Parasyte (2014-2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014, 2015
	Director: Takashi Yamazaki (Returner, Always - Sunset on Third Street, The Eternal Zero)
	Actors: Shôta Sometani, Eri Fukatsu, Ai Hashimoto
	Country: J
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 01.05.2015, Teatro Nuovo, FEFF2015
Synopsis: Worms coming from the sea start to infect the population by entering their brain. In the case of Shin'ichi Izumi (Sometani), the parasite later named Migi had to settle for the hand, and interact with its owner to understand his role in the invasion.
Review: The first out of this two-part movie was a huge it in Japan in 2014, and we got to see at the FEFF the second part before even it is shown in its original country! The story is adapted from a successful manga (like many mainstream Japanese productions nowadays) and directed by the man who brought us the excellent Always - Sunset on Third Street (and its two sequels as I just learned) runner-up for the FEFF audience award 2006 and The Eternal Zero, winner in 2014. I hoped this renowned director could use this good SF story and add to it the characters depth that often misses in those manga adaptation (except maybe in the Death Note trilogy), and he managed to a certain extend: the (young) cast is indeed better than usual, although the best character is actually the parasite in the hand, funny most of the time. The story strongly reminds of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and the behavior of the parasites of John Carpenter's The Thing. The visual effects, mostly of the parasite hand and the enemies, are very well done and integrated in the live action. I was impressed that CGIs were used for all shots, even the wide ones, while it could have been too easy (but noticeable) to equip the actor with a cheap prosthetic hand. The parasite attacks are well-done and quite violent (slicing through flesh). But the big problem with Parasyte (especially the second part) is that it falls into the same trap as many other Japanese movies, which is over-explanation. For example when the main character does something his side-kick parasite-hand tells the audience what is happening. Or towards the end when the head parasite explain their motivation it lasts for ten minutes of useless repetition, while there are cleverer ways to make us understand the same thing with proper editing techniques for example. Those extremely long speeches and a series of multiple ending make that the second part of Parasyte is particularly painful to watch (2/10), while the surprise effect in the first part was making it bearable (5/10). I am convinced the whole thing could have been fitted in a single 2h30 feature.
Rating: 4 /10