Yatterman (film)
| Yattaman | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Takashi Miike |
| Screenplay by | Masashi Sogo |
| Story by | Tatsuo Yoshida |
| Produced by | Yoshinori Chiba |
| Starring | Shō Sakurai Saki Fukuda Kyoko Fukada Kendo Kobayashi Katsuhisa Namase Anri Okamoto |
| Narrated by | Kōichi Yamadera |
| Cinematography | Hideo Yamamoto |
| Edited by | Kenji Yamashita |
| Music by | Ikuro Fujiwara Masaaki Jinbo |
| Distributed by | Nikkatsu |
Release date | March 7, 2009 (Japan) |
Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Box office | $30,365,792 |
Yatterman (ヤッターマン, Yattāman) is a 2009 Japanese action comedy film directed by Takashi Miike and based on the anime television show of the of the same name. The film premiered in Japan on March 7, 2009.
Plot
At the beginning of the movie, the Dorombo Gang have seemingly destroyed a large part of Tokyoko (a fictional city sporting various homages of Tatsunoko Production works). The heroic Yatterman duo make their entrance with Yatterwan (Yamadera, voice), a sentient dog-shaped mecha and Omocchama (Takahashi, voice), their robot sidekick. After a series of slapstick combat scenes, the Dorombo trio flee back to their mecha to defeat Yatterwan. Cheering at their first apparent victory, the villains accidentally hit the mecha's self-destruct button. When the chaos clears, a teenage girl emerges from the ruins with a blue object in her hands.
The Narrator (Yamadera) explains Gan Takada (aka Yatterman #1, Sakurai) and his girlfriend, Ai Kaminari (aka Yatterman #2, Fukuda), live a double life as crime-fighting heroes. They are based under Takada Toys, founded by Gan's father. Gan built Omocchama and Yatterwan, the latter an abandoned plan from his father. The girl they found in the ruins was Shoko Kaieda (Okamoto), daughter of Dr. Kaieda (Abu), an archaeologist. The piece of blue stone Shoko carries is a part of the Skull Stone, a legendary object now split into four pieces. Dr Kaieda, who is on a quest to find them, is attacked in the forest of Narway by Dokurobei (Takeguchi), a black-clad being with an oversized skull.
The Dorombo Trio is then introduced. The gang includes Doronjo, the sexy female boss; Boyacky (Namase), the clever but lecherous mecha genius; and Tonzra, the gluttonous, kansai-ben-speaking strongman. Dokurobei sends them orders to find the Skull Stone pieces, and will punish them should they fail. The trio open a wedding store called "Doro Merry" to raise money to build a new mecha: Virgin Roader, a very feminine-looking construction. A robot skull arrives to deliver Dokurobei's message: another Stone is in Ogypt, and the Dorombo trio must find it WITHOUT losing Shoko. The skull self-destructs. Unbeknownst to the trio, Omotchama witnesses everything and reports back to Gan and Ai. The duo transform into Yatterman and set off for Ogypt. When the group discover the missing piece, the villains arrive on the scene. They again use their mecha to damage Yatterwan. After consuming a Mecha Bone thrown by Gan, the dog robot releases a swarm of ant robots which destroy the Virgin Roader. However, Yatterwan is also destroyed in the blast.
Back home, Gan tries to rebuild Yatterwan while Ai, jealous of Shoko and Doronjo goes out for a walk. The trio receive another message that another piece of the Stone is in the Southern Halps. It is then revealed that Dokurobei wants Doronjo for himself. Meanwhile, things around the world start to disappear, and before he can tell the truth behind the Skull Stone pieces, Omotchama, who has been analyzing the Stone, disappears, as well. Ai discovers another scam by the villains, involving a sushi restaurant, to raise money for their new robot, a giant squid. She also overhears that the last piece is hidden in the Southern Halps. The Dorombo trio then set out in a Squid mecha.
Upon returning to base, Gan reads the analysis made by Omotchama before it disappeared: the Skull pieces, put back together, will destroy the flow of time itself, causing the disappearance of all things. The only way to stop this is to destroy the Stone when the pieces are reunited. The Yatterman duo set out with Shoko riding Yatterking, an ungraded Yatterwan. The trio find the final piece. When the heroes arrive, Dokurobei encases them in a giant dome filled with clockworks. Doronjo zaps Ai to force the Yatterman duo apart, only to finally discover the true love between Gan and Ai.
Shoko realizes Dokurebei has possessed her father and due to her pleas, Dr. Kaieda manages to separate himself from Dokurebei. Fighting as a unit again, Yatterman #1 and #2 defeat Dokurebei, receiving some unexpected help from Doronjo.
Having saved the day, Gan and Ai bid Shoko and her father farewell, who leave to explore the world some more. The Dorombo Trio splits up too.
Cast
- Shō Sakurai as Gan-chan3[1][2]
- Saki Fukuda as Ai-chan[2][3]
- Chiaki Takahashi as the voice of Omotchama, and an extra character.
- Kyoko Fukada as Doronjo[4][5]
- Kendo Kobayashi(ja) as Tonzura[5]
- Katsuhisa Namase as Boyacky[5]
- Junpei Takiguchi as voice of Dokurobei
- Anri Okamoto as Shoko
- Kōichi Yamadera as the narrator, the voices of Yatter-Wan, Yatter-King and Odate-Buta, and an amusement park employee
- Noriko Ohara, Kazuya Tatekabe, and Hiroshi Sasagawa as customers
While the Villains Trio voice actors Noriko Ohara and Kazuya Tatekabe are participant as live guests, this might be the first installment from Time Bokan series to not feature villain voice actor Jōji Yanami.
Reception
On its release weekend it topped the Japanese box office with $4,626,729. It went on to be a major commercial success in Japan and has made $30,365,792 so far.[6] The film itself however, has received generally mixed reviews.[7] [8][9][10]
References
- ^ "09年春「ヤッターマン」実写で映画化！主演に嵐・櫻井翔" (in Japanese). Sankei News. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ a b "世界を驚かせてやる！嵐・櫻井が映画「ヤッターマン」に自信" (in Japanese). Sankei Sports. 2008-03-27. Archived from the original on 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ "念願の特撮に大喜び!福田沙紀、ヤッターマン2号に抜擢" (in Japanese). Sankai Sports. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "深キョンがドロンジョ役に挑戦" (in Japanese). The Asahi Shinbun Company. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ a b c "ヤッターマンに強敵出現！3悪役に深キョン・生瀬・ケンコバ" (in Japanese). Sankei Sports. Archived from the original on 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Japan Box Office, May 2–3, 2009". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
- ^ Henderson, Tim (2008-06-16). "Yatteran (live action movie)". Anime News Network Australia. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ "Yatterman -- Film Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-03-11. [dead link]
- ^ Scheib, Ronnie (2009-02-17). "Yatterman Review". Variety. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
- ^ "Playing it for laughs, and laughs only". Japan Times. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
