Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Anssi Vartiainen It's Christmas time in Tokyo and as three homeless companions wander the streets, digging through trash for dinner, they come across an abandoned baby. The spirit of Christmas drives them to pick her up and the rest of the movie details their journey to find the parents of the little tyke.This might very well be the most down to earth movie director Satoshi Kon has ever made, which is saying a lot about his usual fare. It contains no supernatural elements, no crazy trips into the cracking psyche of man, nothing really out of the ordinary. Yet it is strange enough so as to be recognizable. The plot relies heavily on happy coincidences, but often enough those coincidences are so out there that they have to be intentional, making the seeming laziness of the script into a stylish feature. I certainly had no complaints, the whole story was a blast to follow, especially because you really couldn't predict where it was going.But, beneath all the craziness and oddness, Tokyo Godfathers is a character film and it pulls it off fantastically. All three of the eponymous "godfathers" are deeply layered, tragic, funny and, beyond all else, interesting personalities. Each one is as different from one another as day is from night, yet you can see what pulls them together. They're as interesting separately as they are in a group, but it's the group that drives the individuals to do pretty much anything. I was actually sad to see the film end, because it meant saying goodbye.Tokyo Godfathers is an excellent film on many levels. It is a superb animated film, fantastic characters study and actually a pretty neat Christmas film as well. Definitely worth checking out.

tieman64 A loose remake of John Ford's "3 Godfathers", Satoshi Kon's "Tokyo Godfathers" sees a group of homeless characters stumbling upon an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve. The trio embark on a quest to reunite the baby with its parents, get into several dangerous predicaments and reveal secrets about their pasts as their journey progresses.Though it avoids some sentimentality, "Tokyo Godfathers" is the most contrived of Satoshi Kon's four animated features. One is always aware of where the director's plot is going, few moments surprise, moments of pathos feel far too calculated, Satoshi offers no real insights into homelessness and his visuals are mostly generic. Elsewhere the usual Christmas values are espoused - family, love, kindness, friendship, don't stab your father – though Satoshi undermines them all with a bit more grit and grime than is typical of the genre (one of our heroes, for example, is a transsexual). On the plus side, the film offers some nice Christmas ambiance, seems to be channelling Neil Jordan and Satoshi is always strong with climaxes.5/10 – Worth one viewing.

Sean Lamberger The most accessible film of director Satoshi Kon's all-too-brief anime career. Where Perfect Blue and Paprika are more adventurous and challenging, they're also difficult to sit back and enjoy in a traditional sense without falling into a deep state of analysis. This one, of three bickering homeless chums who find an infant girl in the garbage, retains the quirks, charms and emotional punch of Kon's other works without challenging quite so many conventions. Sweet, funny and grounded, it's constantly flashing a dry wit and, although it often tugs at the heart strings, things never get overly soft or weepy. The trio of leads are diverse and interesting, each with an onion skin of personal history to explore, and their hunt for the child's parents amidst the overpopulation of a major world metropolis constantly jolts out in surprising new directions. Beautifully written, drawn and animated, it can also be a bit static and randomly fortuitous.

dcfemella What do you think when you pass a homeless person? I know things that I have thought in the past are:They are drug addicts Veterans who have been wronged Good-for-nothing bums "Tokyo Godfathers" was co-directed by Satoshi Kon, "Millenium Actress" and "Paprika," and Shogo Furuya, Animator Director of "Millenium Actress" and "Spirited Away." It deals with three hobos who find a baby abandoned in the trash bins and the mishaps and adventures they have in trying to find the baby's mother. The three of them are as different as you can imagine. One is a man, a girl, and a transvestite. We discover their stories and dreams during the search, and how the baby brings them all luck and hope in different ways.I think that all parents should sit down with their children and watch this movie. It will teach them that you shouldn't be so quick to label people and be judgmental about their lives. Also, that they always have a chance to turn things around. Everyone is going to make mistakes in life because as we all know, no one is perfect. The people who don't give up and try to make up for these mishaps are the ones who are the real winners. This movie represents this and makes you feel positive that you can always be reborn. As that saying goes, "You can sleep when you're dead."Another reason that I loved the film is that it showed that if someone really loves you, he/she will always forgive you. In the end, life is about second chances and forgiveness. You will not hold grudges for the rest of your life when you love because as another of my favorite saying goes, "Love is never having to say you're sorry."The movie showed great life lessons in a way that children and adults alike could enjoy. My children and I laughed throughout the movie and never wondered when it would be over. It's definitely a movie that I would add to my collection of treasured films.