Lumberjack the Monster (2023)

Not a bad watch overall

June 2024
This is described as a Horror Film, but my idea of that genre is different. It can be horrific, but it isn't ghosts, demons and stuff going bump in the night.

It's a mild (hence rating, which is 15 on Netflix) slasher type film.

Kazuya is my cup of tasty and plays a cold, emotionless lawyer, Ninomiya Akira, who goes through the motions of 'normal interactions' with others.

He ends up on the radar of a criminal profiler and also becomes the target of a serial killer.

He is to marry a woman whose father's law firm he held a high position in; but on the shocking death of her father, he is now its Head.

As the investigation, serial killer, Akira's past and his own investigation into The Lumberjack, all converge, there are shock revelations and surprising outcomes.

I quite enjoyed this, but in true Japanese fashion, it is crazy, OTT and does have something of a 'B movie' feel to it. For me, that actually adds to the enjoyment.

There is obviously blood, but honestly it's unrealistic for the most part and really tame in comparison to some drama series, never mind other films!

There is also a quite disturbing aspect to it, too, which I found surprising and made me feel sorry for characters involved. Somewhat thought provoking at times.

I think it would have benefitted from more in-depth coverage of the past, when key characters were children. I found some aspects rushed and had the story given more time to those parts, that would certainly have created a stronger connection with some characters.

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The axe ought to be sharpened

Take a fairy tale, turn it into a novel and then into a movie: here you have the recipe for Takahashi Miike (崇史 三池)'s movie 『怪物の木こり』. Adapted from Mayusuke Kurai (眉介 倉井)'s novel of the same name, and englishly renamed 『Lumberjack the Monster』 for English audiences and beyond, this movie aired first in October 2023 tells the story of a serial-killer who follows the path of a fairy tale character. Through a thrilling story, the movies takes you to a travel where you'll remember what it means to feels something, though with a handful of poor handling here and there.

Let's begin with the story. It is in itself pretty cool, albeit a bit too over-the-top. You have several children who were kidnapped and underwent surgery for implanting them neurochips… and one day someone decided to kill them all, because all of those children became psychopaths following their operation.
ngl, i was surprised by who was the real serial-killer, although there were too many hints given as the end was getting closer. But the real surprise was the end of the movie, which is imo the best part of the movie, as it makes you ponder on the idea of redeeming and the costs of your actions.

On the contrary of that end, the characters feel a bit cliché, or should i say stereotypical: the protagonist who is lacking emotions and ends up retrieving them, the big brain forensic, the old-timer, the gentle villain motivated by a superior goal… all common tropes in Japanese works. Also common is that only the MC and the villain evolve, which makes the other characters lack depth. It also doesn't help that some actors don't play so well: but to be fair, as a review made by The Arts Fuse magazine puts it, « what can you do with a role and a story this clichéd? ».

In addition of the characters and their actors, the dialogs feel somewhat dull. As much as they don't feel "artificial" per se, they do strongly feel fictional: like, you wouldn't hear that IRL. I'm thinking here especially to one of the last scenes where Akira and Takeshi speak together, and they begin to philosophize about emotions and life: this is such a Japanese way of handling dialogs, so dramatical, but so unrealistic (especially when not done correctly)!
That being said, I have to admit that this kind of philosophical pondering makes in itself the work more interesting, as it gives it a supplementary literary value and elevates the work beyond itself, so to speak.

Continuing with meh aspects, the pacing isn't great. Those aforementioned dialogs are often too long, whereas the scenes between each of the dialog are too short. It all makes more sense considering the movie is an adaptation of a novel: you really feel that this novel — or at least that adaptation — put emphasis on its dialogs more than the scenes between them. But here it feels just like one jumps from a dialog to another. And considering that most of the time the camera doesn't move a lot and/or uses uninteresting angles, the scenes sorely lack dynamic.

Also about the scenes, the setting and scenery aren't so innovative. Unrelated parts of a city and an old abandoned mansion of horrors: those two hardly feel connected, and as much as it's understandable from the point of view of the story, they could have created decorations that'd convey a connection better, and also that have more personality. It works enough, not gonna lie; but in addition of the aforementioned other bland parts, it doesn't help.
What wasn't bland was the gore: my gosh, Miike really likes his flows of blood! even if they are REALLY exaggerated lmao; but they weren't so frequent, so that it gives an interesting startling touch when they appear.

All in all, 『怪物の木こり』 is not bad, and its story and the philosophy at the end make it worth watching; but the various lacking elements pull down the overall quality.
It's my first movie from Miike, who i heard is well-known for his handling of the horror genre; i'll try to look into that part of his filmography next.

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