Sorry, this movie sucks

Admirable film.

A Masterpiece!

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Let me start out by saying I like all kinds of genres, but I don't really like drama films.This film was supposed to be a horror film.Well, I read a lot of reviews prior to watching this movies, even some from horror movie review sites/blogs, and now, having seen this movie, I'm thinking: "What??" First of all, this film is NOT a horror film, AT ALL. This is a sci-fi drama film. There is not an ounce of horror in here. If you were looking for that, then move along. Nothing to see here people.I started up this movie, expecting to see a horror film. I slowly realised that this is a drama film!Not what I expected, but it was a nice watch anyways, nothing I would re-watch later though. I recognized the guy from Burisuta here, so that was pretty nice, seeing a familiar face. 6*

Sorry about the pun, but I really did enjoy this Japanese take on Firestarter. The acting is uniformly excellent, especially by lead Akiko Yada as the pyrokinetic Junko, and Kaori Momoi who gives a wonderfully atypical and original performance as Inspector Ishizu. The film has so many nifty plot threads that I scarcely knew what to expect next. It begins as a typical Carrie-type shocker, becomes a tragic romance, then veers into crime drama by introducing a gang of thugs who appear to kill for thrills. After that, we have a few plot twists which involve snuff films, a corrupt police chief and a mysterious band of vigilantes named the Guardians. That's a lot of plot for a horror thriller, and the movie carries it off beautifully leading to a final, explosive and exciting showdown in an amusement park involving all the lead characters.The special effects in this movie are among the best I have seen, absolutely impeccable, and this helps the film considerably. The pace may seem slow at times for western audiences used to breakneck action, but it pays off by making the action scenes here stand out and resonate with the audience. At almost two hours, the film is long, but it is packed with enough interesting characters, events and revelations to keep most viewers thoroughly entertained.

Junko Aoki (Akiko Yada), is an average adopted shy young women, with one minor quirk: she can incinerate anyone in a ball of flame with but a thought. You see good old Junko was born with a certain brand of ESP called pyrokinesis. She falls for her co-worker Tada Kuzuki and feels a strong need to avenge the senseless death of Tada's younger sister when she's murdered by young street thugs. A chance encounter with a fellow ESPer, this one has telekinetic powers, an and offer to join a group of others called "The Guardians" starts a chain of events that will find poor Junko a target of the police. This film was like a Japanese version of "Firestarter", but a better and more mature take on the theme. VERY competently directed by Shusuke Kaneko and nicely acted, this rises above the source material to be an extremely enjoyable experience.My Grade: B+ DVD Extras: Intro & Subtitled Commentary with Director Shusuke Kaneko; 19 and a half minute Interview with Shusuke; a 17 minute Making of; 8 Theatrical Trailers; and Trailers for "Kunoichi: Lady Ninja", "Versus", "Pistol Opera", & "Samuri Fiction"

Crossfire, or Pyrokinesis, is a movie made by the person who resurrected the Gamera movies. If you have seen any of those, you know what Shusuke Kaneko can do with old ideas.This calls to question if Crossfire is a some sort of remake of Firestarter. The answer to this was best given by the director who stated that he was well aware of the movie Firestarter while making Crossfire, but didn't want to do a remake. Instead he was going for more of a mature story focusing on the character emotions to a greater extent, and leaving the pyrokinetics as a secondary aspect. The good news is that he succeeded. Crossfire provides characters that are very complex. Often in asian cinema the hero is not just your average "good person" as in many American movies of this type - instead you have someone walking in a sort of grey zone. This is the case with the lead character Junko. What she does to exemplify this is... well.. watch the movie.Needless to say, I liked the film a lot (even with difficult to read subtitling - white on white sometimes.) There has been a lot of crap following in the footsteps of The Ring trying to be Japanese horror hits, but Crossfire stands out with its engaging storyline and amazing special effects.