Knights of the Zodiac (2023) - Mackenyu Arata, Madison Iseman, Mark Dacascos, Sean Bean

[AlbertV]

Well this is a surprise. A live-action adaptation of the manga/anime Saint Seiya had wrapped production recently. 

The late Sonny Chiba's son, Mackenyu Arata, plays Seiya, a street orphan who embarks on a journey and must choose a side in the battle for the fate of Sienna (Jumanji:The Next Level actor Madison Iseman), a young girl who struggles to control her godly powers.

Sean Bean, Famke Janssen, Diego Tinoco, Nick Stahl and Mark Dacascos co-star with Tomasz Baginski helming and stunt/fight coordinating from Andy Cheng

https://www.darkhorizons.com/cast-set-for-live-action-saint-seiya-film/

(This may need to be moved to the Modern martial arts section, but IDK)

Edited April 4, 2023 by AlbertV

[DarthKato]

Didn't see this coming. I've read a bit of the manga( What I read was pretty good), so I'll be keeping an eye out on this. 

[AlbertV]

 

[AlbertV]

Andy Cheng talks about what to expect to Knights of the Zodiac as he is the film's stunt and fight coordinator.

https://variety.com/2021/film/asia/andy-cheng-asian-superhero-mackenyu-saint-seiya-knights-of-the-zodiac-1235077699/

[DrNgor]

I expect this to be huge in Brazil, providing it's good. It's had a big following in Brazil for decades now.

But did Saint Seiya do well enough Stateside to warrant an adaptation at this point?

[Super Ninja]

On 9/30/2021 at 7:28 PM, AlbertV said:

Andy Cheng talks about what to expect to Knights of the Zodiac as he is the film's stunt and fight coordinator.

https://variety.com/2021/film/asia/andy-cheng-asian-superhero-mackenyu-saint-seiya-knights-of-the-zodiac-1235077699/

So Shang-chi really might turn out to be a game changer, the BO numbers certainly help. I'm glad all the hard work put into action wasn't in vain, respect to Andy for doing this the right way.

As for Knights, I'll be adding it to my coming soon-must watch list.

[Super Ninja]

 

[DarthKato]

On 12/2/2022 at 10:25 AM, Super Ninja said:

 

Damn, that looks sick! Are we actually gonna finally see a well made Hollywood manga adaption!? 

[Super Ninja]

 

17 hours ago, DarthKato said:

Damn, that looks sick! Are we actually gonna finally see a well made Hollywood manga adaption!? 

I'm not entirely convinced, been tricked by a trailer too many times. I do share your enthusiasm though! 

[DarthKato]

2 hours ago, Super Ninja said:

 

I'm not entirely convinced, been tricked by a trailer too many times. I do share your enthusiasm though! 

Yeah, when it comes to Hollywood, it’s best to always have a little doubt in the back of your mind.

[whitesnake]

Brand new trailer - 

 

[DarthKato]

On 3/24/2023 at 9:28 PM, whitesnake said:

Brand new trailer - 

 

Not going to lie, that looks pretty damn sick. Did Hollywood finally get an anime adaption right!? 

[Agent U]

Knights of the Zodiac is the first anime that I remember liking.

But I hated the recent Netflix reboot.

And I always feel live action version don't fit this type of material. Probably because I've never seen one that was at least decent.

This doesn't look half bad judging by the trailer, but I don't see people rushing to movie theatres over it either.

[laagi]

The trailer was terrible IMHO. But I never watched the anime so what do I know. The movie however already gets trashed by fans and early reviewers so that's not good a sign. I'll probably still watch this out of curiosity only.

[whitesnake]

Sony Pictures is releasing Knights of the Zodiac in the U.S. on Blu-ray on July 11, 2023.  More info at https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=32681

[DiP]

This looks like another b-movie junk. Mark Dacascos should fire his agent.

[Drunken Monk]

What happens when someone pours millions of dollars into a pseudo-Power Rangers movie with no A-lister actors? You get a mixed bag that's ultimately a fun time.
Forgive me, I haven't read the Manga so I don't know how close this adaptation is to the source material. The good thing is that you don't really need to know the Manga. I'm sure there are tons of references (Meteor Fist, maybe?) but they're not obscure enough to weigh the film down.

What we get is a simple "superhero-in-training" film. An origin story if you will. A young guy is recruited to be the bodyguard to the reincarnation of the goddess Athena. There are also bad guys led by Famke Jansen of all people. There are other random plot points (did Nick Stahl really need to be in this film?) but it never really gets tied up in its convolutions.

The good news is that there's action. And bloody good action at that. I'm not kidding. The fight sequences in this film are excellent and some of the best 2023 has to offer. They're cartoony and comic book-ish but there's also some really decent ground stuff. Some really nice kung fu-styled exchanges. There is wire work though. A LOT of wire-work.
It says a lot when Mark Dacascos has one of the worst fight scenes in a movie. But even then, his characters isn't meant to be a hand-to-hand guy. He's the weapons dude.

At the end of the day, it's cheesy nonsense but for me, it's entertaining cheesy nonsense. I certainly wasn't bored and I found it to be miles better than the Power Rangers reboot from a few years ago.

If you only watch action films like The Grandmaster or Warrior, you won't like this one. But if you like silly, comic book shit, sit back and enjoy the ride.