After years of war and devastation in this futuristic world the Greater Eastern Federation defeats the forces of Europa, gaining control over Eurasia. Society was dieing due to the chemical warfare that was used. In the outskirts of major cities people are obtaining infections and diseases from these chemicals. A Geneticist, Dr. Azuma, created a treatment using neo-cells, cells that can form and create any human tissue in hopes to save mankind, and more importantly, his wife (Midori) who has been infected by the pollution. A secret company funds his research, but something goes wrong, and the neo-cells form into mutant humans. The military puts a stop to it, but some of them managed to get away and go in hiding, to plan their revenge. Now only Casshern can stop the 'evil' Neo-sapiens from destroying the world!

I first wanted to see this movie because it just looked awesome. The screenshots people took were outstanding, and the DVD cover kicked so much ass. I searched to find it on Netflix, and realized it hasn't been released to the US yet. A few months later I remembered it, and checked to see if there was any scheduled release. I saw none, so I decided to get the Japanese DVD on Ebay. The DVD came from Thailand, so it took a long time for me to receive it. After all the anticipation, I finally received the DVD, and began to watch it. Sadly... I was a bit disappointed. I thought it was an OK movie. It wasn't until I watched it a second time to take screenshots when I fell in love with it. My opinion went from "Meh... Its OK...." to "This movie is freaking awesome!"

To enjoy this movie to its fullest, you have to realize what it is. Casshern is what you'd call a "live-action anime". It is based on the 1973 Japanese anime called "Shinzo Ningen Kyashan" or "Neoform Human Casshan" or "Casshan: Robot Hunter" created by Tatsuo Yoshida, who also created the "Speed Racer" anime. The original is a classic old-school android anime, and while watching Casshern, there are many parts where director Kazuaki Kiriya paid homage to the original anime. So what do you get when you mix a new over the top CGI special effects Sci-Fi movie with the feel of a cheesy old-school superhero android anime? What else, but Casshern!

Casshern isn't for everybody though. Those with short attention spans might need to watch out, because this movie is quite slow when there's no action happening. I'm kind of mixed on the length of the movie. On one side, I thought the movie should have explained a bit more, making it longer. On the other side, I thought the movie was way too long at 141 minutes. I think what would have been best is if they made a live action series of it. Bad side of that is they probably wouldn't have spent all that time and effort on the CG if it was a series.

The action sequences were a bit too fast paced. They cut way too soon. At first I didn't like the CG in the fighting, but later realizing why they did it, I LOVED it. I realized on the second fight scene that it was done classic anime style. Lines showing movement, blurred backgrounds, and the sound effects made my old-school anime gooberness skyrocket causing me to jump up and down with happiness saying "heeeheheeee that's sooo cool!" To an anime fan, the action sequences are awesome, to an action fan, they might not like it too much.

The graphics are simply beautiful. Believe me, when making screenshots for the review, I went a bit overboard.... There are some scenes that are mostly grainy B/W, and others full of vibrant color. However, if you don't like CG, then this movie may not be for you. Casshern was a bit too much CG for me. There were many parts of the movie that I wanted them to tone down the special effects so my eyes could rest on something normal for a bit.

The score was great. Serene pretty music to Techno to kick ass rock for the action sequences. Add in the ending theme song "Dareka no negai go kanau koro" (by none other than Hikaru Utada) and you got me wanting to buy the soundtrack. The acting was pretty good. I thought Yuzuke Iseya (Tetsuya/Casshern) did a great job being the confused young hero. Kumiko Aso (Luna) did a wonderful job! Even though there was not too much to her part, I still thought she was great. Plus I loved her hair and outfit! Ok… maybe that has nothing to do with her acting skills… but it was still cool! Akira Terao (Dr. Azuma) can pull of the puppy dog eye look. His speeches seemed a bit weak to me, but he does great staring at the camera with that same face for a while.... Kanako Higuchi (Midori Azuma) was, in my opinion, beautiful. She was the wise pure motherly figure. Her character was mostly blind, and she did wonderful showing it. Toshiaki Karasawa (Burai) was the big bad of the movie. He seemed a bit cheesy at times (well.. it is based off of the 1973 anime...), but he pulled off the emotion well. Jun Kaname (Barashin) played the pretty boy of the neo-sapiens. I liked his character even though they didn't go into detail with him. Maybe it was because he played a good looking pretty boy. Hiroyuki Miyasako (Akubon) was the Igor of the movie. His goofy expressions added a bit of comic relief to the events. Mayumi Sada (Sagure) kicked major major ass as the badass chick! Booyah, I thought she was awesome! To bad she wasn't in much of the movie.

I really did like Casshern, although it took the second time through to really enjoy it. Its one of those movies that you can tell that if you had been a big fan of the original series, then you would be overcome by joy, especially if you notice the many references to the original Anime (hell, I didn't even see the original Anime til afterwards, but still noticed most of the references). Don't get me wrong, it has its flaws. People with low attention spans and/or action fanatics stay away. Unless you're a gooberish oldschool superhero android anime action fanatic that doesn't mind overloads of CGI. I might have to get Barb to watch it to see if all that CGI messes with her vertigo, hehe. I absolutely LOVED Luna's outfit, those boots were so cool! Er... sorry... my suppressed girliness was coming out. It's getting harder to control it.... Anyway, the movie seemed to go on a bit too long, and still not cover enough of what exactly was going on (at least on first viewing). Good reflection of humanity. I know one thing for sure, I'm REALLY glad I don't live in that world...

Acting:
Could be better, but could have been A LOT worse

Directing:
Pretty damn good

Score:
Mmmmm me loves!

Action:
It was so freaking cool

Gore:
We get to see some blood, that's about it

Boobage:
The women have boobs? Does that count?

Crazy/Beautiful Over-the-top CGI:
You can't get more CGI than that without it being a full CG movie.

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