Remember that old video game format of beat the boss, but wait - he's back again and this time he's bigger! You know the type: The kind of game that you have to battle the same boss again and again, wondering if this time he's really gone. That's Gantz in a nutshell, only it's a game you'd never want to play because the weapons are illogical, frustrating garbage, and because it would be a real nightmare.
As others have said, the cgi animation is on a different level and is stunning in its execution. Creative camera angles and use of lighting make the environments and characters pop with a distinct style that is reminiscent of the final fantasy movies, only with more demons and a lot more blood; buckets of blood.
The story centres around a young man who dies, only to find himself resurrected in a deadly game where he and others are pitted against demons, given the glimmer of hope that he can be reunited with his brother if he does well. Taking place over the course of only one session of the game, the film does a decent job of introducing the mysterious black ball that bears the name Gantz and the rules of the game. Unfortunately, the game itself becomes more interesting than any of the characters themselves, and the viewer learns quickly not to be attached to most of them in the process.
Despite having a story that is simplistic, it is not that which detracts most from the experience, but the tedious delay with which most elements of the action suffer. The guns used by the players, for example, are not projectile weapons but energy based and have an infuriating delay between firing the weapon and producing any result. Characters stand for long periods of time, pointing, but not using their weapons, at the enemies around them. More than incompetence, the delays seem to be deliberate decisions by the director to increase tension, but these delays instead result in breaking the viewer out of the moment. The heroic and emotional death of one character becomes comedy as he succeeds in killing his opponent, but only seconds after he has already died.
Taking into account the style and visual power Gantz brings to the table, the film comes out ahead as a worthy addition to the Gantz anime family. It's a story that is easy to forget, but an experience that will likely make an impression, even if only for its bizarre renditions of Japanese demons.
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