grandmastersik Apparently, millions of Japanese are willing to worship a man in a mask who only talks about his childhood... and apparently, the hero of his childhood is Kenji, so one would imagine that all these idiots would leave Mr. Friend behind and go and worship Kenji instead. Right?Nope. Instead, this cult's followers burn each other alive, blow up airports and have developed a lethal virus that completely drains the human body of all blood. Hey, I'm not opposed to daft plots when they're amusing, but 20th Century Boys pretty much lacks humour, as "mysterious" people point Kenji - the film's protagonist - in the right direction so that he can play a game in which he may or may not get to save the world.Yeah, it's that dumb. And upon figuring out that all these terrorist attacks taking place are being scheduled by the events of a comic Kenji drew as a kid, instead of taking the said comic to the authorities on finally finding where he left it some 25-30 years ago, Kenji instead runs over to a friend's house, digs out his old guitar and jams out in the morning's early hours!But that's perfectly logical, since Kenji once aspired to be a glam-rock star.With a running time of well over 2 hours, I can't recall the last film I watched during which I spent almost as much time looking at the clock. Unfortunately, the sheer humdrum and stupidity of the film all got too much to bear and I eventually turned it off. I now waste even more time over this crap-fest by advising other IMDb users of its sheer awfulness.Avoid.

sneeka2 The 20th Century Boys trilogy shoves a science fiction story in your face, while actually telling a completely different story about a group of boys growing up in the 20th century. This is made plain by the title alone, but as with many Japanese works, what you see is not actually the important part. And yet it turns out it was all along. In fact, pretty much everything that happens after Kenji's school reunion in the film's timeline is practically irrelevant. There's a robot or two, (dysfunctional) laser guns, UFOs, epic explosions, a world-wide plot to extinguish mankind and lots of blood… but these things are all simply tools used to advance the real story.And the real story could barely be any more simple. It's the old human drama about what could have been, what should have been, mistakes that were made in the past that continue to haunt the children and the whole of mankind.The story is told by alternating between bits and pieces of the boys' youth and the consequences they bear in the future. There are many main characters, some mere caricatures and others more detailed. None of them is really elevated above the level of a stereotype though. "Tomodachi" creates a cult which grows to become a world-wide movement, Kenji becomes the legendary leading figure of the idea of resistance, Kanna the leader of a more tangible resistance group, Occho the lone wolf who does the hard work. And that's all you really need to know about them. Other characters play more or less important roles on the sidelines, but what exactly they do is rarely more than hinted at. In fact, what exactly the main characters do is also never really more than hinted at. Part of this may be due to the constraints of condensing the epic story of the manga into under 8 hours of film, but it doesn't really matter in the end. The appeal is in the why, not the what or the how. And the "why" is told through repeated important scenes in the characters' childhoods and subtle conversions between the children's future selfs.The movie is an homage to growing up in the 20th century, with 1960's Japan revived, throwing in many cultural references that viewers not very acquainted with Japan will simple overlook. It's a celebration of rock music and melancholy for the past, both the past of Japan in general and specifically the past of all characters involved. The movie is wearing the mask of a science-fiction/action movie, just as "Tomodachi" is wearing his mask, but what it's actually about is for the viewer to find out.

siderite The story is interesting to begin with, with a bunch of kids creating an "end of the world" story and then watching it made come true when they are adults. They embark on a mission to save the world, as their original story prophesied.However, the plot is really weird. There is a virus that kills people by making their blood explode, but it seems it is not contagious, it needs to be sprayed on. A giant robot smashes through Tokyo and the police stop in front of it to shoot guns. The leader of a hypnotic cult becomes the leader of the most important party in Japan, and so on and so on.Then, as world saviors go, the heroes are the most inept I have ever seen. The movie is very long, at 142 minutes, and it is only the first part of a three film story. The acting is pretty bad, too.Bottom line: it seems this is a failed attempt to mix the success of the Death Note franchise (I don't know what that thing was successful either) and the comic book/manga craze that is taking over the movie world in the US and the rest of the world. There is a feel reminiscent of Watchmen in the film, but only a trace. I am not saying that it is not worth watching, but I can't say I liked it.

helmutty First of all-I have not read the manga but I have heard the title before. I will base my review with nothing to do with my knowledge of the manga. Making live-action movies based on manga and comics seems to be a trend in japan. Blockbuster live-action movies like Death Note are good. So hopefully, there will be more good adaptation of manga. I say that 20th Century Boys shall be one of the good adaptation and Japanese movie. This live-action movie broke death note box office in japan. That made me more interested of how this movie will fare. I must say it is worth the hype. It is pretty intense and epic to my sayings.The story: It revolves around Kenji and his pals. They built a hideout and shared stories and stuffs. They made a story. When they grow up, the story they made up becomes true. A mysterious cult-leader called friend enters the world and wants to destroy the world. Kenji and his pal save the world. Not so easy. From there, dark secrets are spilled and they search their brains of what had happened when they were kids-their childhood. The plot is quite intense. I do not know whether it is a good apdataion but as a view of a Japanese movie, it is good.Overall: As the plot is interesting and intense, it makes me want to read the manga which I will sooner. If it interest you, do go and watch it. Stay for the cast and credit to finish and there will be the preview of the second part. I will wait for the second part with anticipation.