[4.25/10] Gantz (2011)

Gantz (2011)

Brief review: Based on the popular manga by Hiroya Oku, "Gantz" tells the story of two friends who die in a train accident and become part of a semi-posthumous "game" in which they are forced to hunt down aliens, armed with futuristic weaponry. Though it uses a rather solid source material, "Gantz" never lives up to its potential, as it's a painfully slow-moving and oddly boring action flick, crafted with zero imagination whatsoever. Add to this Shinsuke Sato's lazy direction, the off-beat pacing, the humorless script and the unexciting action sequences, and you'll get "Gantz". On a positive note, it offers some impressive CGIs, cool-looking futuristic gadgets and weapons, and enjoyably over-the-top gore effects, but that's certainly not enough to save this film from being a complete disaster. Acting-wise, both leads never manage to carry the movie on their shoulders. Though charismatic, popular actor and musician Ninomiya Kazunari, totally fails to engage the audience with his boring and underwritten character, Kei Kurono. Matsuyama Kenichi, best known to the audience for his role as L from the "Death Note" films, plays the other protagonist, Masaru Kato, and just like his screen fella Nino, he gives a complete lackluster performance.

Overall summary: Cool visual and gore effects aside, "Gantz" is an unbelievably dull and uninspired manga-based action flick, that fails to deliver on almost every single level. Actually, the sad fact about this live-action adaptation is this: "Gantz" shoots blanks!