Of Swords and Parasols

So, after posting the poll earlier, I remembered that I was thinking about watching Versus, as I got an extremely high level of enjoyment out of Death Trance.  

Now, the plot may have been largely irrelevant in Death Trance, but it was pretty easy to follow, both while watching an in descriptions. Coffin with massive power inside is stolen from a temple by a guy who really likes to kill things.  Temple sends young monk off to get coffin back.  Many other men who like to kill things hear someone has the coffin and also set off to get the coffin.  Many fights involving every weapon imaginable follow.  Not high quality cinema, but easy to follow, a good distraction, and some very good(and often entertaining...hello Gun Guy) fight scenes.

But Versus?  I was completely lost one sentence into the description and it only got worse from there.  It was like a lot of random ideas were thrown into a paragraph and no one cared if it made sense or not.  I checked several places and was lost every time.

I don't mind irrelevant plot(though I prefer a good plot) or midless violence as long as it's entertaining(and not endless) but I at least need a plot I can follow, no matter how paper thing it may be.

I just finished this one.  To be perfectly blunt, this is not, necessarily, a "good" movie...the plot is both thin and rushed and the ending seems designed for a sequel, and the characterization is sparse(I don't even know the names of most characters, but thast's ok, because I gave them ever-so-creative names to compensate.)  It's all about the over the top action, and it never pretends otherwise.

The plot is essentially about Coffin Guy, who steals a coffin that can supposedly grant any wish you want from a temple.  Lots of people have tried to steal the coffin before and the monks turned them into stone for it.  One young monk, Priest Guy, is sent to retrieve the coffin because the coffin could destroy the world if opened (the power of the Goddess of Destruction is sealed inside.)  Priest Guy is also given a Special Sword that no one can draw until the right time.  Along the way, Priest Guy meets up with Mohawk Guy, who also wants the sword, and for some bizarre reason, Mohawk Guy decides he may as well help keep Priest Guy alive while looking for the sword.  There's also Warrior Chick who also wants to keep the coffin from being opened(but seems to think smashing it to bits is ok) and Little Girl, who is completely unphased by having dozens of people die around her and trails after whoever has the coffin at any given point in time.  Also, while the setting looks medieval (it's described as "an unknown time and place" and it's implied that Goddess of Destruction has rebooted the world once or twice already) there are guns and even a motorcycle.  Which are actually kinda fun...

Priest Guy was rather boring and sanctimonious, and I rather wonder why Mohawk Guy and Coffin Guy didn't just toss him off a cliff or kill him (not like he stood a chance against either one anyway.)  I did rather like Coffin Guy and Mohawk Guy.  Mohawk Guy  acknowledges the wisdom of of carrying a gun.  Distance weapon that can kill long before the other guy can get to you vs weapon that requires you to get up close and personal?  Not a difficult choice.  He is, howver, well aware of the danger of running out of bullets, and has his sword as a backup.  There's one very fun scene where these ninjas whip out weapon after weapon and look menacing, and he just keeps shooting the weapons out of their hands(eventually, they realized he had more bullets than they had weapons and he kinda made them his servants.)

Coffin guy reminds me a bit of Samurai Deeper Kyo's Kyo, though not as cool.  He's a simple guy who wants nothing more than to prove he's the best(though in Coffin Guy's case, it's more finding someone good enough to kill him) and to kill anyone who gets in his way.  He's even quieter than Kyo though.  I wasn't sure if he would say anything at all in the movie for the first 40 minutes.  To cement the comparison in my mind, towards the end he has glowing red eyes and a glowing red sword.  Like Mohawk Guy, Coffin Guy acknowledges the  practicality of a gun, but as he likes his fights up close and personal, he only brings out the gun when he decides a fight has lasted to long(as in, more and more keep showing up and he's getting bored with killing them) and he has things to do.

I think my favorite scene is when Priest Guy and Coffin Guy first meet.  Priest Guy asks why Coffin Guy stole the coffin and asks if he knows its dangerous, blah blah blah.  Coffin Guy simply replies that he heard it could grant wishes and walks off.  Priest Guy, being assured of the protection his priestliness grants him, follows him and when Coffin Guy asks what the big deal is, Priest Guy launches into a long story about the coffin and when he keeps going long after the pertinent parts are covered, Coffin Guy clocks him and when Priest guys asks why he did that(from the ground) Coffin Guy replies that his stories are too long and stalks off after his coffin.

Also, for some reason, Priest Guy looks like Cloud Strife with a facial tattoo at the very end...

Anyway, pictures...


Apparently there's also a manga of this(was pretty sure 10 minutes in there was a novel or manga.)  As it's only 2 volumes, I'll likely check it out.  I'll likely try to find some art first, though.

Also, apparently this is directed by the sanme guy as Versus, and Coffin Guy is also the star of Versus.  Versus is also supposedly a much better movie than this, so I may check it out.