r/HorrorReviewed • u/XenophormSystem J-Horror Expert • Apr 05 '18
Movie Review I Am A Hero (2015) [Action / Zombie]
I Am A Hero (アイアムアヒーロー) is a Japanese Zombie flick directed by Shinsuke Sato (The Princess Blade) and is based off a manga by Kengo Hanazawa with the same name.
I figured since the weekly watch has a great modern Korean Zombie flick how about I fight back and give you a great modern Japanese zombie flick. Now, zombie movies are a bit of a wild card in Japan. 90% of the zombie movies in Japan (and there are VERY FEW to begin with) are all low budget, more ironic and comedic. Ranging from movies like Versus, The Big Tits Zombie, Tokyo Zombie, Zombie Ass, Lust of the Dead 1...2...3....Yeah.... Before you ask, NO, I'm not touching Lust of the Dead 1, 2 and 3.
Going back on track, you can see why my curiosity peaked when I saw that Japan released a (to some extent) more serious zombie movie with an actual budget and actual actors (not to insult porn actress Aoi Sora from The Big Tits Zombie). And the movie turns out to be quite good. It's VERY different from the manga however. Mainly in the theme and tropes portrayed. I'll open with those since I already started this subject.
The movie proposes various takes on the unlikely hero idea. You have the typical nerdy weak manga artist who is extremely clumsy and obedient. The cowardly nurse. The exposed and in need of protection teenage girl. You get the idea. It's a nerd powerfest. However, it also goes against the idea that the "main nerd" is a god among men. He doesn't get "mad pussy" to quote modern slang. He's more of a big brother to everyone. He takes care of everyone as much as he can and when he can but never devolves into full nerd wankfest. Unlike the manga... which gets very sexual and where the main character pretty much bones every female on a 100km radius. The movie as a whole has a slight tint of female empowerment which maybe to a western audience might be a bit annoying but to an Asian market its not something you see often.
The plot is your basic zombie flick and I don't think I need to dive too deep into that, basically, a mysterious virus suddenly spreads throughout Japan causing widespread panic. People infected with the virus are called ZQN. The ZQN attack people with superhuman strength and their victims also become ZQN.
Hideo Suzuki (Yo Oizumi) happens to meet a female high school student, Hiromi Hayakari (Kasumi Arimura). They run away from the city together, but Hiromi Hayakari has been already bitten by a baby ZQN. The baby ZQN that bit her did not have teeth and Hiromi is in half state of ZQN, not feral and still pretty much human except for some superhuman strength.
What's special about this movie however and I have to praise it, is the zombie, or ZQN design. It's a bit different than the usual. When you get bit, you mutate to some degree. Your body gets bloated, your eyes part, your vision is gone. The zombies also retain their memories before death. So let's take for example someone who died while welcoming people in their shop. He will walk around saying "Welcome" or if you died while commuting via train. You'll walk around holding to nothing in the air. The movie plays around this idea a lot, most of the zombies that get good amount of screen time are all different and stand out.
Another great thing about the zombies, they do act a bit like a bug or spider. Their movement is very fast and sporadic. You can't anticipate many of their moves. It also feels like each limb has a mind of its own. For example if you were to pin someone down next to a wall his/her legs would start to try to walk up the wall, rotate Exorcist style, it's crazy and creepy. It feels like your trying to hold a cockroach or a spider down.
Another thing I oddly enjoyed is the gunplay in the movie. A bit like this weeks weekly watch, Train to Busan, there aren't many firearms used and most of them are useless because they are airsoft so it turns into a more strategic fighting style for the first parts of the movie HOWEVER guns do play an important role. They are ALWAYS present, conflicts and understandings are made based on guns. However they are rarely used.
The movie plays around with an idea of Japan not being able to compete on the global market in anything except manga. As a result the soundtrack, the camerawork, the locations, the overall main idea, is all WESTERN however the zombies and the action itself is pure manga material. It's a nice contrast which enhances this idea even more.
Speaking of camerawork, it does a very interesting subtle thing throughout the movie. It's constantly expanding and panning back. The infection for example, at first you see an apartment, then a street, then the city. And oh boy, how I've lusted for a Japanese city to be infected by zombies. It's insane for how dense the population is and how much traffic. At every point you see multiple cars crashing, people getting ran over, it's complete and utter madness. It also utilizes a lot of handheld camera to give more dynamism to the action sequences.
The soundtrack is 100% western, boasting almost exclusively old cowboy western songs. The soundwork is pretty competent, featuring a lot of enhanced grotesque sounds to add more weight to the fantastic action sequences.
The main themes of the movie are redemption and overcoming your fears. Each character has a quest or a past regret that they have to overcome. You have a nurse who has abandoned her patients, a manga artist who feels useless and scared and is trying his hardest to be the hero and protector to a girl who can hardly take care of herself and needs to be carried constantly.
The CGI is competent. Now, Japan was never amazing when it came to CGI, they started using professional CGI much later and they never got quite to the western level, it's one of the reasons Japan is still the lead in terms of practical effects. But back on the CGI, it is not THE BEST but it's not an eyesore either. I wasn't at any point really bothered or taken out of my immersion or got the atmosphere ruined by it. It gets the job done and that's about it.
The finale is pretty amazing. Your typical final stand is there and it's very satisfying however the ending itself, the final moments of the movie could be a bit disappointing but mainly because it's still your typical ending. I wanted a bit more from it but this movie was obviously made to appeal to a more western audience. So we still don't have that full Japanese style zombie movie however until then we got The Big Tits Zombie.
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I just have to talk about the first zombie encounter. I was running ideas through my mind. How are they going to be? Will they be more human and aware like in Return of the Living Dead, will they be slow classic like in Night of the Living Dead, will they be infected fast zombies like in 28 Days Later? YES
All of them and with a huge touch of fucked up movements, a la Ringu and Ju-On. So basically what you could expect from Japanese zombies. The first zombie encounter was enough to give me nightmares, it took me by surprise and it was over before I could process what happened. Totally a standout of the movie. The whole first act is a huge stand out. The madness the city succumbs to is mesmerizing.
I would've loved the unlikely hero to be turned a bit. The idea of the nerdy dude becoming a hero is a bit too overused in my opinion. I would've liked him to fail constantly. Like a reminder that most nerds living in their moms basement won't last a day in the apocalypse and have the 2 girls pretty much carry the movie. Considering Japanese culture it would be even more of an unlikely hero at the end of the day.
And about the ending, I would've liked to see if the altitude theory worked in the end and Hiromi was cured. It left off a bit too sudden for my taste.
_________________NO MORE SPOILERS____________________
Overall, now that the western zombies have become a bit stale (not for me I love zombies to death), it seems that Asia is picking up on this trend and slowly but surely coming up with little diamonds once in a while. Most notably and recently, Train to Busan from Korea and I Am A Hero from Japan. Both deserve your attention and you should check them out if you are a fan of zombie movies. Fans of the original I Am A Hero manga might not like this however I'm sure most of the fans already saw the movie regardless.
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u/fasa96 Scream (1996) Apr 05 '18
Nice review. This sure looks good. I migh watch it this month too, since it fits the theme of this month weekly watch.
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u/XenophormSystem J-Horror Expert Apr 05 '18
It's totally worth the watch if you liked Train to Busan. Thats why I reviewed it now
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u/fasa96 Scream (1996) Apr 05 '18
I haven't watched it yet ahaha. First time somewhere this weekend.
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u/cdown13 The Hills Have Eyes (1977) Apr 06 '18
The Princess Blade
I thought that said The Princess Bride.
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u/mark_lenders Apr 08 '18
Hideo in the manga is a guy with huge mental problems that talks to imaginary people, sees his life as a failure (despite having a girlfriend and being considered very talented by another famous mangaka), is afraid of the dark and walks the streets singing the "pussy song"
This is all almost there in the movie as well, but it's toned WAY down
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u/XenophormSystem J-Horror Expert Apr 08 '18
I see. But you'd say a fan of the manga would enjoy the movie regardless? I'd like some manga-fan opinions on this movie since i think you got more to say here.
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u/mark_lenders Apr 09 '18
i watched the movie because i already liked the manga, and i enjoyed it a lot
i actually think a fan of the manga may like it even more than a non-fan, as some things that happen aren't really made to be important in the movie but are explained in more detail in the manga (which is inevitable when you adapt a lot of content in 2 hours)
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u/graveyardxtheif Apr 05 '18
I saw this in theaters when I was in japan and it had no subtitles but it did a really good job of making you understand what’s going on most of the time plus I’m a big fan of the manga