Asaruto gâruzu (2009)

Asaruto gâruzu: Directed by Mamoru Oshii. With Yoshikazu Fujiki, Rinko Kikuchi, Meisa Kuroki, Hinako Saeki. In the aftermath of a global thermonuclear war three battle tested women wage war in a virtual video game against giant mutant sand whales.

“I picked this up on a lark because the cover was three hot Japanese babes, and the flick was directed by the same guy behind Ghost in the Shell. For a bargain bin find, it was well worth it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;ll say straight away, if youu0026#39;re not into hard sci fi (especially written hard sci fi), youu0026#39;re probably going to find it dragging and dull, and youu0026#39;re going to hate the intro.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf you donu0026#39;t really like Japanese movies/anime/manga, you might struggle to like this film. If this is your first Japanese movie, put it down, and go pick up Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children instead, it has a more universal appeal, and fewer long scenes that donu0026#39;t advance the plot.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe basic plot: The world had some big problems, there was a big economic collapse, wars, stuff like that. Afterward, the world fell into a kind of dark ages where everything (technology especially) stagnated. People were no longer satisfied with their lives in the false utopia that followed all the problems. A lot of them found an outlet for their most basic human emotional needs in a video game named Avalon. This movie follows a group of players in a second imagining of Avalon, named Avalon-F, which is basically a MMO/Hunting game on steroids. The characters all start off trying to solo a big boss, which the game informs them is not really possible. However, the gamers are stubborn and want the glory/advancement for themselves, and it takes them a while to come around to working together. The movie is about them finally coming to the decision to work together, and the struggles, internal and external they go through in the process.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are lots of long, pretty shots where you donu0026#39;t see anything that advances the story in a meaningful way, just gives you things to think about. I enjoyed it, I like meandering around in video games and exploring my surroundings, so for a movie about a video game to do that was fun for me. That said, if youu0026#39;re a passive viewer who doesnu0026#39;t like sitting around waiting for action to happen, this movie is not for you.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI loved the costume design. Lucifer in particular was great. She appears to have feathers for hair, which will make sense if you keep watching. I love the personal moments that show this character having fun, sheu0026#39;s a pretty character, and looks like she really enjoys herself in this virtual world. She finds unexpected ways to have fun, considering the premise of the video game sheu0026#39;s playing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy biggest complaint about this movie comes from the choice of having the actors wear masks, but not recording their voices in a recording studio later. It makes their speech very hard to follow because itu0026#39;s muffled all the time. Movie making 101 should have told the director not to make that mistake.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall, itu0026#39;s a good movie, and it hits all the right points for me. If you can pick it up cheap and like sci fi and Japanese movies, go for it.”