Devilman (2004)

I'm sure that if you're a Devilman fan, you're going to watch this movie regardless of what anyone says about it. So with that in mind, I'm not going to tell you to "avoid it at all costs." Afterall, it's always better to experience a terrible movie first-hand and form your own opinion about it rather than simply trust what others say. That being said, I'll move on with my review.The first major annoyance I had with the movie was the way it completely altered the plot. Structurally it's pretty much the same, but the specifics have been changed so much that it's not even really the same story. It's still unknown to me whether the characters' personalities were written differently than they were in the manga/anime or if the acting was just so bad that these so called "actors" were unable to portray their character properly. Actually, it's probably a little of both. And to make matters worse, the complete absence of that infamous dance club scene where Akira first makes his metamorphosis is sure to kill what little enjoyment a hardcore Devilman could have gotten out of this film.If your hopes haven't been crushed just yet, then you're probably still hyped up about seeing the battle between Devilman and Silene. Well, I have bad news for you. Even if the battle lasted longer than 20 seconds, it still wouldn't have changed the fact that it looked more like a college student's 3-D animation project than a live action adaptation of arguably one of the best anime fight scenes ever. In fact, pretty much all the fight scenes looked like they would have been put to better use in a Final Fantasy game than in a live action movie.So there you have it. This much anticipated live action Devilman movie is completely lacking in every aspect that made the original work so great. Pretty much everything you liked about Go Nagai's masterpiece is missing from this film. But if you're a hardcore Devilman fan, you may as well see it anyway just so you can warn others not to see it.

This movie was honestly pitiful. I'm a fan of the Devilman series and this movie was one of the most horrible portrayals of such a memorable and amazing series. The cast consists of a lot of teen pop idols and they couldn't act even if their life depended on it. The "stance" the main character goes into when he's between his human and devil form is just horrific to watch. And he even walks around in the freakin stance! The fight choreagraphy is just plain horrid as well. When Akira is fighting Syrene that was absolutely pitiful. I was kind of disappointed also in the fact that a lot of the movie was CG. It gave the movie a game feeling most of the time. Another thing was the fact that they modified the story a bit. And that was one of the biggest reasons that made this movie so bad. You're better off watching the trailer if you want to get a glimpse of the good stuff. I was so hyped when I saw the trailer but once I saw the movie, the trailer was even better. If you want to see a great rendition of the series watch the OVA.

Be warned: this film is a failure on every imaginable level: inept direction / laughably unconvincing special effects / atrocious, incoherent dialog / gross miscasting of virtually every important character (the film is peopled with Japanese pop stars and boy bad idols, none of whom can act) / a heavy-handed and utterly uninvolving narrative whose sorrowful attempts at social commentary come across as insultingly banal. Such a wasted opportunity too, given the wealth of the source material; DevilMan is easily one of the most iconic manga/anime characters in the history of the medium, and there is simply no excuse for the disaster this adaptation turned out to be. Don't let the advertisements fool you - the only proper way to appreciate a film like this is to receive it purely as camp, but when a film is this genuinely bad, even that'll prove a stretch.

Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about the original series, and watched this movie only because the trailer was really cool. Thus, I went into it not knowing what to expect. I guess going in blind is an advantage in some cases. I actually liked this movie pretty well, though I didn't always understand who everyone was and what was going on. In some ways, this reminded me of a Romero zombie movie, and not only because it's kinda cheesy and involves evil dead things that attack people. It seemed to contain similar themes of social commentary, in this case mostly about man's cruelty and inhumanity towards other man, and the way fear can spark violence and paranoia. Based on that impression of the movie, the special-effects fight scenes seemed out of place, to me, almost like a distraction. I had the feeling the whole time I might understand more of what was going on had I been a fan of the original, but since they're said to be completely different, I doubt it would've helped much. As weird as it sounds, I'd have to suggest not seeing the original before this. It seems it's an easier movie to like that way.