I don't know about all the other reviewers, but I have been an avid follower of this animation since the beginning. To begin with, I d say that this director n everyone involved in the making of this movie has no idea whatsoever about the legacy of original story. Where shall I begin...... any movie you see with an all-star cast means only one thing; publicity without any depth in the film.
While I applause the director's effort of trying to imitate some of the out of this world angles used in the animation, there is nothing in this film which suggests it has been properly written or related to the original drawings of the manga writer himself.
An all star Hong Kong cast (except Anne Suzuki) + venue in Japan + actors and actresses speaking in 3 different languages (which eventually was dubbed) is weird enough and to spice up the ridiculous plot, the Hongkies made Takumi's father a drunk and a child abuser. Totally revolting and disgrace how they bought the rights and twisted the whole plot into a circus act.
Takumi (played by Jay Chow) plays the easiest act, showing his emotionless corpse now and then in the film. Only positive thing about him is that he bears some resemblance to the Takumi in the Japanese animation. Ryousuke Takahashi played by Edison Chen lacks the vibe and aura which makes him stand out as a great leader as well as driver. All he had with him is a bunch of mechanics, a van and a laptop. Finally, the biggest mistake was the Itsuki Tachibana character, played by Chapman To which is obnoxious and shallow. The problem in this film is that the moron who casted all these people i this film felt it was alright for them to act out what they have been doing in all other movies. So before you watch this movie, close your eyes and imagine all Chapman To's movies and you will know what I am saying. If I hadn't known better, I thought Itsuki Tachibana (Chapman To) was the lead because he was the loudest and the director paid too much time in his character developing which is totally unnecessary.
I felt ashamed knowing I once admired the director and he screwed up such a beautiful and exciting story and the fact that I was a big Initial D fan didn't help. To make matters worse, Itsuki Tachibana was the petrol kiosk owner's son (wtf?!!!!!). I know it is unfair to expect a good storyline in a 2-hour film from a four staged animation / manga which spanned more than 8 years to created, but other films have done it before with great success (i.e ichi the killer, spiderman, lord of the rings).
The only good thing about this film is that the cars are made to resemble the ones in manga and animation, and that s just as much excitement you will get. Car races shows no formula or tactics so there isn't much connection or man-to-car relationship in this one. Just pure luck rather than skill. Kyouichi Sudou (from Emperor team) might look arrogant and over-confident, but his skills are well-timed and counted for and his experiences are matched by only the best drivers. So to see him irrationally trying to overtake 2 cars after being warned that there is an incoming vehicle and then crashing top-sided beggars belief. If you watch the film very carefully, you would realize that all the director is interested in is the fact that takumi won all his races. No time given on how the races build up to the end where usually our hearts would be pounding trying to figure out what Takumi's next super trick would be.
NOTE TO MUSIC PRODUCER: FIND ANOTHER JOB, YOU BOUGHT YOUR DEGREE FROM A COCK-EYED BUTCHER IN KOWLOON. One of the most important elements in Initial D animation is the music. No arguments there. Tracks such as Around the world, Forever Young and No One sleeps in Tokyo still linger in our head long after we watched the animation. Great beats like those kept us glued to the story as well as the action. In this Hong Kong movie, they got a 85-year old man with a chronic herpes beating the drums at the studio while recording. So throughout this film, you will hear a same dull beat. Makes you think that the beats are just placed there as a requirement rather than a catalyst to the car races.
Finally, would I recommend anyone to watch this film? Let s just put it this way: I would rather have a hot iron with the words 'I am Freddy Mercury's Bitch' up my ass than to go through this crap again.
While I applause the director's effort of trying to imitate some of the out of this world angles used in the animation, there is nothing in this film which suggests it has been properly written or related to the original drawings of the manga writer himself.
An all star Hong Kong cast (except Anne Suzuki) + venue in Japan + actors and actresses speaking in 3 different languages (which eventually was dubbed) is weird enough and to spice up the ridiculous plot, the Hongkies made Takumi's father a drunk and a child abuser. Totally revolting and disgrace how they bought the rights and twisted the whole plot into a circus act.
Takumi (played by Jay Chow) plays the easiest act, showing his emotionless corpse now and then in the film. Only positive thing about him is that he bears some resemblance to the Takumi in the Japanese animation. Ryousuke Takahashi played by Edison Chen lacks the vibe and aura which makes him stand out as a great leader as well as driver. All he had with him is a bunch of mechanics, a van and a laptop. Finally, the biggest mistake was the Itsuki Tachibana character, played by Chapman To which is obnoxious and shallow. The problem in this film is that the moron who casted all these people i this film felt it was alright for them to act out what they have been doing in all other movies. So before you watch this movie, close your eyes and imagine all Chapman To's movies and you will know what I am saying. If I hadn't known better, I thought Itsuki Tachibana (Chapman To) was the lead because he was the loudest and the director paid too much time in his character developing which is totally unnecessary.
I felt ashamed knowing I once admired the director and he screwed up such a beautiful and exciting story and the fact that I was a big Initial D fan didn't help. To make matters worse, Itsuki Tachibana was the petrol kiosk owner's son (wtf?!!!!!). I know it is unfair to expect a good storyline in a 2-hour film from a four staged animation / manga which spanned more than 8 years to created, but other films have done it before with great success (i.e ichi the killer, spiderman, lord of the rings).
The only good thing about this film is that the cars are made to resemble the ones in manga and animation, and that s just as much excitement you will get. Car races shows no formula or tactics so there isn't much connection or man-to-car relationship in this one. Just pure luck rather than skill. Kyouichi Sudou (from Emperor team) might look arrogant and over-confident, but his skills are well-timed and counted for and his experiences are matched by only the best drivers. So to see him irrationally trying to overtake 2 cars after being warned that there is an incoming vehicle and then crashing top-sided beggars belief. If you watch the film very carefully, you would realize that all the director is interested in is the fact that takumi won all his races. No time given on how the races build up to the end where usually our hearts would be pounding trying to figure out what Takumi's next super trick would be.
NOTE TO MUSIC PRODUCER: FIND ANOTHER JOB, YOU BOUGHT YOUR DEGREE FROM A COCK-EYED BUTCHER IN KOWLOON. One of the most important elements in Initial D animation is the music. No arguments there. Tracks such as Around the world, Forever Young and No One sleeps in Tokyo still linger in our head long after we watched the animation. Great beats like those kept us glued to the story as well as the action. In this Hong Kong movie, they got a 85-year old man with a chronic herpes beating the drums at the studio while recording. So throughout this film, you will hear a same dull beat. Makes you think that the beats are just placed there as a requirement rather than a catalyst to the car races.
Finally, would I recommend anyone to watch this film? Let s just put it this way: I would rather have a hot iron with the words 'I am Freddy Mercury's Bitch' up my ass than to go through this crap again.