Space Battleship Yamato (2010) [Film Review]

Space Battleship Yamato; or, The Stars My Destination

     Even a single gleam in the dark, even the slightest chance… let us use that as a basis for hope!
I have been meaning to watch Space Battleship Yamato for quite some time because I have heard a great deal of positive opinions about the anime from the 1970s which made an enormous impact on the science fiction genre and influenced such franchises as Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Macross. Well, an opportunity finally came and I sat down to watch the live-action adaptation from 2010 with none other than Takuya Kimura himself in the leading role.

Release Info

Directed by: Takashi Yamazaki Starring: Takuya Kimura, Meisa Kuroki, Tsutomu Yamazaki

Language: Japanese Original Title: 宇宙戦艦ヤマト Runtime: 138 min

Synopsis
It’s the year 2199. Mankind is at war with extraterrestrial beings known as the Gamilas for 5 years now. The aliens continuously bombard the planet with radioactive bombs which render it uninhabitable. Consequently, people have to hide underground. The Yamato, the last interstellar battleship of the Earth’s Defence Forces, sets out on a mission to a distant planet Iscandar in order to obtain a device that will eradicate radioactivity. The ship’s crew is humanity’s last hope against the invaders from outer space.

Trek Wars
At the beginning, allow me to address my initial worries with regard to the film. The movie trailer looked promising, but I was afraid that such kind of production would fall victim to sloppy CGI and unevenly done special effects (like Godzilla movies from the Millennium Series). Thankfully, this is not the case with Space Battleship Yamato. All the space/battle sequences look absolutely spectacular and really stand the test of time. I wish I could have had the ability to see the film in a theater, back in 2010. It is a great viewing experience from the visual standpoint. Allegedly, Takuya Kimura himself put pressure on the director to deliver on this front, and the actor even reduced his working fee just to accommodate the F/X budget. What a guy!

This being said, I can’t help but notice a correlation between Space Battleship Yamato and classic franchise from America, Star Trek. Evidently, the original anime took a lot of cues from the original show devised by Gene Roddenberry, but this movie seems to really evoke the vibes of J.J. Abrams’ reboot from 2009. That is to say, there is a lot of emphasis on bombastic action, character development, and pathos. Sususmu Kodai, the protagonist played by Kimura really resembles young James T. Kirk in terms of bravado and charisma.

With regard to the screenplay, unfortunately, the farther it goes, the worse it gets. While the first two acts heavily rely on Star Trek atmosphere, the third section of the film veers into the territory of Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers (1997), only to end with a finale that could have easily been incorporated into Ronald Emmerich’s Independence Day (1996). In other words, there is a LOT going on in the storyline but the unfolding events are linked with little to no causality.

Speaking about performances, the cast of this film is something really special. Apart from Takyua Kimura, we get Tsutomu Yamazaki, Toshiyuki Nishida, Reiko Takashima, and Toshiro Yanagiba! All of them did really well with the material they had to work with.

Recommendations
If you would like to check out a sci-fi tale straight from Japan, then I recommend Space Battleship Yamato. It is a fun flick driven by visuals but do not expect it to be a comprehensive story. As an anime adaptation, it works really well.Overall score: 7/10

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