A film that seems epic for its two hours in length, "Onmyoji" is a battle between samurai magicians that may decide the future of the empire.
--George
Onmyoji
Directors: Yojiro Takita
Producers: Tetsuji Hayashi, Kazuya Hamana, Nobuyuki Tohya
Writers: Yasushi Fukuda, Baku Yumemakura, Itaru Era
Features: 16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen; Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital Japanese, 5.1 Dolby Digital English; Subtitles: English; Theatrical Trailers; Filmographies
Characters:
Abe no Seimei - Mansai Nomura
Minamoto no Hiromaki - Hideaki Ito
Mitsumushi - Eriko Imai
Yuki - Yui Natsukawa
Doson - Hiroyuki Sanada
Genre: Foreign
Review:
"Ohmyoji" was enjoyable to watch. I was expecting a "kung-fu" movie, but instead I got a mixture of magic, love story, and fairy tale all rolled up into one film. The special effects ranged from elaborate to dinky, but it was the story that really drew you in, and some magic battles that were extremely impressive.
Pioneer didn't impress me with features on the disc, as there was much to be desired. There were some filmographies and trailers, but that's about it. The picture ranged from grainy to a slight haze, but it was never very clear. I'm not sure if that was to give the movie a dated feel, but it was made in 2001, so it should have had a better transfer. The sound was nice, as is expected from Pioneer. A wide use of each channel made the track very dynamic, despite the fact that there really wasn't much ambient environmental scenes.
The movie deals with some magicians the royal Emperor uses to keep the city safe from evil demons and ghosts. But there is one magician, Doson, who wants to rule the land, and is using his dark powers to sieze power. There is another magician that stands in his way, Seimei, who can counter the dark spells of Doson. But how long can he withstand the onslaught as demons and ghosts threaten the life of the Emperor himself?
I found this movie to be a beautifully directed film. There were some cheesy parts to Seimei's character, but really there were very few negatives to how the movie was shot. I would rate "Onmyoji" with three and a half stars out of five, and would recommend those who like foreign films to check it out.
---George Castillo