâman (2009) Reviews

• Glorious, joyous, bonkers mayhem

  eannamac2010-06-11

  Gan and Ai (who together are Yatterman) battle Mistress Donjuro and her fiendish assistants Tonzra and Boyacki for pieces of an ancient skull. In the hands of someone other than Takashi Miike this would be a conventional adventure thriller with car chases,snappy one-liners, explosions and a love interest. However this is Takashi Miike. He pokes a finger in the eye of your pre-conceived ideas, flicks v-signs at the standard film conventions while dancing on the seat of a unicycle. Naked. On Fire. And upside-down. If Luis Bunel and Dali dropped acid and spent the weekend drinking Absinthe and eating crayons this is the kind of madness that would ensue. This is huge spoiler for the opening, just to give you a flavour for what the film is like: ***Spoiler*** We open to a scene of devastation, a huge teddy-bear robot is rampaging though Tokoyoko armed with a frying pan and cleaver. They are confronted by Yattaman and a fight ensues, which has people climbing out of what appears to be deep-fat fryers, fighting with giant spoons and forks versus someone armed with a a ball and cup, throwing cars at each other, kung-fu moves, more robots, a cute Japanese woman dressed as a leather- clad dominatrix, electrocutions, slapstick, a soundtrack that sounds like a mixture of bad 80s pop and German power metal guitar, then followed by a battle between a robo-dog and the original teddy-bear kitchen utensils robot, the losers make their escape on a bicycle that talks to them and throws them off by exploding the saddles as punishment... and that is just the the first 10 minutes. I've no idea if this is true to the original cartoon series and to be honest I don't care - it is well done, funny, appeals to both the adult and 5-year-old in me and very entertaining.

• A lot of fun but a little overlong.

  ChungMo2009-10-10

  Once again somebody let Miike get a hold of something originally intended for children and family audiences and let him go with it. Once again, as in "The Great Yokai War", he manages to stay true to the source while having some fun with it. There's a decent number of funny scenes and the look of the film is imaginative. While I'm sure Japanese audiences who remember the original television series can appreciate it more, other viewers can enjoy the silliness regardless. The actors are having fun with their roles and the effects (while frequently cartoony) go with the self-conscious storyline. The few downsides are the editing which slows down by the second half and the inevitable Miike-isms which get through in this movie a bit more than "The Great Yokai War". While most of this movie can be considered a family entertainment at one point the Bad Guys create a female robot with exposed breasts that shoots bullets and missiles out of it's nipples. Whenever the robot fires, it goes into increasing orgasmic convulsions. Some might laugh that off but soon Miike has mini ant robots bite the female robot's left nipple off which results in a spray of oil out of the gash along with more orgasmic vocalizations. Suddenly the Good Guy's dog robot gets sexually aroused by the mutilation and leaps over to passionately kiss the female robot. Ichi the Killer anyone? Anyway, aside from another scene involving a girl's inner thigh (he did this in Yokai War as well), the film could have been a fun family entertainment. As it is, it's recommended for adults. Overall it's good and be sure to watch through the credits.

• Miike Takashi's "Yatterman" is a wacky and goofy fun-ride!

  jmaruyama2009-07-12

  Miike Takashi's live action adaptation of Tatsunoko Pro's landmark "Yatterman" cartoon of the 70s is a lovingly faithful and fun tribute that will have fans of the original series giddy but gets too overly silly and goofy at times. "Yatterman" (a Japanese wordplay for "yatta" (we did it) and the English word "Man") was the 2nd in Tatsunoko Pro's long running comical adventure series which started with the first series called "Time Bokan" and included various yearly sequels including "Zenda Man" (1979), "Otasuke Man" (198), "Yattadetta Man" (1981) and "Ippatsu Man" (1982). Unlike Tatsunoko Po's more dramatic and straightforward action anime like "Gatchaman" and "Casshern", the "Time Bokan" series of anime were more comical and focused more on madcap humor, visual sight gags and ridiculously warped characters. While each of the "Time Bokan" anime were visually different from each other, they all shared the same story elements and included a very similar trio of goofy villains. While the heroes of "Yatterman" (Yatter Ichi Go and Yatter Ni Go) and their incredible mecha "Yatter Wan/One") were the main characters, it was the "Doronbou Ichimi/Clan" - Doronbou being a Japanese perversion of Dokuro (Skull) and Dorobou (Robber)- that were the most interesting characters. Doronjou, Boyacky and Tonzuraa were indeed the stars (the closest American equivalent would be Dick Dastardly and Muttley from Hanna Barbera's "Wacky Races" and "Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines"). Each week these incompetent criminals would strive to create the ultimate mecha to defeat their rivals and get the legendary "Dokuro Stone" that would make all their dreams come true. Miike Takashi wisely decides to keep this simple premise and set it firmly in place in his film. J-Pop boy band member Sakurai Sho of the group Arashi and Fukuda Saki from the J-Dorama series "Life" are cute as the heroic "Yatterman" duo of Gan and Ai respectfully but it is again the casting of the Doronbo Ichimi that is truly inspired - The tall and lanky Namase Katsuhisa (20th Century Boys, Gokusen) is dead-on perfect as the big-nosed Boyacky whose twisted inventions and mecha are as brilliantly flawed as their inventor. The stout and dimwitted henchmen, Tonzuraa is perfectly captured by chubby comic Kendo Kobayashi (the J-Dorama Boss)and he does a good job of playing the character as less a third wheel and more a contributing player in the madness. And of course not enough can be said of Fukada Kyoko's gorgeous and busty "Doronjou". Fukada (Kamikaze Girls, Inugami Ke No Ichizoku, Dolls) is clearly having fun playing the sexy villainess and she easily steals the movie. Even with the outrageous costume, Fukada still manages to illicit sympathy and emotion from the audience in her candid scenes. Her Doronjou is not really an evil character but just a woman longing for love and the means to lead a normal life. Not just another pretty face, Fukada continually surprises with her comic/dramatic range and unconventional roles. Th SFX effects are a mixed bag. Like the Wachowski Brothers' recent "Speed Racer" (another Tatsunoko Pro property), Miike's "Yatterman" does seem a bit too involved and reliant on CGI to tell the story. While the mecha and other robot effects are truly impressive and eye catching, scenes in which the mecha inhabit the real world seem fake and contrived. While Miike kept most of his darker sensibilities in check for this family oriented film, he did manage to sneak in some truly hilarious adult humored sight gags in the film (the scene in which the Yatter Wan robot mecha and the Doronbou Gang's "Virgin" robot making out whilst the Virgin robot screams "I'm cuuuming" is truly a must be seen to be believed...). "Yatterman" is definitely enjoyable and while those unfamiliar with the original cartoon will find it a fun film, those who have seen the original series will find "Yatterman" to be a nice, nostalgic trip down memory lane (fans should have fun finding all the nice visual references to the original anime and other Tatsunoko Pro anime). "Yatterman" is not a perfect film but Miike definitely succeeds in making a worthy tribute/adaptation. Yatta, Yatta, Yattaman (you did it man)!

• Do the Pose of Victory for Takashi Miike

  hellalluj2010-04-11

  A must see for any fan of Yatterman and Takashi Miike. If you like Miike's work but haven't seen the Yatterman anime or don't really care what's it all about?, avoid this movie by all means, you won't like it. The reason why the not-fans won't like it: It's too close to the source, the movie is as weird as the anime and it has that childish humor that some love. But, this childish humor is not for children, in Japan some gropping is seen as kiddie, but for us westerns the movie should be PG-13 for a couple of scenes that I won't spoil. The whole atmosphere and dialogue feels exactly as the anime should feel when taken to live action, this is a perfect example as how a cartoon should be translated, no matter how silly it could look. Too bad we westerns won't see a proper anime to movie translation, the Wachowskis tried it and most people bash their good effort. Anyway, the movie is just a fun ride and it's worth a fair 6 outta 10, but it grows to a 7 because of the faithfulness to Yattâman.

• A Fun Film

  dballred2009-03-29

  Yatterman is one of those films that is best appreciated by fans of the very funny animated television series. I can't give it more than a six for that reason, but I happen to be one of the show's veteran fans and would rate it much higher at a Yatter-convention. The story is about Gan Takada, a mechanically-inclined boy and Ai Kaminari, his cute cohort who, in the original 1977 television series and its 2008 reprise, do weekly battle against the forces of evil--namely a woman named Doronjo and her two male cohorts, Boyacky and Tonzler. Behind the scenes on the evil side, there's an unseen character named Dokurobe who sends the trio through time and space on a quest for items which, if assembled, will allow him his dream of ultimate power. Each side pits a humorous array of robots and mechanisms against each other. Besides the obvious improvements in animation technology over the last thirty years, there are other differences between the two series. Gan is lazier in the new series, Ai is more possessive, and Doronjo's outfit is sexier. However, I still prefer the original series--and I'm not alone. Doronjo is the main difference. She was a much more likable character in the '70s version--and I have to admit she was one of the draws that kept me coming back to the TV every week. Takashi Miike did his best to follow the original series and, in doing so, kept the target demographic in the teen to adult range. Miike made Donojo a very likable character--and the drop-dead gorgeous Kyoko Fukada fills that character--and (you've got to see it to believe it) costume--very well. Miike also restored Boyacky to a pathetic genius with an unrequited crush on a Doronjo who plays him like a fiddle. He also restored Gan to status of willing hero and lowered Ai's maintenance level a notch. He also restored the '70s Yatter-policy of not providing real names of people or places. In this movie, for example, they travel to Ogypt and the Southern Halps. All in all, it's a fun movie and is worth seeing if it passes through your town or your video rental store.