Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Let's be realistic.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Here's where the rubber meets the road and you find out whether you're a fan of Japanese films, action films, kung-fu, swordplay, Crouching Tiger, epic journeys, and monster movies, or if you're just a snob. Me? I thought I was a snob, jaded, yawning - turns out I was wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed DORORO. It's a great combination of those genres I mentioned, and it takes a great chef to make a tasty stew. Not too much of this or that. It's not sardonic, sneering, or snarky, even if the heroine (or is she a "hero"?) is. It's played straight, and the fact that the demons seem to be directly out of Power Rangers has no bearing on it, because you will LOVE the agile spider demon, at the very least. The family conflicts are real, and even heartfelt, and the resolutions meaty, though of course not Ingmar Bergman or Akira Kurosawa meaty.Some wordplay on DORORO - "doro" kinda means "muddy" which is our heroine's face, but "dororo" kinda means "little monster" which is our hero, and I guess our heroine also. Speaking of our hero (about time!), he's a bit like Pinocchio, isn't he, but also his quest takes on Lord of the Rings proportions. There is Jacob and Esau also, who got the blessing. Like I said, plenty to take in here. Fast-paced when it wants to be, slow and meditative at other points. There is a good bit of decent philosophy and wisdom to ponder, magic mixed with technology to gawk at, and high-flying martial arts with many a cool move!

I really did enjoy this movie, but i got bored at many parts and the subtitles were difficult to read. I understand there are a lot of themes following Japanese culture but it all went over my head as an average American viewer. I really enjoyed the fight scenes but i feel there should have been more. He's supposed to fight 48 demons but we see under 10. The movie seems to awkwardly transition what its primarily following a lot. I felt that the first and second half of the film were two different movies. For how long this title was there should have been many more fight scenes and less dialogue. Lastly, i hate CGI but the way this film used it was pretty good, there were some scenes in which it was downright pathetic, like the red and blue dog. But some scenes it was magnificent, the flower monster was crazy. I liked how crazy and over-the-top the movie was, i really enjoyed most of the fights. But i hated the drawn out scenes and lack of battles. It was just okay to me.

Dororo is a great genre film. It's an adventure movie kind of akin to a live action 'Ninja Scroll'. In fact, by keeping a simple, straightforward plot (boy's father pledges a number of his unborn son's body parts to demons in exchange for power - years later the boy is a man, and back for revenge) it elevates itself head-and-shoulders above most films of it's kind, as well as the manga and anime equivalents, which tend toward overly complicated and downright convoluted, soap opera-ish plots.On the other hand, it falls prey to many of the problems of those genres - perpetuating the trend. Problems that include science defying scenes (a little in a fantasy film is O.K., but it gets to a point where... well, suspension of disbelief becomes impossible... no one, let alone an infant is going to survive even a minute without a heart) of which ludicrously over-the-top wire work is just one small part.To be fair, action movies have been getting dumber, and with more "gimme-a-break" moments worldwide (any British action film starring Jason Statham, or recent Hollywood efforts such as 'Wanted'), still, it leaves one asking do we really need another film in this vein? Movies like Dororo', and 'Hero', are a far cry from the believable samurai pictures of a master like Kurusawa and Mizoguchi.Still, it's pacing is far better than most, resisting the temptation to have non-stop fight scenes, and a dash of restrained humor thrown in for good measure. And it's fun to catch all the little homages to other films - everything from 'Edward Scissorhands' to 'A Fistful of Dollars'.If you love the genre, you will love 'Dororo'. If you even like the genre, you will probably really like 'Dororo'. If you don't, it's definitely not going to convert you, and despite it's superiority within the genre, is unlikely to impress you favorably.

After reading a fair number of IMDb comments over the last few years, I get the impression that comic fans, understandably, are the most demanding regarding a movie's adherence to the original work. I start therefore by stating that I the first time I heard about the Dororo manga series was when I heard about this movie.Although specific year and dynasty are mentioned at the start of the movie, the story of "Dororo" in spirit happens "a long time ago, (in a galaxy) far, far away", in other words, in an undefined time and space in the author's imagination. Incidentally, I'll come back to "Star Wars" as there is a very interesting connection.The start of the movie, however, looks very much like a continuation of "300" – a battlefield with dead bodies strewn as far as the eyes can see. Fortunately, this somber mood does not carry into the rest of the movie. The prologue, however, is quite ominous. Defeated leader Kagemitsu Diago, seeking refuge in a desolate temple, ends up killing his host the monk and striking a bizarre deal with 48 demons (represented by 48 macabre statues in the temple). In exchange for the power to rise again, in victory, he promises 48 "body parts" (from limbs to internal organs) of his unborn son, on to each of the demons. This is the fascinating premise on which the story is constructed.I wouldn't go into details of how the story, now starting with "20 years later", is told with some flashbacks but generally in a simple, easy-to-follow linear narration. The story is essentially about the quest of this unfortunate son's quest to "reclaim" his 48 body parts from the demons. Let me first reassure the general audiences that there is no gory or revolting scene like those you see (or try not to see) in "Hannibal rising" or "300". The deprived baby looks more like what you see in the first stage of a doll's assembly line, the head and body before the eyes, ears, mouth and limbs are assembled. When we see him as a 20-year-old, he has already been fitted with "temporary" body parts by the kindly wise man who discovered him. During the "reclamation" process, there are scenes when Hyakkimaru re-grows a limb or coughs out an internal organ that has been replaced but these are all done in an innocent comic-book fashion.But who is Dororo anyway? I claim in the summary line that this movie has everything you want from an adventure action movie, and Dororo is the key reason, providing both romance and comedy. In the original manga, Dororo is a little boy, a petty thief who aspires to be the greatest thief in Japan. He is Hyakkimaru's loyal buddy that sticks with him through the dangerous quest. In the movie adaptation, the profession and the aspiration are kept intact but the character becomes a girl, for obvious reasons. While Hyakkimaru is a man who doesn't have much feelings (he does not even have a heart at the beginning), Dororo had a rough childhood as an orphan, and grew up as a boy. Veteran movie fans will of course recognize right away that this "odd couple" situation provides great opportunities for both romance and comedy. Both are tackled in a sensitive and tasteful way: without the movie taking any particular pain to point out, we note that she is the only person who can make him smile while he is the only person who can make her cry.In the fantasy and action department, there's imagination that rivals what you see in Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited away". Whatever lacking in special effect technique, compared with Hollywood mega-budget productions, is more than compensated for by this breathtaking imagination and artistic execution.And there's more. In true Kurosawa tradition, "Dororo" has a heart for the "little people", telling their stories with sincerity but without preaching.I mentioned "Star wars". As gradual revelation finally brings Hyakkimaru to a final confrontation with his father who sacrificed an unborn son for personal power and glory, those of us "Star War" devotees will see at the back of our mind another confrontation, long ago and far, far away, between Luke Sykwalker and Darth Vader. As one report goes, George Lucas is such a fan of Asian fantasies that he might have been inspired by the "Dororo" manga.I have not seen any other movie of Satoshi Tsumabuki, who plays Hyakkimaru, but he certainly makes the character likable in this movie, which is very important. Playing Dororo is Kou Shibasaki whom I have seen in two entirely different roles – a heartbreakingly melancholic lover in "Crying out love in the centre of the world" and a heroic firefighter with also a tender side in "The sinking of Japan". Dororo is an entirely different persona, which she portrays equally convincingly. And I must not leave out Kiichi Nakai whose commanding screen presence well qualifies him to play the father. I have seen him in a little noticed but excellent movie called "Tian di ying xiong" (2003).