Taking place in the futuristic unnamed country, the movie follows a young earl's investigation of the mass mummified murder, as ordered by the queen. Together with her butler Sebastian, she sets out to uncover the truth behind the assassinations, and along the way, discovers that the case may have something to do with her parent's murderer.
I was quite skeptical about Hiro Mizushima being casted as Sebastian as first, but after watching the movie, I actually thought that he was pretty fitting. Overlooking the curly bad hair day appearance, Hiro's Sebastian is terrific. His tone, graceful movements, and love for cats closely resembles the 'black butler' that the mangaka had created. One of the prominent thing I noticed was that he did not blink, further adding to the exciting inhuman fantasy feel. While I do have the die-hard kuroshitsuji voice inside my head that screamed 'no this is not the real sebastian', I have to say that movie Sebastian is just as great.
While Hiro's acting may be great, his co star Ayame Gouriki is... not as great. My friend in japan said that the actress has been getting a fair amount of hate after the release of the movie, and I can definitely see why. Its the same phenomenon as Kristen Stewert's Bella, where her acting just lacked substance. Although her character as Shiori, a seemingly flat character is partially to blame, I found myself itching in annoyance when she's on screen. She's always stiff and to an extent, awkward.
What had made me disappointed the most was the movie didn't developed the relationship between Sebastian and Ciel (or in the movie renamed Kiyoharu) enough. In the canon universe, their cat and mouse, servant and master, contractor and contracted relationship held so much complexity. I couldn't feel the deep knitted connection between the two.
It is a shame that they have cut off many key characters from the manga such as Grell and Finny. However, they focused on specific characters such as Mei-rin and developed hers, which I think is fair to some extent. Mei-rin truly shined in this adaptation and its so great to see her whimsical charm brought to life.
The movie also played with many dark themes from the manga such as the nature of humans, appearance vs reality, and the 'angelic demon' idea as well.
They did a really great job with the wardrobe design and the settings as well. The mummies were amazingly gruesome, each outfit tailored to perfection and compliments the character's personality nicely. The silverwares, the uniforms, and the mansion adds up to the kuroshitsuji charms that I grew to love.
There are certainly many plot holes, but as long as you don't over analyze and question it to much, it is a fair enough plot for the movie- although still unoriginal as it combined multiple manga arcs together.
Many die-hard kuroshitsuji fans are against this adaptation, because the movie repackaged the show in a different universe. However, they had used this to their advantage and not make it one of those cosplay movies that is aimed only toward the original anime and manga fans. The adaptation had made the film fitted for all audience, making it a true stand alone movie for everyone.
Overall, I give this movie an 8/10. Please check it out!
ps. I think I've fallen in love with Hiro all over again TT
No comments:
Post a Comment