20th Century Boys review

Right now there are currently around 75 comics or graphic novels being adapted for the big screen and the question of what makes a good comic book movie has yet to be properly answered. 20th Century Boys has an excellent pedigree, a huge budget behind it, and a more than competent cast –but it doesn’t quite work. And oddly enough, it’s because it’s too faithful to the original comic.

The story revolves around Kenji and his childhood friends. As kids they wrote a story about a mysterious bad guy who wants to destroy the world. When they grow up, they realize that everything they imagined is actually happening. The story that unfolds is an exercise in frustration, giving you tiny revelations followed by huge twists and bigger mysteries.

It does little to hide its manga routes, but such devotion to comic book sensibilities is ultimately the film’s undoing. There are scenes, dialogue and character traits taken directly from the original material, but what works on the page doesn’t always work on the screen. Jokes fall flat and thoughtful statements seem insincere. What 20th Century Boys really needs is changes, exactly what thousands of fanboys have cried out against in films like Sin City and Watchmen. It needs to be more of a movie than a comic book portrayed on film.

But it’s still not a disaster. As the story builds to its (frustrating) climax there’s tension, emotion and drama, not to mention a giant robot stalking the streets. But it’s too confusing, too confounding and too incomplete. Most maddening of all, it feels like a film made to set up a sequel, which has already been made and is set for release later this year. See them together to avoid cliff-hanger-induced insanity.