20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End (2008)

The Age of Commercialism

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The 20th Century Boys trilogy shoves a science fiction story in your face, while actually telling a completely different story about a group of boys growing up in the 20th century. This is made plain by the title alone, but as with many Japanese works, what you see is not actually the important part. And yet it turns out it was all along. In fact, pretty much everything that happens after Kenji's school reunion in the film's timeline is practically irrelevant. There's a robot or two, (dysfunctional) laser guns, UFOs, epic explosions, a world-wide plot to extinguish mankind and lots of blood… but these things are all simply tools used to advance the real story.And the real story could barely be any more simple. It's the old human drama about what could have been, what should have been, mistakes that were made in the past that continue to haunt the children and the whole of mankind.The story is told by alternating between bits and pieces of the boys' youth and the consequences they bear in the future. There are many main characters, some mere caricatures and others more detailed. None of them is really elevated above the level of a stereotype though. "Tomodachi" creates a cult which grows to become a world-wide movement, Kenji becomes the legendary leading figure of the idea of resistance, Kanna the leader of a more tangible resistance group, Occho the lone wolf who does the hard work. And that's all you really need to know about them. Other characters play more or less important roles on the sidelines, but what exactly they do is rarely more than hinted at. In fact, what exactly the main characters do is also never really more than hinted at. Part of this may be due to the constraints of condensing the epic story of the manga into under 8 hours of film, but it doesn't really matter in the end. The appeal is in the why, not the what or the how. And the "why" is told through repeated important scenes in the characters' childhoods and subtle conversions between the children's future selfs.The movie is an homage to growing up in the 20th century, with 1960's Japan revived, throwing in many cultural references that viewers not very acquainted with Japan will simple overlook. It's a celebration of rock music and melancholy for the past, both the past of Japan in general and specifically the past of all characters involved. The movie is wearing the mask of a science-fiction/action movie, just as "Tomodachi" is wearing his mask, but what it's actually about is for the viewer to find out.

20th Century Boys has more twists and turns than you can count and it pulls no punches when it comes to waving "Bye-bye-bye" to main characters. Unfortunately, in my opinion, that was one of this film's drawbacks, the characters. There was at least a dozen characters to keep track of and it becomes a bit daunting figuring out which friend is which and who is who. It wasn't physics or anything but careful attention to the film will be required.Outside of that, 20th Century Boys was thrilling and the production design fantastic, my 11-year-old loved it and I was thoroughly entertained. Decent dialog? Check. Meaningful character arcs? Check. Heartwarming moments? Check.After having the privilege of watching the first and second films in this series, I'd say I'm a fan of the 20th Century Boys series and I'm undoubtedly looking forward to the third installment slated for fall. This first installment can indeed be a slippery beast if you don't pay attention but if attention span isn't a problem for you and a bevy of "Who the hell was that again?" characters don't bother you, you're in for some major entertainment! I honestly couldn't find anything that I didn't like about this film, really. Sure there were quite a few "childhood flashbacks" but they're necessary so suck it up, plug it in and have a ball! Hopefully when this hits the states it's not trimmed down by an hour for the ADHD crowd.

Could 20th Century Boys be the Japanese Watchmen? Like in the case of Alan Moore's masterpiece, Urasawa's sprawling story covers the cultural myths and obsessions of the past century: from the nuclear catastrophe following the war to the western cultural influences, conformism and totalitarian tendencies, the demilitarized, defenseless Japan, the economic boom of the sixties . Even a touch of mecha and the pervasiveness of media in society.Judging the movie, however, can be more difficult: its competently shot and acted, but like most transpositions, it makes its manga origin very clear, which can be appalling for the manga-illiterate in the audience, which at the projections I was sighed, left early or giggled in all the wrong places. Sound editing was awful, but it might be a result of the copy I saw.Where the film could use some help is in the editing. Fans will appreciate the attempt to be faithful to the original source, but movies simply work in a different way: act II is too long, and the final climax and resolution is reduced to a few choppy scenes. It might definitely look better when parts 2 and 3 are released.

First of all-I have not read the manga but I have heard the title before. I will base my review with nothing to do with my knowledge of the manga. Making live-action movies based on manga and comics seems to be a trend in japan. Blockbuster live-action movies like Death Note are good. So hopefully, there will be more good adaptation of manga. I say that 20th Century Boys shall be one of the good adaptation and Japanese movie. This live-action movie broke death note box office in japan. That made me more interested of how this movie will fare. I must say it is worth the hype. It is pretty intense and epic to my sayings.The story: It revolves around Kenji and his pals. They built a hideout and shared stories and stuffs. They made a story. When they grow up, the story they made up becomes true. A mysterious cult-leader called friend enters the world and wants to destroy the world. Kenji and his pal save the world. Not so easy. From there, dark secrets are spilled and they search their brains of what had happened when they were kids-their childhood. The plot is quite intense. I do not know whether it is a good apdataion but as a view of a Japanese movie, it is good.Overall: As the plot is interesting and intense, it makes me want to read the manga which I will sooner. If it interest you, do go and watch it. Stay for the cast and credit to finish and there will be the preview of the second part. I will wait for the second part with anticipation.