It’s good to have a little free time again. I wanted to write about one of my favorite franchises. I need to first be up front and say that I am a pretty big Gantz fan, so with that in mind, check out the trailer below and we will see you on the other side.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuuHv1rZMhE&w=560&h=315]

First off, Gantz is broken into a couple films, and this is a review of the first one only. The trailer above showcases clips from both films. For those who aren’t familiar with the Gantz universe, it started as a manga series before being adapted into an anime series and eventually into live action films.

The premise of the franchise is that when people die they are taken to a room by a black orb and are given weapons to hunt aliens for points. I haven’t finished the manga series yet, I have completed the anime series a few times and am now working on the live action films.

The first film covers the first several games of the Gantz series. The live action adaptation has its ups and downs. As with any series, when condensing it down into a film you have to make sacrifices. In this case, the sacrifices came at the cost of character development. At times I felt they were stringing key scenes and buzz words from the anime series. It is probably some unfair harsh criticism, since I do hold the anime series in a pretty high regards from a character development stand point and also from a social commentary stand point. I felt they lost some of that in the first film.

The visual effects were pretty solid for the film, nothing to complain about. The film from an action stand point is also solid. If you are looking for an entertaining and action packed film, Gantz may be worth checking out. If you are a fan of deep character development, you may want to check out the anime series instead. The film takes a lot of inspiration from the manga series, even though the manga and anime are very similar for the first several volumes.

I think I am going to check out the second film at some point and see which direction it goes as well. It is possible the second film will focus on more of the character development too. I won’t know until I check it out 🙂 If you have watched Gantz, I would love to hear your point of view. Like I said, I am a little impartial because I enjoy character development above all else.