For me it all began with a simple tweet of the movie critic Harry Knowles I got to read. He was watching, with his nephew I think, the Blu-Ray of DEATH KAPPA and writing in twitter that they were amazed (and that the kid was like "I can do that in my backyard" regarding some scenes of the movie!). Later I read in a Fangoria magazine that the director of "Kappa" wanted to make with it the TEAM America of Japanese monster movies! So I saw the trailer (which is quite awesome), realized it has the same producers of TOKYO GORE POLICE and THE MACHINE GIRL and added it to my list of must-wanted movies.
I just received the Blu-Ray last Thursday and on Friday night I finally got immerse in the world of the Kappas (it was the very last movie I saw in 2011!). The movie was everything I hoped for and then some. I mean, it's indeed a classic monster picture but there are certain elements that I didn't expect and that are pretty darn ridiculous, in the good and hilarious way! First of all, the look of the main character (a kappa – not *really* a monster but a "creature of legend", as we are told. A creature that actually knows sumo!) is likely the most bizarre you'll see in a 2010 picture! The Kappa is as ugly as f***, and once you have it dancing to some song for children, well you just have some truly WTF moment.
The movie is some sort of a spectacle of the "do it as you can" kind of filmmaking. I don't know if that makes any sense, but what I'm trying to say is that DEATH KAPPA is the kind of movie that doesn't give a s***. More than to TEAM America (that is a masterpiece of a movie with scale models), it is closer to SOUTH PARK. Remember those *real* explosions mixed with the animation from that TV show? Well, here we have that kind of thing with, for instance, images of buildings being destroyed. Plus, we have visible wires and all that kind of things. Certainly some will get it and go for it (as I did) and some will not at all, just like some will not forgive the completely over-the-top acting or just the entire first part of the movie (certainly the part without any of the Godzilla-like material).
And that first part of the movie delivers some WTF moments (like the one I mentioned) but it is mostly just something forgettable. We are here for the monster action and believe me, it is quite fun. The very last part, the monster fight, is quite the s***. Hell, we have the kappa (in its gigantic monster form, known as death kappa) showing us some fighting movements with a nunchaku-like weapon! It is just some very cool Japanese stuff.
