Director: Kazuyoshi Katayama
Starring: Kana Hanazawa, Brina Palencia, Akiko Yajima, Luci Christian, Ayako Kawasumi, Anastasia Munoz, Eri Sendai, Alexis Tipton, Kenji Nomura, Bob Carter, Kousei Hirota, Jacques Albaret, Misaki Kuno,
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Certificate: 15
If the world does eventually end, at least a killer disease may give the human race a fighting chance. In KING OF THORN, after a vicious virus known as Medusa sweeps the globe, a select few hundred people put themselves into stasis, planning to awaken years later. Unfortunately, they oversleep and the world isn’t exactly how they remember it upon their awakening. After a series of horrific accidents, only a handful of survivors are left, who just happen to represent different facets of society and have conflicting ethics and morals.
The beginning of KING OF THORN is handled with all the expert patience of a true master storyteller. The tension is rife from the outset, as we are introduced to the characters we know will take the lead after the world crumbles. Gorgeous shots of an animated Scottish highland heighten the feeling of isolation and despair, and we see complex characters battling with the joy of being a chosen survivor, as well as knowing everyone they’ve ever loved is going to die. This is especially hard for Kasumi, whose sister has come to bid her farewell. These opening sequences show the end of the world as a being very clinical, with all the thrills of form filling and item logging included.
The film feels like a live-action blockbuster to start with. It is very far removed from your usual anime series/films, but does feel very familiar as it plays up to shooting-gallery stereotypes. These still manage to feel fresh, thanks to the inclusion of some awesomely designed monsters, and a terrifying elevator sequence. The panic the humans feel is captured well, and at times you may feel yourself hyperventilating. Once the humans have been whittled down, we are left with a generic bunch of characters that include the ex-con, the cop, the corrupt politician, and an annoying computer game obsessed kid. Perhaps they are unoriginal so as to make their obvious and gradual eradication seem more enjoyable than painful.
The action is furiously animated and looks magnificent. The underground setting is by far the most memorable character interwoven into the film. As bodies are torn, bullets fly, and monsters come crashing, the film remains engrossing at all times despite the clichés it fails to circumvent. Towards the end it does manage to develop some recognisable anime plot threads which adds a confusing but welcome final act. The Japanese language track should be the preferred version, as the English one is filled with some poor accents which just highlight the stereotypes. An action packed horror which knows how to entertain, but sometimes becomes as wild and uncontrollable as the thorns in the film itself.
KING OF THORN is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 22nd April via Manga Entertainment.
