As a disaster film this movie has all of the underpinning requirements (good acting, technical know-how etc) but the face it presents to the viewer is bland in the extreme, and would...not...just...shut...up! I am not going to hark on about art, the soul, humanity, love etc. Like most people I watch disaster films to see death and mayhem close up and personal. I do not watch them to be touched by humanity and feel humble. I do not watch them to listen to endless relationship exposition interspersed with the odd high-level disaster scene. Unfortunately this is what the film provided. That plus awful pop songs with lyrics such as "Melodies bathed in your reflection...".
The acting was good. The technical aspects were good. However the film was boring. I was thankful when it ended. I am ashamed to admit that, despite the awful acting and story, I enjoyed the terrible 2012 more, as at least it flung disaster after disaster at the viewer.
I also found that it had a faint sense of ingratitude to other countries, and rather hypocritical in that some of the characters discussed various countries abandoning Japan and not taking Japanese refugees, when in the real world Japan is one of those countries that refuses to accept refugees! It would have been interesting if that had been discussed as a point of irony. I think the Day After Tomorrow did that vis-a-vis Mexico.
I like Japanese films. However the Japanese are quite capable of making unengaging films. Such as this one.
The acting was good. The technical aspects were good. However the film was boring. I was thankful when it ended. I am ashamed to admit that, despite the awful acting and story, I enjoyed the terrible 2012 more, as at least it flung disaster after disaster at the viewer.
I also found that it had a faint sense of ingratitude to other countries, and rather hypocritical in that some of the characters discussed various countries abandoning Japan and not taking Japanese refugees, when in the real world Japan is one of those countries that refuses to accept refugees! It would have been interesting if that had been discussed as a point of irony. I think the Day After Tomorrow did that vis-a-vis Mexico.
I like Japanese films. However the Japanese are quite capable of making unengaging films. Such as this one.