Review of Crying Freeman

Introduction

Promoted as the first live-action Manga film, "Crying Freeman" is basically a Japanese anime in the flesh. Mark Dacascos plays the potter Yo, who has been brainwashed against his will and trained into a highly skilled assassin for Yakuza clan The Sons of Dragons. However, on a routine assignment he falls in love with the very woman he is meant to kill, and is unable to execute her – and when she falls into the hands of his enemies, the Freeman finds his own life in danger.

Directed by Christophe Gans, of “Brotherhood of the Wolf” fame.

Video

Pathe have done an absolutely disgraceful job here, giving us a 4:3 P&S version of the film, when it was filmed in widescreen and a 2.35 anamorphic transfer exists on the French R2 disc. Whilst the picture is not in itself bad – fairly sharp with minimal grain – this cropped aspect ratio is unforgivable.

Audio

Again, a 5.1 DD track is available, but for some reason only an inferior version is included on this UK disc. The 2.0 stereo track presents dialogue clearly, with suitable loudness coming from explosions and such like.

Features

A sparse collection indeed – two trailers, and a very brief featurette. This is made all the more frustrating by the existence of the French SE, which, along with superior video and sound, also has a second DVD loaded to the gills with extras!

Conclusion

Although friends who have read the original comic have told me this is a faithful and decent adaptation, I cannot find much to like about this film. The plot is way too streamlined and takes huge liberties with believability – a woman just falls in love with the very man sent to kill her, on a whim? – even if I am taking into account the obvious difficulties condensing an entire Manga series into one film. The action sequences are not particularly impressive and are too short (although Mark Dacascos does well with what he is given) and the narration is absolutely dire. By the end, this movie just becomes corny and farcical.

Unless you are a massive fan of Manga, I would advise you to skip this one and keep to the animes. If you have seen this movie already and liked it enough to buy it, I advise you to get the R2 French SE and give this awful version a miss.