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20th Century Boys
(Trilogy)
Most Japanese manga have a
highly entertaining and engaging quality to their storytelling methods.
Never afraid to experiment or take surprising turns, the same can be
said about the intricately constructed trilogy of Twentieth Century
Boys that projects the still images of a comic book onto the screen.
Spanning the three films is an amalgamation of humour, serious
notions regarding authoritarian governments and childhood friendships,
and science-fiction style technology that have the ability to spray
viruses and brainwash large communities. There’s a lot to handle, and
the multiplicity of characters and important events can be a little
overwhelming at times with four hundred and thirty seven minutes to get
through, but Twentieth Century Boys proves to be entertaining
enough to watch in its plot and its efforts to be original.
Kenji (Toshiaki Karasawa)
is an unlikely hero as an adult. As a kid, he had more than enough
potential to save the world and change it with his love of rock music,
but as time passed, such dreams became fantasies of the past as Kenji
finds himself working in a convenience store, looking after his sister’s
baby daughter. With news stories talking about a mysterious
blood-draining virus affecting different countries all over the world,
and disappearances happening right next door to Kenji, things take a
dramatic turn for the worse as a increasingly powerful religious cult
brings his childhood stories of world destruction into reality, headed
by a childhood friend who calls himself… well, “Friend”. By the year
2015, Kenji’s niece finds herself living under Friend’s authoritarian
regime that heralds new and dangerous potential for the destruction of
mankind. And as the whole world begins falling under Friend’s power, it
takes a unique band of heroes to overcome his oppressive rule. But
whether they’ll be able to succeed against such great odds is as
uncertain as Friend’s real identity.
Playing with time,
mysteries and open-ended conclusions, it is clear that Twentieth
Century Boys makes the effort to be original and exciting. Having
said that, some of these unconventional storytelling techniques used
throughout the trilogy make it difficult to follow the story with ease,
and can confuse the viewer due to the constant travelling back and forth
in time. Similarly, the trilogy draws on overly sentimental music that
doesn’t quite fit with the visual direction (which seems more suited to
the Sci-Fi TV genre than film), making the films feel jarringly
inconsistent as the audience is swung from humour to seriousness and
back again.
Nevertheless, the
Twentieth Century Boys trilogy has a plot that is essentially
compelling and exciting to watch. The films experiment with editing and
often produce interesting effects that heighten tension or dramatic
climaxes, propelled by the disturbing ideas of global domination and the
complexities of childhood traumas and friendships. With special features
that provide insight into the making of the trilogy, cast interviews and
alternative endings, all three chapters of Twentieth Century Boys
are uniquely different in their own right and do well in sustaining an
audience’s interest right to the end. |
