Theatrical release poster. ©Kadokawa-Daiei Film
Great Yokai War: Guardians, The (2021)
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kokoro Terada, Rei Inomata, Hana Sugisaki, Takao Osawa, Renji Ishibashi, Oshima Yuko, Sumire
Since the death of his father, Kei Watanabe (Terada) finds himself forced to take care of his younger brother Dai (Inomata) which has started to annoy him. He and a group of friends do a test of courage to an abandoned shrine where Kei finds a mysterious red talisman. Meanwhile, the spirits of millennia old creatures have awakened and unite to form a terrifyingly huge demon, the Yokaiju. Rampaging across Japan, the Yokaiju heads to Tokyo, and a barrier which seals away an ancient threat. Panicked, the yokai begin a plan to stop Yokaiju by searching for the descendent of the legendary demon slayer, Watanabe no Tsuna.
When Takashi Miike released his first Great Yokai War film back in 2005, it created a splash. A fun and mostly kid friendly film from a director somehow only known for his outlandishly violent crime and horror pictures, it was a star studded and effects-laden ride that holds a lot of affection from genre fans, myself included. When it was announced that a new installment of the fabled Yokai War franchise, directed by Miike himself, would be made I was immediately excited as character posters and more began releasing to build anticipation. This came to a head when the most recent trailer announced the return to the screen of the legendary Daimajin, one of my favorite onscreen creatures of all time.
Miike himself directs a much more focused picture here, compared to the previous film. Where the original would have some variety show-esque bits of humor that occasionally brought the film to a halt, this new installment does away with it for the most part, instead relying on the characters to build the humor via their yokai persona. This can be a bit confusing to those not well versed in the world of yokai as there are a good number of funny bits that may come off as confusing otherwise, but it mostly plays itself well to a non-Japanese crowd. Returning are the excellent practical costumes that are colorful and vivid as well as some truly great sets that will have Japanese horror fans looking for Easter eggs in the films ‘spookier’ first act.
The film transitions into a more adventurous tone around the midpoint, bringing Kei closer to a hero, much like in the first film, albeit surrounded with mostly new yokai to share the screen. Terada transitions well, growing as a character from a crybaby and fairly annoying kid into a protector that is capable and willing to save his little brother. His action is actually fairly good, though his magical weapons tend to do most of the visual work for him. He is accompanied by a female yokai warrior who wears a Kitsune mask, played by Hana Sugisaki. In my opinion one of the best young actresses working in Japan, she shows a lot of screen presence and is most definitely the ‘cool’ character in the film. While the material doesn’t really offer much gravitas for her to work with, she is absolutely memorable and has one of the best scenes in the film. The supporting cast is fine though with less screen time it is more difficult to make an impression. Newcomers to the franchise Osawa and Oshima feature in some more memorable moments but Inomata probably does the best here. His Dai is a helluva sweet kid and the naivete he exhibits is endearing despite everything happening around him.
Overall, fans of Miike’s original film will have a lot to like in this outing. It uses some terrific costuming, set design, music, and features some oversized smashing action (Daimajin certainly lives up to the hype) which will hopefully satisfy kaiju fans as well. While the film itself plays out as a take on Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, it holds on to the classic Japanese creature films that helped inspire this iteration, especially in the finale. Ultimately, it’s a very fun and oftentimes exciting spectacle that should be seen.
