Kingdom is a fantastic live action adaptation.

 

Yeah, you guessed it. This is yet another blog post about a successful live-action adaptation of a manga. It's only natural, considering the fact that I have set myself the goal of compiling a list of the best adaptations that have come to be. Kingdom was directed by Shinsuke Sato, a man whom has become the king of adaptations, and is based upon the manga written by Yasuhisa Hara. Hara also wrote the screenplay for the movie and its' sequel which is a huge plus. 

Kingdom faithfully follows the story of the manga upon which it is based (Something Hollyweird producers and showrunners should learn to do). In the Qin Dynasty, two young war orphans, Shin/Xin and Hyou/Piao, meet by chance after having been bought by the same man. The two bond over a shared dream of one day becoming great generals and escaping their low status as slaves. Together, they train, constantly sparring with sticks and practice swords. One day, Chang Wen Jun/Shoubunkyun visits the village in search of soldiers to aid the king of Qin, Eisei/Ying Zheng. He takes an interest in Hyou and asks him to go with him. Hyou does so, leaving Shin alone to train his skills. Some time later, a mortally wounded Hyou turns up at Shin's door, informing Shin that Eisei's brother, Cheng Jiao/Seikyou has attempted to usurp the throne. Hyou also urges Shin to go to a meet up point marked on a map in his possession before passing away. Shin takes Hyou's sword and runs towards the meeting point, turning to discover the village has been set on fire and the villagers murdered. Following a brief skirmish with some bandits, Shin meets He Liao Diao/Karyoten before making his way to the meeting point. He is met with the shocking revelation that Hyou was a double of king Eisei, whom is waiting at said meeting point. After a struggle against an assassin, Shin teams up with the king in order to take back the throne. 

As I stated at the beginning of this blog post, Shinsuke Sato has become the king of live-action adaptations. He knows how to direct great movies whilst being faithful to the source material and drawing out the best performances from talented casts. The tight, if somewhat simple at times, script written by Yasuhisa Hara definitely helped as it made the movie much more streamlined and smooth. The pacing was excellent and I wasn't bored at all throughout the over 2 hours runtime. I also appreciated the subtle nod to Akira Kurosawa with the horizontal wipe transitions. 

The production values are sublime. The cinematography is majestic with a dynamic array of moving and static shots being used to tremendous effect. There's a lot of picturesque wide shots that showcase the beauty of the landscape such as the forests, hills and mountains. Lot's of reaction shots that highlight the drama at given points and a tremendous use of lighting to convey different feelings and emotional tones. My favourite shot is perhaps an over the shoulder shot that peeks over from behind Shin to focus on the king, Eisei standing in a meditation like way in the middle of the screen, but away from the foreground with the gorgeous sunlight shining through the opening in the cave's ceiling. 

Props have to be given to the wardrobe department, the props department and set designers and decorators. They've done a fantastic job at replicating ancient China in a such a way that Kingdom could easily be mistaken for a Chinese movie. It helps that they filmed in China before finishing production with a month and a half shoot in Japan. The designs for the mountain people and their home were really unique, being influenced by a combination of African and Chinese culture. I especially liked the rather intimidating appearance of the mountain king, Yang Duan He/Youtanwa.

The fight sequences are pretty solid with a good variety of moves being used, including some not necessarily practical flashiness that is often found in movie choreography. I enjoyed a lot of Shin's fights in particular, especially the climatic fight and the first assassin fight that saw some kicks incorporated into the sequence. The large scale battle scenes feel grandiose which is a great thing. What I didn't like about the choreography was the abundance of wire work, especially the old art of leaping several feet in the air before slashing adversaries down. Also, a negative for me was the second assassin fight, it got a bit too ridiculous and over the top for me. Still, it gave the movie a Wuxia-like feeling and I can't fault them for trying something even if I personally don't like the outcome. 

Kento Yamazaki was overall, a reliable, solid and likable protagonist as Shin. He performed admirably in the fight sequences and his enthusiasm was contagious. At times, he did seem a little over the top and exaggerating his reactions and expressions, perhaps imitating the manga or anime in a way that doesn't transale well into live-action. 

Ryo Yoshizawa did remarkably well in the dual roles of Eisei and Hyou. He managed to make the pair distinct characters, using different expressions and demeanours for both and also changing the voice. He shone in the battle scenes, portraying a believable leader whilst keeping an air of elegance. Yoshizawa and Yamazaki showcased fantastic chemistry and have become reliable when it comes to adaptations, no matter the role they're cast in. 

Masami Nagasawa has never looked more attractive then she did in Kingdom. She convincingly portrayed the mountain king, Youtanwa as a strong leader that'll do whatever it takes to protect her people. With the aid of a voice changer and an awesome costume, she was intimidating in her introduction before becoming a likable, beautiful badass in battle. 

Everyone in the cast did a terrific job. Takao Osawa towered over the rest of the cast as general Ouki, fitting the manga character to a tee. He had a Dynasty Warriors-like moment in which he swept away a row of enemies with one swing of his glaive. Kanata Hongo was excellent as always as the main antagonist, Seikyou. He also seems fun to root against. Kanna Hashimoto made an adorable Karyoten, I loved how cute she looked in the owl costume and she had moments to shine. Tak Sakaguchi was once again badass as a big threat to the protagonists, Saji. His fight with Shin might be my favourite overall due to how emtional it is and the stakes involved. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Kingdom. It's an easy recommendation to make if you like action, movies based on history with a slice of fantasy or just entertaining, dumb fun movies. Just ignore the cringe-inducing talk of the glories of the empire to come as we all know how China turned out.