Customer Reviews

K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Takeshi Kaneshiro, who has sometimes been referred to as the Asian Johnny Depp, is an actor who can play just about any role to which he commits. And he commits to the role of Heikichi Endo 100%. Set in an alternative Tokyo, one where WWII never happened, Heikichi Endo lives for the circus. A talented acrobat and showman, he's poor but happy entertaining the common folk. His life changes forever when he's approached by a mysterious man who asks him to use his ability to take pictures of society heiress Yoko Hashiba's engagement ceremony to popular police detective Kogoro Akechi. What Endo doesn't realize until it's too late is that he's been set up to be mistaken for K-20, the Fiend with 20 Faces, a masked thief whom Akechi has been trying to catch for years. To clear his name, Endo quickly realizes that he needs to become a thief to catch a thief. A very entertaining movie ensues. Kaneshiro is a fine comedic actor and he's well matched in his scenes opposite Takako Matsu, who calls to mind a Japanese Lucille Ball. She's dizzy and delightful. The final showdown between Endo and K-20 is exhilarating, but no more so than Endo's training run scenes. Director Sato Shimako employs parkour as the means by which Endo moves through Tokyo looking to confront his enemy. It works. For fans of Kaneshiro's work, it's as apt to refer to Johnny Depp as the American Takeshi Kaneshiro. Don't miss this movie. It's a ton of fun.

I love this movie. I saw it at the San Diego Asian Film Festival last year and was delighted to be able to buy it on dvd. It does borrow from lots of other sci-fi action movies(as did the earlier RETURNER, which I also love, and also has Takeshi Kaneshiro as the hero)(OK, I am a fan of Takeshi Kaneshiro, or Kaneshiro Takeshi as he's listed in some movies, but whats not to like? He's really cute and does a good job in this genre) This alternate universe adventure is good escapist fun.

Niju Menso, the Fiend with Twenty Faces, is one of the classic villains of Japanese literature. Created in 1936 by mystery author Edogawa Rampo (Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination), Niju Menso played Professor Moriarty to Rampo's Sherlock Holmes archetype, consulting detective Kogoro Akechi. The two characters are as well known in Japan as Holmes and Moriarty are in the West. Since his creation, like many great villains Niju Menso took on a life of his own has gone on to appear in several manga and anime series, as well as two novels by So Kitamura.

This 2008 film versions is adapted from the two So Kitamura novels, which takes a decided spin on the original detective Kogoro Akechi/Niju Menso dynamic. So's novels were revisionist to say the least, and this version of the Niju Menso story has as much in common with the original as Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes does with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original tales. However, since Rampo's Kogoro Akechi stories have never been translated into English, most viewers will be unaware of the shocking twist of So's novels.

But enough with the history lesson. As a straight film, "K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces" is one of the best Japanese superhero films I have ever seen. Too many Japanese films are marred by somewhat amateur CG, but the lessons have been learned and "K-20" mixes a great story with very satisfactory effects. Not quite a straight action movie, there are still some spectacular moves and fights mixed in with the intrigue. Kaneshiro Takeshi's use of parkour urban-traveling was as well-done as Mollaka in Casino Royale.

The story is set in an alternate history 1948-49. Niju Menso has been locked in a battle with Kogoro Akechi (Nakamura Toru, Umizaru) for years, with a clear victor on no side. When announcing his engagement to the wealthy and beautiful Hashiba Yoko (Matsu Takako, The Hidden Blade) he is interrupted by Niju Menso (called K-20 in the English translation) who is then unmasked as young acrobat Endo Heikichi (Kaneshiro Takeshi, House of Flying Daggers). But Endo is not the true Niju Menso, and appears to have been set up to take a fall. Not only is Endo "exposed" as Niju Menso, he will also take the blame for the ruling aristocratic powers' plan to use Nikola Tesla's technology to cause a new Tunguska event which will help to consolidate their power. For Endo there is only one way out. He must truly take on the guise of Niju Menso to clear his own name and to put an end to the dangerous scheme. Oh, and also to save the circus and win the heart of a girl in true hero fashion.

There are some great nods to the original Edogawa Rampo story strewn like breadcrumbs to those who can find them. Kogoro Akechi's young assistant Kobayashi Yoshio (Hongo Kanata, Returner) is a clever nod to Kogoro's Boy Detectives' Club that emulated Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars. Even without the background though, K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces is a fully-enjoyable movie.

The DVD is bare-bones. I know this film didn't get a great US release, but its too bad they couldn't put something together on the history of Kogoro Akechi and Niju Menso even as a paper supplement to put in with the DVD.

What a great film, it was a lot of fun.

Great company to buy from.

Awesome!

In 2008, director Shimako Sato, known for his films such as the "Eko Eko Azaraku" films and his work for various video games such as "Resident Evil: Code Veronica" and "Onimusha Tactics" (and moreso for his upcoming screenplay for "Space Battleship Yamato) began working on "K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces", an adaptation of the novel "K-20: Kaijin nijû mensô den" by So Kitamura.

A film that appears to be inspired by "Batman", "Superman" and "Zorro", "K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces" is an action-based Japanese film starring talents such as Asian film superstars Takeshi Kaneshiro ("Red Cliff" films, "House of Flying Daggers", "Chungking Express", "Fallen Angels"), Toru Nakamura ("Tokyo Raiders", "Hana", "Gen-X Cops", "Umizaru") and actress/pop star Takako Matsu ("Long Vacation", "Love Generation", "Hero").

VIDEO:

"K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces" is presented in 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen. The film definitely seems inspired by Batman, Zorro and Superman in some ways. Moreso like Batman and trying to capture this dark and brooding land at night. But what I like about this film is the look of Japan and its aristocrat style. Because this alternative universe of Japan is different and a country in which the aristocrats are the wealthy, to see the buildings designed in a certain manner, especially its airplanes are quite intriguing. The Japanese in this film are very keen to the inventions of American and European inventors and obviously having its impact on Japanese fashion and aesthetics.

Some parts of the film may seem a bit dark and black but I believe that was the director's intention. As Batman is working during the night and within the shadows, the same is being done for this film as K-20 is a man of the night. But overall, the picture quality for "K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces" is very well done and having watched many CG-inspired live action films from Japan, I was quite pleased with how everything looked in this film.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

"K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces" is presented in Dolby Digital Japanese with English subtitles. Dialogue and music is clear through the front and center channels but one thing that this film does boast is its use of effects through the surround channels. From Heikichi utilizing his climbing device as it hooks on to metal or the encounters between Heikichi and K-20 in battle to Yoko piloting her airplane, there is a good amount of surround sound usage through this film and I heard LFE-usage during some of the explosions and fighting sequences as well.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces" comes with the following special features:

* Trailer - (1:33) Theatrical trailer for "K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces".
* Japanese Original Trailers - (4:13) 15 original Japanese TV spots for "K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces"
* Viz Pictures Presents - Trailers for upcoming or currently available Viz Pictures films on DVD.

JUDGMENT CALL:

I have to admit that I was very pleased with "K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces".

While most of the live action heroic films in Japan are typically feudal, military officer, police officer or similar to a film like "Die Hard" of a man at the wrong place at the wrong time but manages to defeat the enemies, "K-20' is more superhero or even anti-hero like. What is more interesting is that the man in the mask is actually the villain and the man who wants revenge uses a similar technique in trying to gain revenge against the villain and save the world as opposed to K-20's goal to destroy it.

Also, what made this film equally exciting for me is how it stars three of my favorite talents in Asian and Japanese cinema. Takeshi Kaneshiro is essentially one of the most well-known faces in Asian action and drama films while both Toru Nakamura and Takako Matsu are very well known for their Japanese drama and film roles. All three talents do a wonderful job in this film and Toru Nakamura is just excellent in playing roles of a serious good guy or serious villain in previous films but to see him so stoic and mysterious as the police investigator going after K-20 was a performance he definitely nailed.

Takeshi Kaneshiro was wonderful of playing the underdog and the viewer can't help but root for Heikichi Endo and hoping he gets his revenge against K-20 and Takako Matsu playing the rich Yoko Hashiba and playing the naive character but also bringing some of the few laughs to the film, especially during a scene in which she tries to be flirtatious towards her fiance.

All three talents did a wonderful job and I also have to say that I was quite happy to see Jun Kunimura playing the role of Genji (who helps Heikichi) and also to see actress Reiko Takashima in a minor but humorous role as Genji's wife and also playing a comedic role.

If there was one unusual casting choice that may be questioned by Western audiences is the role of police detective assistant Yoshio Kobayashi. Kanata Hongo who plays the very intelligent assistant to investigator Kogoro Akechi and is delegated to handling a variety of cases. Sure, the character is very young (and Yoshio although 18-years-old at the time looks years younger) but for those who are not familiar with Japanese investigative series, in Japan, there is a bunch of manga, drama and animated series such as "Meitantei Conan" (Detective Conan) in which younger characters are used to take on investigative cases. And in this film, Kanata Hongo does play an intelligent detective and I also imagined his character and his appearance in the film would attract younger viewers (especially those who know him for his roles as the lead character Ryoma in the popular "Tennis no Oujisama" and "Nana 2' films).

The CG special effects are also well-done most of the time, although the scenes of large broken shards of glass look very CG'd and certain action sequences also appear to look a big farfetched. This is a film that I was not exactly expecting CG realism either. But overall, the film worked for me and I found the performances and the storyline to be quite entertaining, fun and I despite the longer duration at 137 minutes, there was not one time where I was looking at my watch to find out how much time has elapsed. So, that's a good thing.

The DVD doesn't come with any major featurettes as did the standard DVD edition in Japan but there was a special edition box set in Japan that did have a making of, video greeting and "K-20' TV Show collection as well as booklets and bookmarks. But that was for a more expensive box set release in Japan and I doubt we will ever see this in the US.

Picture quality and audio quality were good for a DVD release and it's important to note that there was a Blu-ray release in Japan for this movie back in 2009 and since Viz Pictures will now begin to start releasing films on HD, whether or not "K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces" will be released on Blu-ray in the US is unknown, but because it is a more recent and big budget film from Japan, I hope it is considered.

Overall, "K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces" is a film that was exciting, fun, action-packed and entertaining. Featuring an enjoyable storyline with awesome performances from its talent, "K-20' was definitely a refreshing surprise for me and easily a film that I definitely recommend for action fans.