K-20: Legend of the Mask

K-20: The Legend of the Mask (K20: Kaijin niju menso den) is a Japanese movie (you can tell from the title. D'uh) adapted from the novel of the same name. It is one of the movies bawled me over with its slick overall production and tone and setting (by God, those sets!) and whatnots that got me all pumped up and excited and thrilled (see how I got all redundant, here? I was that pumped, excited, and--anyways...). AND, the movie stars that hottie Takeshi Kaneshiro of Red Cliff 1 & 2-fame, among others. The story is set in a 1949 fictional Tokyo(in the movie, it is Teito), with Zeppelins flying in the sky of te city. And police choppers bearing the legend POLIZEI flew out of it. Below, Teito is a city very much influenced by many post-apocalyptic or alternate-reality-set movies or comics. It is dirty. It has colors of rust dominating just about everything. It has buildings and vehicles fitting with the the year (1949). And rusty old Tokyo Tower is the tallest structure, majestic and horrific at the same time. And, boy, those rusts. The society comes in standard the lowest class and its opposite, with no place for the middle class (That only exists in the real world, apparently). And we see the the city's police (POLIZEI?) captain's engagement ceremony performed in a big beautiful building and guarded heavily by armed soldiers. City officials apparently have it extremely easy in this world. The technology this world apply is the craziest kind of techno-wizardry that only Nikolas Tesla could have come up with: The story opens with the demonstration of an attempt to send (electrical) energy nary all those troublesome wiring, followed by things going wrong: A bad guy, explosions, audience running this way and that, etc. etc. you know the drill. The lead character, Heikichi Endo, played by that breath-takingly handsome Takeshi Kaneshiro, is an unsurpassed magician and acrobat, performing for a struggling travelling circus. And, with his mentor's health failing, he gets an offer to use that acrobatic skill of his to get some real money. And that's where his adventure begins. The movie is powerful due to its strong human drama, for one thing, though some people might not like the cliches the movie is rife with. Poor kids, abandoned or orphaned, living in the garbage dumps are all over the movie, serving to strengthen the characters (especially those played by that cute hunk of guy, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tokoko Matsu's Yoko Hashiba) and help direct their relationship. But, this is not a drama, no sir, as when the actions start, they come fast and long and beautifully orchestrated. One fight scene that takes place in an small alley made me forget the fight happens in an alley: The two fighters move with so much ease, they seem like fighting in a big open ring. And the actions nod more to the direction of Hong Kong's finest action movies, rather than Japanese short-burst actions in Samurai flicks. CGI, of course, is on the table but, again, some CGI effects are so smooth, my jaw dropped (though some others are bleh...) The acrobatic actions on the rooftops (And walls. And streets. And alleyways) are blatantly parkour, so anybody who is into this, will have his wet dreams made real on screen. Yesss...the--er-- irony? antithesis?. Of course, the movie is Batman-meets-Zorro-meets-Blade Runner-meets-Steampunk (comics), and even the score takes some notes from Indiana Jones's and some others from Legend of Zorro's, but hey, when it is done this good, I'm all forgiving. So, with 137-minute runtime, the movie has its hits (the actions, characters, the story) and miss (the cliched drama), but it is a damn beautiful movie with crazy actions and cool stunts, and that gorgeous-even-when sulking cute-as-puppy-when-smiling Takeshi Kaneshiro really nails the character with his boyish looks but commanding on-screen presence. And some Japanese humors added to the mix may seem fresh for those not familiar with manga, anime or dorama. * * * What? The title? K-20 and all that? Oh, it refers to this Robin Hood/Zorro-like thief, famous for his mastery in disguises, that supposedly steals from the rich to give to the poor, but somehow or others, the public like their handsome police captain, who vows to catch the dastardly thief, more that they do the thief, and that astonishing looking-with-hot-bode-to-boot Takeshi Kaneshiro character thrown into the spiraling conspiracy related to K-20, and the plan for world domination using crazy gigantic cannon powered by nature's very own limitless electrical power of the the good ol' lightning.