Dororo
                                                         
Director: Akihiko Shiota
Year: 2007
Rating: 7.0
An enjoyable Japanese fantasy film that mixes in Yokai (demons), action, tragedy, Frankenstein, humor and a whole lot of cheesy CGI. It makes for an entertaining 2 hours though admittedly they could have cut out some bits. There are 48 demons to kill and that is a lot of demons. This is based on a manga from the 1960s by the legendary Osamu Tezuka. There have been two animated TV series based on it as well, but this one is with actors. It is directed by Akihiko Shiota. It is set in some fantasy past period with the country in civil war and hundreds of dead warriors strewn on the ground. Lord Diago (Kiichi Nakai) is losing and so he makes a deal. He gives permission to 48 demons to take a body part from his unborn son if he can rule the world. Who wouldn't take a deal like that. His son is born alive but without arms, legs, eyes and other organs. Diago wants to kill it, but the mother pulls a Moses and sends it downstream in a basket. It is discovered by a Shaman (Yoshio Harada) who is able to mix the body parts of dead children killed in war in a blender and attach them to the child over time. His left arm hides a deadly blade underneath.



As the child grows into a man named Hyakkimaru (Satoshi Tsumabuki, looking a bit boy bandish) the Shaman teaches him the sword and tells him that he must find the 48 demons and kill them. And each time he does, a body part will replace his artificial one. Painfully. In his first kill, a giant scorpion, he is spotted by a female thief who passes herself off as male and she decides to stay with him and help kill the demons. She takes on the name of Dororo. As played by Ko Shibasaki, she is great fun, spunky, smudged dirty face, non-stop talking, brave and she has her own agenda. To kill the murderer of her father. Lord Daigo. And his whole family. The film turns into a CGI festival as the two of them take on one fantastic demon after another. The CGI is a bit absurd, but it is meant to be more fun than believable. The two of them have great chemistry together making the film a lighthearted adventure.