If truth be told (ooh I sound Welsh!) I didn't really want Aragami. Now I don't want to offend the film, it's just that I'd never heard of it and it came with the film that I was interested in called 2LDK (which was knock-out by the way!) It turns out that Aragami was part of something called the Duel Project where two Japanese directors decided to have a battle, making a film using only two main characters, in one set, shot over one week. It's an extremely interesting premise and one that us Westerner's are used to, seeing that Hollywood often shoves exotic locations and several big-billed names into a film! After reading some hype for Aragami I was genuinely interested in seeing it and seeing which one would win the duel for me.
Well, as you can gather from my score, Aragami was not a patch on 2LDK; however that isn't to say that it's a bad film. Aragami is an interesting one, but one that I feel is bloated. Aragami's characters weren't as great as 2LDK's. What made 2LDK so compelling was that the characters were interested and you care about the fight, despite that fact that neither of them are particularly likable. Even with a character to root for in Aragami I still didn't feel as interested in the characters or the fight. Perhaps this was due to the lengthy and slow dialogue scenes which held the film down, especially as we're expecting a fight to the death like the DVD promises. Now, 2LDK did also have a lot of dialogue for the first half hour, but it was brewing with tension and suspense, building up anticipation for the ultimate cat fight.
Aragami's dialogue scenes seemed long for the sake of trying to fill up a feature length film. The characters were also pretty stereotypical and aside for a few good moments (notably the reveal of Aragami and the picking of the weapons) you ultimately just want to jump straight into the duel! Now the duel itself is very enjoyable. The action is shot incredibly fast and is almost Tarantino-esque in Kill Bill. It also felt even more thrilling, as it juxtaposed the placid camera movement and few shots that were in the dialogue scenes. However, I did feel that the fight in 2LDK was even better, being that the weapons were innovative, and the characters more interesting.
Aragami is basically a sword fight. Although the fantasy element does make the battle more interesting, offering us something a little more unique. I also thought that the pitch-black sword fight with only the lightening outside and the clashes of the sword creating light was very creative and visually exciting. The ending was also quite interesting, but I did have the feeling of too little, too late when the duel did finally commence and I think that it should've made more creative use of its environment like 2LDK did. Additionally, I really did not like the music which sounded like the incidental music on TV's 'Gay Rabbit' which I have never looked at (shifty eyes).
2LDK wins for me, but I suppose it's just a matter of taste. If you're into your martial arts then Aragami will be a masterpiece for you. However, I think that the film would've made a much pacier short film, rather than being stretched to feature length and feeling belated. There simply isn't enough narrative drive or interesting characters to fill 1hr 15mins. However, I can think of worse ways to spend your evenings and it really is a master-class in directing and editing. It doesn't have the re-play value of 2LDK, but that's not to say that I won't be watching again over the course of my life.
Well, as you can gather from my score, Aragami was not a patch on 2LDK; however that isn't to say that it's a bad film. Aragami is an interesting one, but one that I feel is bloated. Aragami's characters weren't as great as 2LDK's. What made 2LDK so compelling was that the characters were interested and you care about the fight, despite that fact that neither of them are particularly likable. Even with a character to root for in Aragami I still didn't feel as interested in the characters or the fight. Perhaps this was due to the lengthy and slow dialogue scenes which held the film down, especially as we're expecting a fight to the death like the DVD promises. Now, 2LDK did also have a lot of dialogue for the first half hour, but it was brewing with tension and suspense, building up anticipation for the ultimate cat fight.
Aragami's dialogue scenes seemed long for the sake of trying to fill up a feature length film. The characters were also pretty stereotypical and aside for a few good moments (notably the reveal of Aragami and the picking of the weapons) you ultimately just want to jump straight into the duel! Now the duel itself is very enjoyable. The action is shot incredibly fast and is almost Tarantino-esque in Kill Bill. It also felt even more thrilling, as it juxtaposed the placid camera movement and few shots that were in the dialogue scenes. However, I did feel that the fight in 2LDK was even better, being that the weapons were innovative, and the characters more interesting.
Aragami is basically a sword fight. Although the fantasy element does make the battle more interesting, offering us something a little more unique. I also thought that the pitch-black sword fight with only the lightening outside and the clashes of the sword creating light was very creative and visually exciting. The ending was also quite interesting, but I did have the feeling of too little, too late when the duel did finally commence and I think that it should've made more creative use of its environment like 2LDK did. Additionally, I really did not like the music which sounded like the incidental music on TV's 'Gay Rabbit' which I have never looked at (shifty eyes).
2LDK wins for me, but I suppose it's just a matter of taste. If you're into your martial arts then Aragami will be a masterpiece for you. However, I think that the film would've made a much pacier short film, rather than being stretched to feature length and feeling belated. There simply isn't enough narrative drive or interesting characters to fill 1hr 15mins. However, I can think of worse ways to spend your evenings and it really is a master-class in directing and editing. It doesn't have the re-play value of 2LDK, but that's not to say that I won't be watching again over the course of my life.