Just as Ringu was a social metaphor of its times, I am a Hero stabs post 3/11 Japan, after earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear meltdown stripped it of the comfort it took for granted and threw it out into a world where things stopped making sense. The movie follows the average near jobless modern Japanese thirty something's journey through a disheveled society deprived of the civilities his preceding generations have taken for granted where he is left with the ultimate choice to adapt or die.
I am a Hero is my favorite zombie movie next to Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland!! It hacks the manga it's based on and blends it into a movie satisfyingly. A lot of character development goes through the window, but enough is left to make you imagine the rest. Half the staff is Korean whom we can thank for the superior effects, and the script is surprisingly tight for a Japanese production of this budget. Blood flows by the gallon, it has the best panic scene I've seen in any disaster movie, and the ZQN (zombies) are the scariest thing that's been put to film to date because they retain their former selves. None of the cast lets the film down. My sole complaint is an unimaginative crucial scene which feels more metaphorical than physical--removing some of the immediate threat I wished it would convey, but it is a mere skipped beat in a heart pounding sequence which still concludes with a powerful image. If you are familiar with the original work, I must tell you to stay away from the manga till you see the movie though, some of the stuff left out might be harder to swallow with a fresh memory. The movie keeps the main character's imagination, but leaves out the supernatural beyond the early ZQNs--it focuses on the early books, allowing it to stand alone as a zombie movie.
I am a Hero is my favorite zombie movie next to Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland!! It hacks the manga it's based on and blends it into a movie satisfyingly. A lot of character development goes through the window, but enough is left to make you imagine the rest. Half the staff is Korean whom we can thank for the superior effects, and the script is surprisingly tight for a Japanese production of this budget. Blood flows by the gallon, it has the best panic scene I've seen in any disaster movie, and the ZQN (zombies) are the scariest thing that's been put to film to date because they retain their former selves. None of the cast lets the film down. My sole complaint is an unimaginative crucial scene which feels more metaphorical than physical--removing some of the immediate threat I wished it would convey, but it is a mere skipped beat in a heart pounding sequence which still concludes with a powerful image. If you are familiar with the original work, I must tell you to stay away from the manga till you see the movie though, some of the stuff left out might be harder to swallow with a fresh memory. The movie keeps the main character's imagination, but leaves out the supernatural beyond the early ZQNs--it focuses on the early books, allowing it to stand alone as a zombie movie.