"You can't flee anymore. Not from your destiny."
Goemon is a fun, bloody martial arts epic. It's a story of betrayal and revenge, set after the death of Lord Nobunaga and (very) loosely based on the life of the real Ishikawa Goemon. Don't worry though, you don't have to be steeped in Japanese history to enjoy it.
I won't go into detail about the twisting, turning story. It's interesting enough, but many characters are introduced without much info or background. Luckily, it's easy to keep up with who's good and bad, and the central characters are fleshed out to an acceptable degree to make them matter to the audience.
The more divisive element of Goemon is the heavy use of special effects. Most of the sets and action are all CG, very much like Sucker Punch. And not as well done. While this gives Goemon a unique look quite different from the bold colors and elegant action of many modern martial arts epics, it also makes the movie look frantic and artificial. It's really like watching a video game, at times. That didn't bother me much as Goemon went on, but cleaner, better implemented special effects would have made this an even more enjoyable film. The costumes are great, though, which is always important in flicks like these.
I liked Goemon. It felt a bit long (the last half of the movie could have lost 10-15 minutes, easily), but I was never bored. The actors and actresses are nothing less than competent, even in some of the more over-the-top roles. And there are some very pretty actresses involved, if that kind of thing interests you (it does in my case). I recommend it to anyone who is fine with a more CG-heavy spin on historical Japanese fantasy warfare.
Goemon is a fun, bloody martial arts epic. It's a story of betrayal and revenge, set after the death of Lord Nobunaga and (very) loosely based on the life of the real Ishikawa Goemon. Don't worry though, you don't have to be steeped in Japanese history to enjoy it.
I won't go into detail about the twisting, turning story. It's interesting enough, but many characters are introduced without much info or background. Luckily, it's easy to keep up with who's good and bad, and the central characters are fleshed out to an acceptable degree to make them matter to the audience.
The more divisive element of Goemon is the heavy use of special effects. Most of the sets and action are all CG, very much like Sucker Punch. And not as well done. While this gives Goemon a unique look quite different from the bold colors and elegant action of many modern martial arts epics, it also makes the movie look frantic and artificial. It's really like watching a video game, at times. That didn't bother me much as Goemon went on, but cleaner, better implemented special effects would have made this an even more enjoyable film. The costumes are great, though, which is always important in flicks like these.
I liked Goemon. It felt a bit long (the last half of the movie could have lost 10-15 minutes, easily), but I was never bored. The actors and actresses are nothing less than competent, even in some of the more over-the-top roles. And there are some very pretty actresses involved, if that kind of thing interests you (it does in my case). I recommend it to anyone who is fine with a more CG-heavy spin on historical Japanese fantasy warfare.