| Following Yojiro Takita’s
entertaining Onmyoji
(2001), many were hungry for more adventures starring
Seimei and his band of allies. It took two years,
kind of a rarity in Japanese cinema where sequels
are often churned out annually, but Takita delivered
his anticipated sequel to the series. Unfortunately
his second offering ended up being a poor successor
to the throne, as it lacks a lot of what made
the first enjoyable to watch. To the writing staff’s
credit, the story here is at least creative and
a nice continuation for the series; however, it
doesn’t save the film from an embarrassing
final act or it faltering to properly develop
and involve its huge cast of characters, and even
though the acting is acceptable and the production
values are amazingly high they do little to elevate
the feature as a whole.
In terms of plot, the movie starts
out with a series of mysterious deaths occurring
through out the capital. The only connection between
the incidents is that each victim was of nobility
and that each had a different piece of their body
removed. These events are interrupted by the quaking
of the Ame no Murakumo, a legendary sword said
to have been crafted from the tail of Yamato no
Orochi, as the ministry brings in sorcerer Abe
no Seimei to examine it. Unfortunately, despite
his best efforts, Seimei cannot stop the blade’s
movement. In the meantime, another sorcerer by
the name of Genkaku has begun to develop a large
following for his miraculous healing ability.
Some in the ministry hope that he might exercise
the sword himself, and possibly replace Seimei,
yet he refuses the offer. Meanwhile, the murders
continue as a young girl loses her eye before
she is killed, as the guards witness a demon fleeing
after the attack. Seimei begins to investigate
both incidents, as he believers that the demon’s
victims are in fact representative descendents
of the eight gods who opened the door to the cave
in the legendary story of the “Birth of
Japan”, and that Ame no Murakumo sword is
the last piece of the puzzle. Working around this
theory, Seimei and his friend Hiromasa begin to
protect who they believe will be the next victims
as they are in a race against time to prevent
the demon from claiming the legendary sword.
Looking at the story as a whole,
it’s definitely not a bad concept, and it’s
also nice that writers Itaru Era, Baku Yumemakura
and Yojiro Takita didn’t attempt to make
a cookie-cutter sequel out of the plot from the
first film. For inspiration, the writers drew
on a lot of elements from the “Birth of
Japan” legend, which should be a very familiar
topic for Toho enthusiasts due to Three
Treasures (1959) and its remake Yamato
Takeru (1994). The mystery angle of the
story, while also evoking references from folklore,
makes the plot involving to the audience, or at
least to those familiar with the legend. The problem
here is not the setup, though, but the incredibly
weak climax. The movie does have a riveting turn
of events just before this, though, with the awakening
of Susa-no-o, as his effortlessly destroy the
capital with his blade. However, the film falters
to do anything interesting beyond this point as
it limps to its finish with almost painful results.
It’s almost jaw dropping how bad the climax
is, as this revolves around Seimei dancing around
in pretty much drag, I’d prefer not to state
it so bluntly but it’s the best way to describe
it, as Hiromasa plays his flute as part of a ritual.
The sequence where he is being flailed about in
the air, while repeatedly shouting, is just horrendous
too. Susa-no-o, of course, arrives on cue during
the climax, yet he is paralyzed by the music so
there is no pay off there. Genkaku appears as
well, as he draws the Abe no Murakumo sword in
preparation to battle Seimei. What follows, though,
is anything but what one would expect, and a far
cry from the amazing confrontation between Seimei
and Doson at the end of the first movie. Instead
of taking part in the battle, Seimei continues
his dance as he dodges Genkaku’s attacks
in he process. It’s not quite clear what
the aim of the scene was, whether it was supposed
to be comedic or exciting as it fails so hard
at both. The whole redemption of Genkaku element
after this is pretty awful too, considering this
is a man whose goals have killed countless people
in the capital just a few minutes ago, although
it’s the least of the final act’s
problems.
In regards to character development,
it’s kind of a mixed bag. Seimei is more
or less in line with what one would expect of
the character. Of course his persona doesn’t
really evolve here at all from the first film,
except that he seems more compliant with the Mikado.
As far as Hiromasa goes, unfortunately the feature
doesn’t find a great deal for him to do.
It’s not bad enough that he could have easily
been written out, but it’s close. To make
the character seem more important, they have given
his flute playing more or less spiritual like
powers, as it’s vital to Seimei’s
ceremony near the end and is able to stop Susa
in his tracks; however, with no explanation it
just seems like the writing was desperate to justify
his inclusion into the climax. The character once
again has a love interest here, this time in the
young princess Himiko, but it never really amounts
to anything as it doesn’t evolve beyond
a simple crush and certainly lacks the emotional
payoff that his relationship with the Lady of
the Full Moon had in Onmyoji
(2001). Still, Hiromasa and Seimei have a great
deal of chemistry together, and it’s simply
great to see them interact in the start of the
movie as it tends to evoke a lot of what made
the first movie such a pleasure to watch.
In regards to the rest of the characters,
the movie tends to suffer from trying to juggle
too large of a cast. It also doesn’t help
that the movie introduces some red herrings in
regards to its character development either. For
example, Himiko is repeatedly referred to as a
“tomboy princess”, one who could even
take on demons. Given that kind of reputation,
and the fact that it’s brought up often,
most tend to expect that we are going to see her
take part in a battle at one point in the movie.
Unfortunately this couldn’t be further from
the case, as all she does is shot her bow and
arrow at bull’s-eyes while kind of whimpering
around the fact that she wants to help Susa. Not
at all the type of character one would have expected,
and perhaps hoped for, given her introduction.
The movie’s villain, Genkaku, is also kind
of a conflicting character. He starts off as being
a kind of harmonious figure, healing those who
come to his forest like surroundings as he quickly
picks up a following. Unfortunately his character
makes a huge and sudden shift to a more maniacal,
“death to the capital”, type of figure
without any transition. As it turns out, according
to his back-story, Genkaku has always hated the
capital, which was brought on after they attacked
and slaughtered people from his village when he
was younger. This revelation makes his more genteel
persona at the start of the movie seem even more
out of place, especially since this is a man who
is willing to sacrifice his children and is not
beyond killing his own wife if it furthers his
goals. Although, I guess, it’s at least
nice that he was given proper motivation for his
aims, unlike the antagonist in the first movie,
Doson, who just seems to be evil and power thirsty
by nature. As far as the rest of the cast goes,
they are hardly worth bringing up. Susa for example,
the “demon” of this film, is fairly
underdeveloped beyond his admiration for Hiromasa
and feelings for his sister, something which definitely
could have been played on more to make his transition
into Susa-no-o more tragic. It’s also a
shame to see what was done to the Mitsumushi character
for the sequel, as she is relegated to mostly
a scenery role as she doesn’t do much. She
has one, fairly cheesy, scene where she takes
on a group of sumo wrestlers in order to get a
lock of hair for Seimei, yet the whole ordeal
feels tacked on and its about all she gets to
do of any substance as she vanishes come the climax.
As far as the acting goes, it’s
fairly lackluster as a whole, although defiantly
not bad all the same. Mansai
Nomura returns here as the enigmatic Seimei,
and gives far and away the best performance in
the film as he adds that perfect layer of mysteriousness
and confidence to his portrayal. Hideaki Ito as
Hiromasa is also back, although unfortunately
his delivery in the movie is fairly uneven. Ito
tends to add a more contemporary touch to his
character, removing the more subtle and reserved
aspects of Hiromasa in favor of more blatant humoristic
moments, which seem off to those familiar with
the first film. There are quite a few new faces
in this film as well, including Kyoko
Fukada, who plays princess Himiko (or Amemiko),
in the movie. Sadly, her performance here is mostly
a bore as she lacks any energy in her delivery
and keeps a pretty stern face through out the
proceedings. Kiichi Nakai as Genkaku, Onmyoji
II’s antagonist, tends to fare better, although
he has trouble trying to capture the range that
his character requires from him. He nails the
more peaceful and brooding aspects of Genkaku
perfectly, yet falters at trying to give a memorable
performance as the more stereotypical madman he
becomes for the second half of the movie, which
is also a far cry from Hiroyuki
Sanada’s riveting performance as Doson
in the movie’s predecessor. The movie also
has some well-recognized actors in the supporting
cast as well, like Masatoh
Eve as Himiko’s adoptive father. Now
I have always been a fan of Eve’s, he seems
like a very underrated actor who has started to
appear in a number of films recently, although
always as a supporting cast member. He does a
great job here as well, as he adds a good level
of remorse and seriousness to his portrayal, although
he falters pretty hard when it comes to trying
to give a forced laugh at his daughter.
The movie’s saving grace,
though, is the excellent production values. The
special effects for example are often amazing,
and a vast improvement over its predecessor as
effects director Katsuro Onoue is really coming
into his own. CGI in particular is done with much
better results, as things like transformations
and scrolls floating in the background seem to
blend in with their surroundings without sticking
out in the least. The special effects also lead
to some breathtaking shots as well, such as the
aerial view of Himiko’s village. On the
downside, the destruction of the capital, while
an imposing sequence, could have been done better
as the effects aren’t quite up to snuff
with everything else in the film. It’s also
disappointing that Orochi never makes a more triumphant
appearance in the film, instead subjected to a
glowing entity in the sky until it joins with
Suza, as the movie evokes the character so often.
Although, I suppose, to add a full-fledged monster
into the proceedings would have seemed a little
off. These minor grievances aside, other aspects
of the production also fare incredibly well, as
it would be unfair not to mention the excellent
set design seen in the film. This also tends to
be a vast improvement over the more closed and
less refined sets seen in the first movie, as
there are several very impressive backdrops here
that include the Izumo temple and the forest where
Genkaku dwells in the first part of the film.
In terms of the music heard in
the film, Shigeru Umebayashi returns to the series
to score the second outing. Unfortunately his
music here seems to slip into the background without
much in the way of memorable cues. Still, Umebayashi
does a fairly good job, as his main title for
the second movie, a remixed version of what was
heard in the first, is extraordinary, as is the
music that plays during the final battle, although
it’s stock from the first movie.
In closing, Onmyoji II
is a fairly lackluster film that’s very
hard to place any kind of numerical score to.
The movie had a lot of promise with some interesting
ideas and it’s entertaining to watch the
start of it, yet its final act is so abysmal that
it leaves a sour taste in the viewer’s mouth.
It’s also shame that this feature likely
killed the chance of more movies in the series,
especially considering the first film was given
a better reception then most within in the United
States.
|
(2.5/5)