DETROIT METAL CITY
(Japan) |
ABOUT
THE MOVIE |
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Rosa Kato, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Gene Simmons, Ryo Kato, Minami, Yoshiko Miyazaki
Director: Toshio Lee
Rating: NC-16 (Some Coarse Language)
Year Made: 2008
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SPECIAL
FEATURES |
- Trailer
- Photo Gallery
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TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS |
Languages: Japanese
Subtitles: English/
Simplified
Chinese/Traditional
Chinese
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS 5.1
Running Time: 1 hr 44 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: Simply Fun
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SYNOPSIS:
Shy boy Soichi Negishi (Kenichi Matsuyama) leaves his countryside home to go to Tokyo with a dream of becoming a fancy pop singer. In a twist of fate, he debuts as the lead singer of the Death Metal band "Detroit Metal City" or DMC for short. Quiet, mild-mannered and downright dorky by day, Soichi turns loud and vulgar by night when his alter-ego "Johannes Krauser II" takes to the stage in goth costume and face paint.
DMC is adored by its head-thrashing fans but Soichi himself is too embarassed to admit he is in the band. Worse yet, the girl of his dreams (Kato Rose) hates DMC even more than he does!
MOVIE REVIEW:
The Death Note series brought to us the attention of a young Japanese actor named Kenichi Matsuyama. Its spin-off, "L Change the World" propels Matsuyama to a household name in Asia. And now with "Detroit Metal City", the versatile actor charms with yet another endearing role as Soichi Negishi, a country boy who dreams of becoming a pop singer in the bustling Tokyo city.
But dreams seldom turn into reality. The mild-mannered, innocent boy becomes an overnight sensation as the vulgar satanic lead singer of Detroit Metal City (DMC) dubbed affectionately by loving fans as Sir Krauser. A far cry from his dreams and real-life personality, Negishi hates being Krauser but the script never really addressed the real reason behind his contractual to DMC.
Most of the sequences in the movie are mainly played for laughs for example Negishi’s constant abuse by his evil sadistic lady boss and a laugh-out-loud gag involving Negishi switching to and fro his alter-ego in order to have a tea session with the girl of his dreams. Since this is labeled more of a comedy, the scriptwriters I believed sacrificed a few important plot points in order to squeeze out more laughs through several repetitive gags. Like I mentioned earlier, there is never any real explanation why Negishi should stick to Death records, the company behind DMC or why he didn’t get another job since supposedly he went to college or something instead of suffering the madness everyday. Nevertheless, there are still a few well-meaning messages beneath all the absurdness.
Despite DMC’s wrath-incurring lyrics that routinely include wordings such as 'Kill', 'Rape', 'Murder' and other onstage crazy antics, Negishi’s mum with her amazing high level of tolerance believes the good side of it. Her indirect encouragement to her son’s unusual career path and ability to help his fans believe in dreams is rather touching in this aspect. Thus rather than flipping out, her mum is the true testament of what parents should be to their children.
I guess majority of DMC’s success in engaging the audience goes to Matsuyama’s simultaneously portrayal of the geeky Negishi and his gung-ho take on Krauser. Most people will dismiss Matsuyama as a teen idol but at least he doesn’t shy to take on a maniac role challenging his comedic skills.
DMC is a highly entertaining comedy. Literally loud, funny and yes telling us don’t give up on our dreams. DMC rocks!
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD comes with a photo gallery and a trailer.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Japanese Dolby Digital/DTS 5.1 rocks the house with the booming heavy metal soundtrack and a constant yelling crowd. I suggest you tone down the surround if you are viewing DMC at night. The visual transfer is clear and bright though a slight grain for the darker scenes.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
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This review is made possible with the kind support from Simply
Fun
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