A sufficiently absurd live-action adaptation of a long-running manga / anime series, in which a giant, yellow, tentacled, smiley-visaged alien spends a term as visiting professor at a Japanese middle school. Having already annihilated a majority of the moon, he's promised to do the same to Earth if he survives the class, though a core subject is his various weaknesses and how to exploit them. So basically, pop culture in Japan at its usual level of overly-specific weirdness. It's actually a great recipe for fresh stories - downtrodden kids from a discarded class learning the ins and outs of the assassination game at a very young age - but often gets tripped up by its own rules and a desire to be more than just a silly dash of action nonsense. The CG can be interesting, too, but there's so much exposition that, as a non-native speaker, I was always too focused on the subtitles to properly appreciate it. Several desperate attempts to make an emotional connection near the end seem misguided and ineffective, merely distracting from the main attraction. Too much fake heart and not enough real heat.
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PennyReviews7 May 2019Assassination Classroom followed the anime close by, but they did messed up the ending so the story will fit the film.
The story started good, presenting the universe and the characters. The cast is an all star cast, although the main character was much more manly than the one in the anime. However, he did a good job with his acting nevertheless.
The film's plot was good until it reached a point when the story was rushed to finish. That deprived the story of the teacher-students dynamics that the movie needed to explain some of the events that happened.
So, good performances, surprisingly good CGI, nice action scenes, but rushed ending and lack of emotions: six out of ten. -
Reno-Rangan14 March 2017I had zero idea about the film. Anybody who reads the title correctly would think it might be a horror or a crime-thriller. It was the same case for me as well. This is a strong name for a children's film, particularly in the west. Remember 'Jack the Giant Killer' was renamed as '...Giant Slayer' for the same reason. But adults do not care, especially the youngsters. Such films are measured by how much blood shed. Anyway, it was well designed. From the story to the characters.
So this was adapted from a famous manga series of the same name. Recently an anime series as well made out of it and was received so well. The creativity has no limits, that's how Japanese manga and animes flourished when the western world shifted their focus on 3D animation. Even the Marvel and DC made a bigger stride in motion pictures. This is an alien invasion theme, but very unique, probably only kind. It is more like a computer game than a film. Just take a gun and have a great time killing the strange creature(s). Just like most of the films in the 'Resident Evil' franchise.
From the director of 'Oppai Valleyball'. The film is about the students and their class E from a junior high school that was invaded by an alien intelligence. He who claims the responsibility for most part of the moon's disappearance and pledged to do the same to earth by the end of the year. Now with the full support of government and armed agencies, the class E students are given full license to kill the alien and win the great prize. Provided them human friendly weapons and assassination training, the game begins.
❝Even though he's a powerful who can destroy the world, everyone is saying he's quite good at teaching.❞
By learning the storyline, you might think it is easy, but that's the trick part. Because Korosensei (the name was given to it by class E students) is lightening fast and no bullet can hit him. You can call it something like Japanese version of 'The Flash'. Even he looks like a smile emoji with weird smiling sound, but the facial expression changes according to the situations like the different emoticons.
The concept of the film definitely looks great for manga and anime, but live-action is different and they did make it work. The film was close to two hours, and they filled it with quite interesting stuffs. That means I did not face any trouble with the film's pace. Most of the story takes place in the classroom and its surroundings. Great character, as well, well developed story at different levels to make it a good entertaining product.
Despite Korosensei is the villain, he was quite likable character. His dialogues, his dedication in teaching, he can be easily forgiven, but his threats are very serious. It's a matter of defending the earth and human pride. So that's the major difference between humans, including class E and him. But all this is in a comedy film, that's the great about the film. Honestly, I did not get a few jokes, as they are meant very close to the Japanese sense of humour. But still a very enjoyable film by outsiders.
There's already a sequel was made by the same director called 'The Graduation', but it was not as successful as this one. I can't rule out anything till I saw it myself. Hope I would see it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, if you haven't seen it yet, surely worth an attempt. But don't expect too much fancy like the western sci-fis. If you are familiar with the Japanese style of storytelling, you would know your limit. Like many manga adaptations to the big screens, I'm very thankful. Because I'm unlucky to get a chance to read those mangas as I can't get them anywhere near me. Anyway, I'm not a book guy, but films. So this format works for me and I'm loving it.
7/10 -
nickyeskens8 January 2017Let me start of with saying that I have seen the Anime, and I didn't know it existed until i tumbled on this movie.
I had no clue what to expect when I decided to watch this movie, I was little worried to be honest. It's based on an Anime so i realized it might get crazy, and it did. The first 30 minutes of the movie or so were very enjoyable. It had a solid pace and was pretty funny. But after that I felt it was losing itself trying to tell the stories of too many characters. I found myself confused to who the main characters where and had a hard time bonding with the students, while that was obviously the intention. The only character I bonded with was the teacher. Towards the movie got a lot better, and everything seemed to be coming together again. The dialogue was a little vague sometimes, as if they were trying to push life lessons on you (But it might have been the translation).
The movie was enjoyable, but i had a hard time figuring out what kind of movie they wanted people to see. It was too silly to be serious, too serious to be silly. In the end this movie was just trying to push too much genre's at one, and it didn't work out. It was worth the watch, and I will suggest to people who like Anime, Crazy B-movies or just this type of aesthetic. Watch this movie with realizing this is based on an Anime. Just like making a movie based on a TV-Show its hard to push in a story in about 2 hours.
6,5 -
mister_bateman31 July 2020I couldn't make it through this dumb pile of garbage. Had to turn it off during the first half. It was not fun, or interesting, or entertaining, it was just painful to watch. I was actually open to the basic premise though. The first 15 minutes when the scenario was set up, I thought "okay, weird, let's see where this is going..." - but it went downhill from there fast when they kept introducing even weirder and weirder new elements and characters out of the blue in a "deus ex machina" kind of way. Especially the characters were unbearable and just really gay.
If you don't want to give yourself an aneurysm, stay away. -
kluseba25 June 2020Most people who come here complain about the movie and express almost religiously how much better the original manga and anime are. I'm not a big fan of comics and animation films that mostly have children and teenagers as target audience. However, I had heard about Assassination Classroom and wanted to give it a shot. It turns out that watching this live action science-fiction comedy spectacle was the right decision for me. I can't compare it to the manga and anime but highly recommend this outstanding movie to fans of Japanese culture.
For those who aren't familiar with the story, this first of two movies talks about a mysterious creature with supernatural powers that has destroyed half of the Moon and menaces to destroy the Earth next year. However, this creature has made a deal with the Japanese government: it wants to work as a teacher for an isolated class of hopeless delinquents and undesirables of an elite junior high school. The creature even offers the students the opportunity to kill it and earn a hefty reward. It teaches different techniques, strategies and plans to see the assassination through. The mysterious creature is assisted by a careful government official and a seductive Serbian assassin who starts working as an English teacher. The class also welcomes some new students such as a radical loner who had been suspended from school for a violent brawl, an artificial intelligence presented as a hot-tempered girl living in a box and a strange youngster who claims to be the creature's blood brother. There are also influences from the outside who plan on getting involved such as a brutal drill instructor. As if all those distractions weren't enough, the students also need to study for their mid-term exams and deal with their everyday lives. The biggest secret however is what the creature's true motives are.
This movie convinces on numerous levels. The story is quirky, diversified and creative as an unsuspecting viewer couldn't possibly foresee what might happen next in this highly entertaining potpourri. The characters are unique, memorable and have interesting dynamics with one another. The special effects are employed with care but thankfully not as exaggerated as in many other live action movies.
Assassination Classroom might be difficult to digest for Western viewers who aren't used to quirky, fast and experimental live action cinema. This film features science-fiction, action, comedy, drama, horror and slice of life elements in this exact order of preference and proportion. I got used to the movie's unique style right from the start and the film went by much faster than its running time seems to indicate. This charismatic frantic pace can't be reproduced by a manga or anime. Please be aware that this isn't a stand-alone movie since its sequel Assassination Classroom: Graduation tells the second and final part of the story. -
demouser-0302730 October 2020I can't describe in word ! But if you are Looking for Life Lessons, Education with Fun - I'm Giving you my words You Wouldn't Regret Giving this Fantastic- Awesome Anime !
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clarisitamaury25 September 2018Me encanto el reparto!!! Muy acertado, y la trama es bastante buena