Sky High (2003)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Instant Favorite.

Awesome Movie

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

I had been looking forward to watching this film for a long time. I read that it wasn't the director's (Ryuhei Kitamura) best film and having seen 'Versus', 'Azumi' and 'Godzilla: final wars'. I think that this is true. The story is quite good, the acting is OK, much of the directing is good, sometimes very good, but surprisingly many of the fight scenes appear little more than opportunities for the antagonists to pose about like power rangers with swords, which had me thinking 'get on with it'. I expect a little bit of this type of thing in Japanese movies (which I am a big fan of), but it was beginning to verge on the annoying , thankfully it didn't spoil things completely. I don't expect none-stop action in Ryuhei Kitamura's movies, but the action scenes don't come close to those in 'Azumi' or 'Versus'.Very often I'll watch a film thinking this could of been a great film, but sadly we ended up with only a good film. 'Sky High' could of been great, but settles for good. One of the things I have come expect from the director is originality, sadly this film had little, borrowing heavily from other films. It was more like a mixture of 'Versus' and 'Ghost' with some other old ideas thrown in. I have seen lots of reviews praising this film (better than Azumi, no, better than Azumi 2, yes) but I believe anyone thinking of watching this film, having already seen any of the director's previous films should lower their expectations, otherwise they may be disappointed. Having said that I'm glad I watched it and I wouldn't want to put anyone off watching this film as the 122 min pass by quickly enough and they may find it well worth watching after all.

Kanzaki is a detective searching for a serial killer who is killing young women and keeping their hearts. On his wedding day his wife becomes the killer's next victim sending Kanzaki on a quest for revenge to murder the person who killed his wife. But there is so much more! What starts as a grizzly murder mystery/revenge film opens up to become a truly epic masterpiece. Part love story/supernatural ghost story/action movie. Sky High has it all. Superb cast and terrific acting. Cinematography is amazing, and I love the special effects. Sets are great and the soundtrack really gets you into the action scenes. My only complaint is that the movie does get a little long near the end. If you are looking for something different see this movie. You won't regret it. *** out of ****

A great looking & very well made film, yet still a little disappointing. Without the frenetic pace of Versus and the epic scope of Azumi it just seems to last about 20 minutes too long. The violence too is oddly muted - the heart-rippings are off screen for the most part and everything seems to cut away. It remains a tremendously original work though, an entertaining mix of mysticism, ghosts, cop/serial killer thrills, romance and diabolical ritualism. There's not too many movies you can say that about. The cast are all terrific and there are some very subtle special effects to enhance the storytelling. For me however, Versus remains the director's crowning achievement.

Although this isn't like 'Versus' or 'Azumi', it plays along the same sort of line with the action and story. The performances from the cast is intriguing; some are brilliant, full of life and inspiration, while some are undemanding, dragging the film along in a slow pace. The action's incredibly exhilarating, filled with impressive sword fights and stunning magic effects but this gets sadly overshadowed by the film's slow pace and some uninteresting characterisation.Overall, this is a visually adequate but slight action thriller with a good amount of action to make this overly bearable for fans of the 'Kill Bill' series.