Yukihiko Tsutsumi gets the honor of bringing the popular 20th Century Boys manga to life. As you may have guessed, T. Rex's famous song, "20th Century Boy" is an inspiration for this.At 2 hours and 20 minutes, this movie alone is not enough, which is why this live action adaptation is only the first chapter
with an ending that indicates a chapter 2. One of the disappointing aspects of this movie is that it takes a while to pick up because a lot of time is spent on the character buildup and the story background. This isn't a bad thing, but the film seems pretty uneventful for more than the first hour. Nonetheless, the buildup is nicely done and important, albeit attention is required.The film spans multiple decades. We are talking from the 1960s up to the year 2014, with the bulk of it taking place in the 90s and 2000. Why am I mentioning this? Well, the film jumps around a bunch, which in the beginning, makes the characters a little difficult to follow and remember. There are a good number of characters by the way. On the positive side, the jumping around in time keeps the story interesting.Eventually the second half of the film focuses on the older versions of the characters as they reunite to fight evil. This is similar to Stephen King's It. The effects are nicely done and the only a few plot holes really hurt the latter segments.Toshiaki Karasawa carries this film without a problem and most of the supporting cast do their jobs, including the beautiful Takako Tokiwa.20th Century Boys takes a while to get going, but it is interesting enough to make those that haven't read the manga want to.
July 28, 2008
