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The 2000 film Pyrokinesis
is Shusuke
Kaneko's science fiction effort about Junko
Aoki, a woman who possesses pyrokinetic powers.
The movie was, more or less, a project intended
to impress Toho so Kaneko could direct the 2001
Godzilla film, which in that regard the film was
a success. However, the actual film is an uneven
effort, although it pays off near the end of the
film despite a rocky start. The story itself is
interesting, although problems arise with the
pacing. The acting tends to range from good to
mediocre, though the characters themselves are
well fleshed out in the movie. The film's score,
on the other hand, is a real let down considering
the composer's previous work, while the film's
prime selling point, the amazing special effect
work by Toshihro Ogawa, is fairly limited.
The story of Pyrokinesis
follows the hardships of Junko Aoki, a woman who
possesses the power to ignite molecules and control
fire, as she deals with a criminal organization
known as the Guardians. Junko works as a mail
carrier for a large Japanese firm and receives
an invite to a party, hosted by the employees
who live at the local Toho Pulp Dormitory, from
Tada Kazuki. At the party she befriends Tada's
younger sister, Yukie, and agrees to escort her
part of the way home. However, once separated,
Yukie is kidnapped and killed by members of the
Guardians, an organization who has been filming
the slaughter of young girls to sell the footage
to clients. The death does not go unnoticed by
the police, who have been on the trail of the
string of deaths in the vicinity. Under suspicion,
the police take in Masaki Kogure, a young 18 year
old who was in fact behind the series of murders.
Unable to prove anything, though, and with Kogure's
lawyers threatening legal action of their own,
the police release Kogure.
Deciding to seek their own justice,
Tada joins up with Junko, after she reveals to
him her powers, and they set out to kill Kogure.
Spotting Kogure at a park, Juniko almost succeeds,
until Tada calls it off after getting cold feet.
Junko, however, decides to seek vengeance by herself
then, and hunts down and kills Yukie's murders,
save Kogure, with the help of Koichi Kido, an
ESPer who can control others with his touch. Matters
become more complicated, though, with the introduction
of Kaori Kurata, an individual with the powers
of pryokinesis as well as the ability to read
others thoughts and emotions through touch. With
the appearance of Kaori, the other members of
the Guardians emerge, as Kido proves traitorous
and uses his mind control powers over Kaori under
the order of chief of police Hasegawa, the leader
of the Guardians. Under Kido's control, Kaori
fights Junko in a local amusement park. The confrontation
badly injures Junko, as Hasegawa snipes Kido from
a rooftop, believing he might revolt against his
leadership. The police's riot team then closes
in on the amusement park as a conflicting between
them and Junko ensues. Junko is able to hold her
own, though, until Kogure emerges holding Tada,
who has been doused with gasoline, at gunpoint.
Junko uses her powers to heat the air far above,
causing a down pour which allows her to safely
incinerate Kogure without harming Tada. Hasegawa,
however, takes the opportunity to shoot Junko
in the back, killing her. The following day Hasegawa
delivers his report on the amusement park conflict
to the press when he is suddenly burned alive,
mysteriously.
Pyrokinesis' story is rather
convoluted, yet this works to keep the viewer
guessing nearly tell the climax as to who exactly
the film's hero or heroine is. The trailers actually
portray Junko to look like the film's antagonist,
and the movie toys with this perception as well,
before she is finally revealed as an anti-hero
in the film, just trying to curb the deaths of
innocents by any means. The film's actual villains,
the Guardians, are a little too outlandish in
terms of the actual organization's goals: the
cleansing of society; however, once Kido is introduced,
the story's credibility takes a downward spiral
anyway as he is just thrust at the viewer with
no real explanation other than that ESPers appear
to be a rare gifted breed of humans, taking a
page out of the mutants from the X-Men
series it would seem. Still, a nice angle on the
revenge story line, with a awkward romance between
Junko and Tada as a side plot, although it actually
makes it feel more genuine at times. The other
side plot, detective Maklhara seeking vengeance
on Junko for the death of his brother-in-law at
her hands as a child, feels out of place and doesn't
really pay off in the end when it's only partially
resolved.
Pacing, on the other hand, tends
to be an issue. The film starts out rather slow,
developing Junko's past with a lengthy flashback
which, if not sandwiched with the film's opening
credits, might have been a huge blemish on the
final product. There are also some rather long
winded scenes of exposition on the part of the
two detectives in the film as well. Still, the
film's ending climax, the fight in the amusement
park and the following confrontation with the
riot police, is a treat and the film wisely wraps
up quickly afterwards.
Sadly, the acting performances
in the movie are kind of a mixed bag. Akiko Yada,
as Junko Aiko, does a good job as the film's lead,
and is excellent with portraying the range of
emotions required for the role. On the other hand,
Hideaki Ito, as Tada Kazuki, seems to lack the
experience required for his part, and is in over
his head during some scenes, such as when he's
supposed to be mourning over the death of his
sister as his "waterworks display" is in obvious
need of fine tuning. The chemistry between the
two leads is there, though, which is important
as their relationship isn't given much time to
develop. Kaori Momori and Ryuuji Harada do a good
job as the film's detective pair, Ishizu and Makihara,
adding some needed comic relief on occasion in
the film. Momori in particular is great in the
film, stealing the show on numerous occasions.
Toshiyuki Nagashima goes against his usual role
this time in portraying the film's villain, the
corrupt chief of police Hasegawa. Nagashima does
a good job in the role, adding a straight face
to the almost stereotypical character in which
he is playing. The token Yukijiro Hotaru role
in a Kaneko film is here as well, as this time
he portrays the crooked reporter Asaba, and as
always Hotaru does a great job of adding his,
trademark, worried mannerisms to his screen time
making his scenes particularly memorable.
The characters of Pryokinesis
are well developed, at least for what is required
of them. Junko, as expected, is the most developed
character in the film, and is well fleshed out
in terms of exploring her motives and background.
Tada, who seems rather flat at first, develops
nicely through the course of the film following
his sister's death. Both of the detectives, Ishizu
and Makihara, are well fleshed out too, although
most of the motives given for Makihara with the
death of his step brother seem a little forced.
Yukie, a minor character in the film, is actually
given a great deal of development leading up to
her eventual death. Junko and Yukie bond very
quickly in the film, but Kaneko manages to make
this credible with how he chooses to develop Yukie's
character. Kido, the film's traitorous ESPer,
ends up being the most complex of the film's villain,
with his unfortunate relationship with Junko,
while the other antagonists are rather flat, but
then not much is required from them anyway, in
particular the rather stock Hasegawa figure.
Kow
Otani's score is, if anything, entirely
unmemorable. On the heels of his excellent
score for Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999), comes
what feels like a rushed effort by Otani with
several cues, such as the one that plays during
the family grieving over Yukie, seeming inappropriate
for the given scene, while others sound like
they were culled directly from his Gamera
3 score. The Pyrokinesis soundtrack
doesn't work well as a stand alone experience,
and actually manages to detract from several
scenes in the film, including portions of
the climax. If anything thing, the score is
primarily just a huge disappointment given
Otani's impressive portfolio of previous work.
When all is said and done, one
of Pyrokinesis' main draws is the awesome
special effect work by Ogawa. Ogawa's special
effects, while rather limited, are never disappointing.
His self restrain in not wanting to rely entirely
in CGI is admirable, and the ending effect shows
how well he is able to combine real footage with
computer generated imagery. The film's title segment,
a ring of fire which starts to crack in the center
before spelling out the title, was created without
the use of any CGI, which is a real testament
to the man's expertise in the special effects
field.
In conclusion, Pyrokinesis
is an uneven effort, but one that still merits
numerous viewings, if for nothing more than the
interesting characters and impressive special
effect work.
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(3.5/5)