Film #166 - Shenmue: The Movie (2001)
A lot of people would cry “foul” at my including a film like Shenmue: The Movie on this blog. For one thing, it was not released to theaters in the United States. For another, it is made up almost entirely of in-game footage from the Sega Dreamcast title Shenmue, rather than being a true adaptation of that material. The first is a non-issue because it was originally theatrically released in Japan. The second is trickier, but ultimately I decided that the source of the imagry was immaterial, so long as the film was theatrically released. I could, for instance, include the theatrical Battlestar Galactica movie, despite it getting most of its footage from episodes of the TV show. *
Shenmue tells the story of Ryo Hazuki, a young man whose father is murdered by the evil crime lord Lan Di during Lan Di’s search for a mystical mirror. In his attempt to exact vengeance, Ryo learns many secrets about his father’s past, the nature of the mirror and the part it may play in his own future.
The original video game was noted for its amazing, cinematic look, despite generating most of its cut scenes with game’s own engine (rendered on the fly by the game machine itself), rather than the more common full motion video (pre-rendered and merely played as a movie). It is, no doubt, due to this that the game’s creator Yu Suzuki and its publisher Sega decided to create this theatrical version.
Of course, compared to other computer generated films, even of the day, the visuals in Shenmue do not stand up. For a game, they were incredible. But for a film, their weaknesses are amplified. Textures are too fuzzy or lack detail. Facial expressions and body motions are limited, causing people to seem too stiff. Still, even given this, Shenmue: The Movie showcases the game’s stunning art direction and cinematography. The graphics may be of a lower quality than a full-fledged movie, but what they do with them is often just as powerful.
The story moves along surprisingly well, given the countless hours necessary to complete the game. Since most of the cutscenes are included, it’s not surprising that the main plot is clear, but what works just as well is the occasional need to show actual playtime. Suzuki employed expert players to acquire the interactive sequences needed and they are edited perfectly so as not to stand out too much from the cutscenes. (Most in-game pop-up graphics are eliminated.)
In the U.S., a DVD of Shenmue: The Movie is included with the XBOX release of Shenmue II as a means of catching up players who had not experienced the first game (which, given the sales levels of the Dreamcast,would be most of them) and it accomplishes that task admirably. Watching the film instead of playing the game does mean that a viewer will miss out on a lot of the details that made Shenmue the groundbreaking title it was, but they would at least be completely up to speed before embarking on the second part.
As a companion to the games, Shenmue: The Movie works really well. For those wanting to skip the first game (shame on you), it does a great job of summing up the action. For those who played it, it’s great for a refresher and takes a lot less time than playing it over again. For those unfamiliar with the games, it may prove a bit hard to keep up interest due to the idiosyncracies of the presentation. (Although a random sampling of my nieces and nephews had no trouble following along.) Regardless, Shenmue: The Movie is a remarkable little production, showing how far storytelling and craftsmanship can carry you, even when the technology isn’t up to snuff.
* I have not yet addressed the issue of movies that went straight-to-video or TV in their country of origin, but were theatrically released elsewhere. I could go either way.