Spring break means time to watch more movies. Rock!

Anyway, on with the review...

Everyone's got their favorite directors. Some might say "man, that guy can do anything." Well, if you're talking about Takashi Miike, you'd absolutely right. While best known for his gore and Yakuza flicks such as Audition and Ichi The Killer, The Great Yokai War is the most recent of a few films Miike has done for children.

The Great Yokai War tells the story of Tadashi, a timid ten year old city boy and child of divorce who moves out into the country. At the annual dragon festival, Tadashi is bitten by the dragon (I'm talking people under a costume acting as one, not a real dragon) and thus chosen to be Kirin Rider, protector of peace and justice. The next thing you know, the poor kid's getting contacted by Yokai (benevolent goblins of real life Japanese folklore), from the nearby Goblin Mountain, who want him to save them from the evil Lord Kato and his assistant, Agi, played by genre fave Chiaki Kuriyama (Kill Bill Vol, Battle Royalle), who have harnessed the power of an evil spirit to change Yokai into bloodthirsty robots bent on destroying mankind. A crude boring description of the Great Yokai War would be what happens when you cross the Matrix with the Neverending Story but this flick destroys both of them.

Unlike Guillermo Del Toro's similarly themed masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth (the two films actually share a goblin with eyes in its hands), which was a fairy tale made for adults, the Great Yokai War is a fairy tale made for children. The story is streamlined and the dialogue is very to the point. There's a handful of abstractions and commentary on growing up and human ignorance and wastefullness, none of it should really go over the heads of the film's target audience. While all this feels cheesy and dumbed down at times, I actually found this to be quite refreshing.

Despite this being a film for children, I really think it's something everyone can enjoy. At its core, The Great Yokai War is an adventure story filled with suspense and cool fight sequences featuring blade-weilding robots falling to an electrified sword. Visually, this film is Miike's most stunning, even more so than his eye candy extravaganza, Izo (minus the head scratching at the end), and features some great setpieces, costumes, and special effects. The cinematography is also top notch. There's also some humor thrown in there as well, including crowd surfing goblins and spoofs off some of Hollywood's most recognizable action-adventure blockbusters.

While it's basically just kid's stuff, the Great Yokai War is great fun. Don't think too hard about it. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. This is especially fun to watch if you're a fan of Miike's gorier works, as I am. It's always interesting to see if he can top himself and what new tricks he's got up his sleeve.

Recommended to everyone. This one rocks!