6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Follows Genji, who's wish is to outdo his father, the leader of a yakuza gang, in everything the old man achieved. His first goal is to become top dog at the scariest school in town, Suzuran High School.
Starring: Shun Oguri, Kyôsuke Yabe, Meisa Kuroki, Takayuki Yamada, Sôsuke TakaokaForeign | 100% |
Action | 45% |
Crime | 29% |
Comic book | 9% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.84:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
“Crows Zero” requires the utmost in viewer concentration, though it never quite earns such devotion. An adaptation of Hiroshi Takahashi’s best-selling manga, the feature is blizzard of names and motivations, creating an ideal sensation of screen immersion for fans of the original work, while outsiders are left to question the half-realized subplots and wild tonal changes. It’s not a terribly interesting motion picture, though the effort has been dutifully colored by the insanely prolific director Takashi Miike (in the time I took the write this sentence, he just made another movie), who brings a loaded sense of style and intermittent blasts of ultraviolence to the idiosyncratic film. The helmer flexes his visual muscles on occasion, slapping the screen with chaotic fight choreography and exaggerated character designs, but he’s oddly powerless when it comes to the glacial pace of “Crows Zero,” unable to bring it up to the awe-inspiring speed a few superlative scenes hint at.
The AVC encoded image (1.84:1 aspect ratio) presentation on "Crows Zero" carries a troublesome feel for shadow detail, with great amount of detail lost when the story carries into low-lit areas. Textures on costuming and hairstyles are erased to solid blacks, also ruining set design nuances. When the screen action finds a brighter position in the daylight, the viewing experience grows more expressive, displaying fine details with clarity, great with facial particulars concerning make-up and accelerated displays of panic and strength. The print is clean with mild softness, capturing a comfortable grain structure. A few brief moments of banding are detected. Skintones are primarily natural, perhaps a bit too red on certain occasions. Colors are acceptable, favoring a muted palette that brings out a stylized representation of the source material, though certain hues do cut through the glaze, including a full sense of blood red.
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA Japanese audio mix carries out the film's sonic goals with a comfortable sense of circular movement and brute force. Directional activity remains interesting throughout, with environmental changes holding steady (rain is enveloping), while distances retain echo and club visits carry a pleasing sense of crowd depth. Action sequences also bring forth satisfactory surround energy, with zooming cars and bikes roaring around the soundstage, while off-screen character entrances also introduce a little rear bustle, pulling the listener in. Dialogue exchanges are suitably managed, with a respectable central presence to bring intensity to the dramatics, also capturing what passes here for comedy cleanly. Scoring (which sounds more French than punky Japanese) is supportive without stepping on the action, while soundtrack cuts show extra strength, pushing louder to assist in the "hip" factor of the film. Low-end is quite nice, finding a workable thump for the music, while the fight sequences maintain a secure bassy punch.
While "Crows Zero" slowly drains of urgency, Miike attempts to restore a clenched-fist attitude with the grand finale, staging a massive gang war that eats up nearly 20 minutes of screen time. It's too little too late in terms of revitalizing the effort, but the climatic display of rage is diverting enough to hold attention, nicely ornamented with smashmouth fight choreography that keeps the boys concentrated on exhaustive, never-back-down beatings (a theme of the movie). Of course, this aggression is preceded by frightening medical diagnoses, two incidents of premature ejaculation, a scene of human bowling (a flash of pure fantasy in a film that could use more of it), and numerous cries of forgiveness. "Crows Zero" packs a lot into its run time, but rarely does it come together as the carnival ride experience Miike is shooting for.
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