The Spectacular Spider-Man It's like a cross between Ghost (the Patrick Swayze movie) and Highlander. Basically, Sky High concerns a young woman who is killed on her wedding day. She finds out what happens after death, which leads to all sorts of mystical mayhem, including sword fights, babes, otherworldy warriors and some really nasty bad guys.It's directed by Kitamura of Azumi fame. And it's much better. It has much more plot, and relies far less on action. It's not really an action movie per se, but the last twenty minutes is almost pure sword action. The fights have more drama because they are actual duels, and the heroines are in danger, unlike Azumi in which the heroes just hacked down legions of bad guys without a scratch.More to the point, it's a gripping plot that unravels perfectly and offers a number of twists and some outright shocks. Visually it's almost what you'd expect a supernatural thriller by Bryan Singer to look like: slightly downbeat, sober, with a blue sheen.There is quite an ensemble for the movie, and the main hero figure changes throughout. At the end of the movie it's arguable who the main villain and hero were. The main actress is Yumiko Shaju of Princess Blade, and she acquits herself well. The bad guys are pretty damn evil, and for some reason most of the cast is very attractive young women.The main problem with Sky High is the name. It just doesn't fit at all, and is of course, the same as the Kurt Russell superhero comedy. It's a great film, it really kept me gripped. Don't expect loads of gore or violence; Kitamura proves here he can tell a strong story.

amid77 I like Ryuhei Kitamura movies. He makes a decent effort trying to be cool and I really appreciate it. There is something in his vision, in his artistic decisions, in his whole approach to cinema as art, that makes him ... I don't know ... more then just a film creator. No wonder he is already a cult phenomenon. "Sky High" is a Ryuhei Kitamura film, alright. The cinematography is clean and aesthetic, art design is pretty impressive, and kind of alienated, the swords are long and fast, the blood is red and hot, and the Japanese women are beautiful and dangerous as hell. (Check out Kimika Yoshino as the White Witch, mmmm... sweet). And the story, well, its really boring, stupid, and just not interesting enough. Some supernatural and magical reality, some lame characters with immature behavior, some tedious fights that could make you fall asleep and some other totally unexciting piles of crap. So if you really want to see this film, if you feeling that you don't want to miss one of Ryuhei Kitamura experiences, watch it, but don't expect for masterpiece. Don't bother yourself with this slow, melodramatic and infantile movie, with bad directing, really bad acting, awfully bad dialogs and with surprisingly bad ending.** P.S: "Kung Fu Hustle" by Stephen Chow, is my favorite choice anyway.

movieman_kev The Media Blasters DVD contains both the theatrical version and a 10 minute longer Director's Cut. For purposes of this review, I'll be looking at the longer cut. Kanzaki is a detective who's working on a case involving woman having their hearts cut out. On his wedding day he finds Mina, his fiancé, has been killed the same way. At the Gates of Heaven she is faced with a choice: go to heaven and await reincarnation, become a ghost to walk the Earth forever, or kill someone who wronged her, but go to hell for eternity. She must find a way to stop Kanzaki from killing her murderer so he doesn't fry in hell. This cut differs from the Theatrical one as there's much more dialog (which doesn't really flesh out the movie that much more) and the ending fight scene seems a tad longer. This movie seemed OK, good in the beginning, but the longer it goes the more muddled it became. I didn't enjoy it as much as the Director's previous work.My Grade: C+ Media Blasters 2-DVD set Extras: disk 1) 122 minute Theatrical version; Commentary with Ryumei Kitamura and the cast Disk 2) 132 Minute Director's Cut; 5 TV spots (no sub-titles); Stills Gallery; a 23 minute Making of; 2 Theatrical Trailers (no sub-titles); and Trailers for "Deadly Outlaw Rekka", "One Missed Call", "Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People", "the Mysterians", and a 5 and a half minute promo for "Death Trance"

dinuts It has an original and interesting story. It also features the utterly most lamest sword fights in the history of samurai movie. Weak acting by most of the actors. "Yumiko Shaku" was great as a newcomer in her debut "Princess Blade". Her performance in "Princess Blade" is kind of convincing. 2 years later, I am surprised to see her act so bad in this one. Other actors ain't cool too. A notable example, the extremely overboard acting by the villain, he reminds me how I hate that crazy psychotic "Riki Takeuchi" smile. All of these probably due to the weak, immature direction executed by "Ryuhei Kitamura". I have a feeling this movie is done shooting in less than a week.If you don't have any expectation, want to see the funniest homemade sword fight video or perhaps interested in a unique brainstorm, this one just maybe your cup of tea.