CASSHERN by jaiskizzy

long years of war has laid waste a nation and a geneticist has discovered a way to counteract the suffering: "neo-cells" that regenerate human body parts. the experiments take time until an unexpected force intervenes, creating "neo-sapiens" out to destroy mankind. the geneticist's son, tetsuya, who died in the war, is revived and uses his powers to stop the neo-sapien menace.

eversince i saw its supercool mind-imploding trailer (despite having no sound) last year, i have been itching to watch this movie. japanese films always have a unique grandiose quality in them, and casshern is more than enough proof of that. this fantastic film is heavy in cgi put to good use. i felt like i was watching a 2-hour long video game fmv, waiting to take control of the main hero. it starts off slow, setting the stage, introducing the characters, yet never gets boring (however, this part could put off anyone who is not used to or totally unfamiliar of this style of storytelling). the visuals are stunning, and im not just talking about the cgi. the way the scenes were shot and presented, the flow, the editing, truly exceptional. there are quite a few sequences where characters are talking but we only hear their voices over a different scene, not showing any of them. it's nothing new but how it was utilized here was perfection of that method. the scenes with luna are enchanting, she had that anime-type of face and on two separate instances, my two companions commented that she looked like she was computer-generated (she resembles final fantasy x's yuna).

this isnt an all-out action flick, but when the action arrives, it hits and leaves a bruise. in anime, when a character performs a special move, streaks appear in the background. here, anime is made real, as tetsuya runs, fights, strikes and streaks appear behind him. he single-handedly obliterates an army of robots and duels with the neo-sapiens, wearing his cool white armor with a faceguard that comes out and retracts at will. each scene shows the cool things you can do with cgi with the right vision. pinoy movies that boast of "internationally-competent" special effects dont even come close to one seamless frame of casshern's.

i love war movies but i hate wars. nobody really wins. and that's what the core of this movie teaches us: that we are all here not just to exist, but to co-exist. living is not enough, life should be shared. the movie ends with tetsuya, luna, and the others transported to another planet to start anew. damn i wish i could do that.