ESPY
Director: Jun
Fukada
Year: 1974
Rating:
6.0
Aka - Esupai
In Japanese (there is an English dubbed version)
Psychic Spy vs Psychic Spy.
I don't know if Marvel had created the X-Men
by 1974 but this Japanese film has echoes of it. The world is divided between
humans who have psychic powers and those who don't. Psychic powers can vary
from transporting yourself, to seeing through things to messing with your
brain to being able to knock someone over. There is a group of psychics
who want to destroy those with no powers - that would be you and me. Take
over the world. Men will kill what they don't understand. This group is run
by our old friend Tomisaburo Wakayama in a Caesar styled haircut and a deep
deep voice that could make a ground hog stay underground for months. But
there is also a group called the International Psychic Power Group made up
of psychics who are good guys. They battle each other constantly. The good
guys have the lovely Maria (Kaoru Yumi) while the bad guys have a babe who
can hypnotize you with a twinkle of her earrings. It is pretty much even
steven.
A bit lightweight but good fun with one
uncomfortably racist scene. There is a devious plot afoot to kill the Prime
Minister of Baltonia who wants to bring peace to his country. The Anti-Espy
group as the villains have named themselves want chaos, war, humans killing
one another, hating one another. Don't worry guys. Social media will do that
for you in a few years. The film looks great - slick, colorful and smooth
with a plot that goes all over Europe. It is directed by Toho's Jun Fukada.
All the kaiju films that Ishiro Honda didn't direct were likely directed
by Fukada. It begins with an Anti-Espy assassin shooting four men on a moving
train with the curtains pulled and ends with Tomisaburo Wakayama giving a
speech as he told them of his past and why he hates human. I thought he had
a point. Humans do suck. But then I was rooting for Thanos too.
