I Am a Hero (2015) - Japanese Zombie Movie!

[One Armed Boxer]

I got through watching this one recently, and would go so far to say that it's the most entertaining zombie flick I've seen since '28 Days Later' revived the genre back in 2002.  Forget about the toothless effort that was 'Train to Busan', this is exactly what a zombie movie should be!

Check out my full review here - 

http://cityonfire.com/i-am-a-hero-2015-review-japanese-zombie-horror/

[Takuma]

Saw and mini-reviewed this earlier this year... and then forgot to post the review

Here goes

I am a Hero (Japan, 2016) [VoD] - 3/5
Surprisingly decent, if uneven, big budget zombie film by director Shinsuke Sato, whose earlier films (Princess Blade, Gantz) range from terrible to horrible. It's a bit too long at 126 min, but features some stand out scenes like the edge-of-your-seat zombie outbreak on city streets. Oddly enough, the computer assisted splatter is exhilarating, with the best CGI blood I have ever seen complementing practical effects. Strangely though, the rest of the CGI (helicopters etc.) sucks as you'd expect.

[Writ]

On 6/5/2017 at 10:37 PM, Takuma said:

I am a Hero (Japan, 2016) [VoD] - 3/5
Surprisingly decent, if uneven, big budget zombie film by director Shinsuke Sato, whose earlier films (Princess Blade, Gantz) range from terrible to horrible. It's a bit too long at 126 min, but features some stand out scenes like the edge-of-your-seat zombie outbreak on city streets. Oddly enough, the computer assisted splatter is exhilarating, with the best CGI blood I have ever seen complementing practical effects. Strangely though, the rest of the CGI (helicopters etc.) sucks as you'd expect.

I agree with everything here but I would personally add a 0.5 to the score. There are moments of greatness such as the scene that has our protagonist running through the streets where people are just discovering the outbreak. The gore effects are really disgusting and are simultaneously scary and funny. The movie slows down a lot in the second half and brings in anime cliche plot points that go nowhere such as the cute girl who gains amazing zombie powers and yet can never use them when she needs to (which is a stupid plot point and pointless). But for all the fluff, there is heart wrenching character work, great action scenes and a likeable protagonist that keeps the movie afloat.

I disagree with One Armed Boxer here though and I think Train to Busan is the slightly superior movie if only because that movie runs along at a much more consistent pace and is more consistently suspenseful and exhilarating. Both are very flawed films, but both are very good entertainment and I really wouldn't mind more Asian zombie films if they continue to be this good.

[SMK]

I'm always looking for a good zombie movie to watch, in this case based on the scores of the film in this thread, a 'decent' zombie film will do the job too. 

[whitesnake]

Funimation live action release for July 24, 2018 - I Am A Hero (2015) - BD/DVD combo, in Japanese with English subtitles.  "Based on the celebrated horror manga I Am a Hero comes a live action film adaptation that's bound to get your blood flowing!  Thirty-five-year-old assistant manga artist Hideo Suzuki leads an unsatisfying tedious life.  But when a virus outbreak hits Japan turning the infected into mindless cannibals, it's his chance to become the hero he's always daydreamed he could be, even if it kills him."  - from https://www.funimation.com/shop/home-video/i-am-a-hero-live-action-combo-sub-only-bld-00730/ 

The director, Shinsuke Sato, also directed the upcoming live action Bleach movie.  Cast includes Masami Nagasawa (Gintama), Kasumi Arimura (Sekigahara), Yo Oizumi (live action Fullmetal Alchemist), Miho Suzuki (Colossal - which I really enjoyed), Nana Katase (20th Century Boys 1, 2, and 3), and Hisashi Yoshizawa (One Missed Call 1 and 2).