Being the movie adaptation of a legendary manga, the plot of this live action would need a 1 page discussion at least. But here's the rub! The movie does absolutely no justice to the cultural reality it was born in. Tomorrow's Joe is originally a story of social redemption that features a very self destructive antihero; it's not your average story of poor guy becomes rich and popular thanks to his fists and strength of will. It is, or I'd better say it SHOULD BE, the mirror of a period, a true social condemnation embodied by a derelict guy who can express himself only on the ring. This is where the film fails big time. The character of Joe is so scantily written one needs to be a seer to understand his motives – unless you've read all 20 volumes of the manga, in which case you'll probably be disappointed anyway by its brevity.
The direction seems to have been so preoccupied with the tiniest visual detail that it completely forgot to tell a story. The same applies to all the characters, whose arc is touched so superficially I had to appeal to my imagination to fill all the glaring voids.
Not to mention the boxing aspect itself. While the actors have done an amazing job at preparing for a difficult athletic task, the combats themselves are visually beautiful but tremendously repetitive. Since so much time is dedicated to the fight, I was hoping for more moves and tricks that never came. Once again, in their anxiety to be loyal to the manga they concentrated on the outer picture, instead of creating a movie which could stand on its own feet, for viewers who weren't yet born in the 60ies or have never heard of Yabuki Joe.
So why am I giving this film such a high overall rate?
Let's say this is my way to pay homage to the cast, mostly Tomohisa and Yusuke Iseya, and the director of photography. As you may have inferred from the premise of this review, I do not belong to the group of those who think Yamapi's just another pretty idol who can't act. On the contrary, I maintain he has what in theatre jargon is called the "physique du role", regardless of the part he plays. He does not express much with his face, he actually uses his whole body to enter the character. From Akira who flaps his arms like a weird butterfly to the über cool flying doctor, from the basketball court to the boxing ring he's always extremely believable. I could mention more roles, but it won't be necessary, I stand my ground: here, he IS Joe. If he had been given the chance, he would have created an unforgettable character.
Iseya did an amazing job too, despite the sad lack of depth the character he portrays is condemned to by the terrible script.
As for photography, it's absolutely stunning. Colours, angles, close-up shots and flashbacks are spot on. It does have a flaw, though, directly related to the abovementioned necessity to stay visually true to the manga: at times it looks as though the story took place in the 20ies, when in fact it's the 60ies and 70ies, as proved by the fact that people watch television, among other things.
The music falls into the same trap, but I'm willing to forgive this detail, since it's very beautiful and suits the atmosphere perfectly.
I may rewatch this movie in the future, just for the visual. I'm not sure I'm willing to recommend it, unless you're familiar with the characters and don't care for the plot.
Let's say that this movie has done nothing to ignite my interest for the sport, but it has confirmed my undying love for Yamashita Tomohisa – as if that ever needed validation.
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My main problem with it was that altough it was deep and serious there were many elements that stood out and damaged the atmoshphere. I think crazy freakish looking coach didnt fit the movie at all. He was supposed to be there for guidance but in the end did very little.
And when your main protagonist is extremely silent you need charismatic people around him to make the movie more engaging.
The fights themselves were also too focused on a single boxing move so they felt kinda silly at times. The overdone slow motion effects didnt help either. On top of that the whole thing was really silent and could have used some music.
Also i found the set up for the ending(not the ending itself) pretty underwhelming. I would have hoped for something more special.
I would have prefered if they had tried to make this movie super realistic dark and gritty set in modern times rather than the early 20th century but it is still enjoyable and worth a watch.
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It starts off with Joe getting into trouble and events lead him to the prison where he begins to follow the lessons from the "old man" on boxing. After getting into a couple more fights he meets the guy who makes him want to really get into boxing by basically Joe just wanting to just beat him.
It shows the intense training and how hard they work up for their fight together.
If there was much music in the movie I didn't really notice since I was too busy watching all the fighting haha.
Some scenes might be a little sad but the ending and movie as a whole I'd say was good.
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The story in itself isn't only a story about just fighting. It's about living, and getting up again after each hit; it's about life in the slums too, although this part wasn't as developped as I would've wanted it to be, but well, that wasn't the main part of the movie anyway. This movie is for you if:
-you like box
-you don't really like box but you do like a movie full of adrenaline
-yamapi ~~
- you want to stop a little time to fully immerse you in an intense movie~
Ect..
Well, it's a nice movie, but I'd say you have to watch it even if just for the actors since their transformation is so great. I mean, they really looked like they were on the verge of dying...!
I hesitated a very long time before watching it because it didn’t seem like my cup of tea. but now that I did I'm not regretting it at all, It was a great and intense movie!
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AMAZING!.... thats all
First things first... this film is STUNNING! 🥊✨Everything about it is beautiful and really brings the manga/anime to life in this adaptation. The ACTING is impeccable, every scene flows beautifully and is so believable for me as a viewer.
Next, I love the COLOR, and lack there-of. Every color that is present in this film provides so much purpose and passion for the story, from the boxing gloves all the way to the dresses and suits. Which leads me to the costume&design, that is simply perfect for placing the audience in that time period.
Lastly, the CINEMATOGRAPHY, which again contains amazing angles, close-up shots, and rack focus throughout the entirety of the film.
It's really for these three reasons that I think this film is sports masterpiece!
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Ashita no Joe has joined my favorites list of sports movies, ranking up there with We Are Marshall, Invincible, Glory Road, Cinderella Man, Your Eyes Tell, and Buzzer Beat. The haters can say what they will about Tomohisa Yamashita, but he gave a pretty outstanding performance, the way he always does. He will never be a hugely emotive actor. Subtlety is how he performs and it works for him, just like it did here. But I think the performer who really stood out is Iseya Yusuke as Rikiishi. I connected with his character on a deep level. To go that extra mile of crazy to participate in a fight, to lose that much weight, to train that much and for so long for that one fight with that one guy, that's the dedication that only athletes can understand on an intimate level. I didn't want either of them to lose in that fight, that's how invested I was in both of them. Hats off to Tomo and Yusuke for whatever amazing training they underwent for this film. It paid off, in spades.
As far as the characters are concerned, Joe's interesting in that I didn't always like him. He felt like a one-trick pony with his counter-punch. It felt like a cheap gimmick done only for show. Which considering Joe's arrogant nature, it probably was. But he finally manned up at the end and fought what felt like a real fight, finally becoming a true boxer, or at least starting down the road to becoming one. Whereas once I got to know Rikiishi better, once he started training in earnest, I really liked him. He just seemed like an all-around good guy, and a much more well-balanced man emotionally than Joe who was all hyper with bitterness and angst.
If you love serious sports dramas, particularly boxing dramas, then you'll probably enjoy Ashita no Joe. Romance had no place in this movie and I'm glad because it would have seriously detracted from the story. In the end, in spite of my being a huge Tomohisa Yamashita fan, anyone could have played Joe and I still would have loved the movie. It's awesome that he's in it, but that's how much I loved the story, that it didn't hinge on a certain actor playing the lead role.
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