We all knew it was coming. Once they released the trailer for the live action movie everyone knew that a review would have to pop up sooner or later. Well hello, I’ll be your stewardess for today as we explore the overall suck level of Blood: The last vampire. The live action version of the animated movie and the anime series and manga promised to be an awesome movie all the way around. While some people were all, “Oh crap, the graphics are going to suck in this, blah, blah, blah.” I was all, “Holy shit this is going to be great.”
And it was.
Not to say the graphics didn’t suck, because they did. Epically. But the movie was good enough to make up for a lot of that. The storyline is just as we remember it. Saya, Gianna Jun, is a vampire working for a secret part of the government that kills vampires. In the film the setting is Japan post WW2. Saya infiltrates a military school to learn which of the students is a vampire (which she calls demons) in disguise. She befriends Alice Mckee, played by Allison Millier, when Saya saves her from two of the vamps who’re trying to kill her at the time.
The two happen to be two of the most irritating girls in the class, which would have been convenient for Saya’s conscience when she kills them, if she’d had one to begin with. I was pleasantly surprised to see Masiela Lusha, who plays Carmen on the George Lopez which appears on Nick at Night, as one of the vampires. She’s dyed blond and has swallowed a heavy duty bitch pill and the severe change to that from her persona on the show was great to see. Anyway I love the budding friendship between Alice and Saya. The fight scenes in the movie are reminiscent of Flying tiger Hidden Dragon, which is expected since both movies share the same director.
Chris Nahon did some really cool effects with the blood to where it congealed into almost solid droplets once shed. Almost like flying jello. Sounds gross but once you get used to it it’s a nifty effect. This has all the requirements of an awesome anime remake. Flying ninjas, old sensei’s that look faintly like Mr. Miagi from the karate kid being torn apart by blades through all his major appendages, and finally and best of all, a Darth Vadar/Luke Skywalker type moment towards the end.
The combination of Japanese and American actors was perfect. There were never any awkward, um-what’s-up-with-this-combo moments. Gianna is flawless in the sword fighting and her acting is top notch. I think I actually shed a tear or two at one point or another. Allison Miller was a nice addition to the storyline and manages not to give Americans everywhere a bad name like some of the actors.
But back to my biggest complaint. The people were good, the people almost turning into vamps were good, Saya in demon mode was good as well as Onigen’s, played by Koyuki, transformation into demon from hell (literally). But full on vamps, complete with wings and gaping, hungry jaws and beady red eyes…yeah, I could have gouged my eyes out. At one point in the movie it was like an animated computer monster (created on the older version of Mac) was spliced onto the film at the appropriate times. I understand the fact that the Asian film graphics aren’t as advanced as the stuff in the U.S, but hey. There’s Americans in the movie, which means that Nahon would have been allowed to mooch off some of our blue screen technology. Thankfully the monster half of the movie isn’t the last thing you see and he makes up for his previous visual faux pas during the fight with Onigen and Saya.
One cool concept that I liked about the movie was the references that kept being made between the unseen world of the vampires and that of Alice in Wonderland’s looking glass. That they have a character named Alice could either be deliberate or a coincidence that was taken appropriate advantage of. Either way it works and it’s a nice way to tie things together.
Blood: The Last Vampire premiered in theatres in Japan in May of this year and though some recommend that you watch the animated movie first, I personally don’t really think it matters. Though both should be watched as many times as possible. It’s a great 3D addition to anyone’s Blood pack of goodies. It made me want to go back and pay more attention to the anime. Which I will do just as soon as I have the cash to raid the nearest video store.
Blood: The Last Vampire was directed by Chris Nahon and written Chris Chow (screenplay) and Kanji Kamiyama (character)
No related posts.
Jun was so fierce in this movie! A Perfect Saya, imho.