Rating: 2.5/5
Hooptober 5.0 | 2/32 | Anniversary Film 1/10 | Countries 2/6 | Japan
Engineers are overrunning Tokyo. Engineers are diseased humans who can grow weapons from their wounds.
The Tokyo Police Force hires Engineer Hunters to destroy the Engineers sufficiently.
Ruka is a skilled Hunter seeking Key Man, the scientist responsible for the Engineer virus. Key Man infects Ruka and massacres the main police precinct.
As an Engineer, Ruka must confront Key Man and the police who execute suspected Engineers.
Once it started, I remembered watching this movie when it came out. Someone put it on at a party where I was drunk, so I remembered little beyond the cartoonish gore effects.
I’m amused by these live-action Japanese movies that would function better as an anime but aren’t for whatever reason.
The movie looks cheap, but it doesn’t harm the story. That’s because this story is edgy, teen boy junk that wouldn’t be exciting to me, anime or otherwise.
Still, the aesthetic is striking, so it’s hard to get bored. You’ll see plenty of creative and budget-friendly solutions to gore and viscera throughout. There is… so much blood.
The cinematography and color choices are also effective at selling the movie.
So, while not my bag from a narrative standpoint, the visuals are fun (and, surprise, gory).