Kitaro (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region 3

Rather than introducing everyone all over again, director Katsuhide Motoki and screenwriter Daisuke Habara (who, intriguingly enough, alternates between comic adaptations like this and character dramas like Hula Girls) simply structures the film as another episode of the cartoon. That means you're already supposed to know that Kitaro (pop star Eiji Wentz) is a half-yokai, half-human trying to maintain peace between the yokai world and the human world by protecting the latter from the former. You're also supposed to know that his father is in the form of a talking eyeball, his best friend/nemesis is the sneaky Ratman (Yo Oizumi), and he has to constantly refuse the advances of Cat Girl (Rena Tanaka). This time, the live-action film adds two obligatory young human characters for Kitaro to protect: Kenta (Ruka Uchida) and his older sister Mika (Mao Inoue).

The plot is fairly pedestrian: Ratman stumbles onto a stone under a shrine for the Heavenly Fox (apparently all other foxes are evil) and tries to pawn it without knowing what it is. However, the stone corrupts anyone who comes upon it, and it also unleashes an evil fox that has the power to destroy the world. Tempted by the power of the stone, Kenta and Mika's father steals it and hands it to Kenta for safekeeping, before he gets arrested for the theft. Kitaro, who previously helped Kenta get rid of a few monsters, now has to find the evil stone, or he will be held responsible for its theft. Even more, he must find the stone before the evil foxes can get to Kenta.

It's fairly obvious that the plot for Kitaro is simply an excuse to show off lots of cgi monsters. In addition to the original characters, the filmmakers add several other well-known yokai characters from folk legend, forcing Centro to work overtime to keep things visually interesting. However, like Takashi Miike's The Great Yokai War, Kitaro is made for a family audience. That means the scariest thing the monsters can do are perform lots of back flips or shoot out hundreds of silver darts that never actually hurt anyone. That's OK, since the original Kitaro cartoons are more adventurous than scary in tone. But when the fate of mankind hinges on getting a kid to give up something he's carrying the whole damn time, there's needs to be more dramatic tension to things interesting, even if the film is aimed at just kids.

The cast also does little to help. Most of the supporting cast is appropriately over-the-top, with Yo Oizumi having the most fun trying to act as much like Ratman as possible. However, lead Eiji Wentz fails to bring any of the mischievous charm of the original character into live-action. Since Wentz has years of performing experience, this disparity in skill versus result can only be explained by ill-conceived casting. Kitaro is supposed to be a 300-year-old spirit in a child's body, so seeing a twentysomething half-Japanese pop idol in the role doesn't just challenge credibility, it's flat-out jarring.

But in family entertainment, no one really watches the acting, so Kitaro is really not that bad for what it is. It has imaginative monsters, brisk pacing, good-looking special effects, and even a clean idol as its lead. The film also gets bonus points assuming that you recognize all the original characters. However, that's also where one can be disappointed. Since the filmmakers made the film specifically for the millions of people who grew up with these characters, those unfamiliar with the yokai world would not only be somewhat confused at who's who, but also may find Kitaro to be surprisingly tame. Still, that doesn't mean the film isn't enjoyable. In a world where franchises are "re-imagined" constantly by giving them a darker edge to appeal to older audiences, it's almost refreshing to see filmmakers go back to an old-fashioned approach in adapting a popular story. It may not be a very good film, but Kitaro is competently made family entertainment, and seems to enjoy being so.

By Kevin Ma