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Moon Child
Director: Takahisa Zeze
Number of Items: 1
Format: Color, Widescreen
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Running Time: 119 minutes
Studio: TLA Releasing
Product Group: DVD
Release Date: 2004-05-18

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"surprisingly good, if a little doom-filled"
The set-up, in 50 words or less: Adorable street orphans innocently assist a vampire, who then joins their cute little gang and looks out for them as they grow up. But the streets get meaner as the kids get older. Gun-fu and blood-sucking ensue.

Fifteen minutes into this film, my beloved declared it, "The greatest movie ever made. Ever. About anything." We agreed (to my frank surprise) that we adored all the androgynous Asian guys in their ultra-mod clothes and eyeliner; we laughed out loud at the boys' antics; and we were mutually besotted with Kei -- the gosh-darned cutest vampire that ever did kick ass in the future while wearing an oversized Members Only jacket.

Kei-as-resident-vampire was a flawless interpretation of "Armand" from Interview with the Vampire. Oh God, but he was perfect. The guy looks fifteen, he's heroin-chic skinny, angst-ridden and tough-as-leather-pants when need-be. He's got style, he's got panache ... and he's got Sho, his (you're-not-fooling-anyone, you know) "friend" with a passion for vinyl, braids and eye make-up.

And so the movie romps along for the first 35 minutes or so -- guns blazing, mascara running, swishy-coats swishing -- and then ... it stops. What began as a light-hearted, flashy comedy suddenly shifts into a different gear altogether. Woe ensues. Lots and lots of hearty woe. It's interesting woe; it's well-drawn woe; but it's woe, and I didn't get sucked into this movie for woe. By the end of the thing I was positively bitter about all the woe, even though it did try to end on a more or less "up" note. Kind of. I guess.

All in all, this was a surprisingly good movie -- if psychologically jarring. The emotional WAY UP HIGH and then DOWN, DOWN, down, *crash* was disconcerting but I can't say it wasn't effective. I only wish that Moon Child could have been either one thing or the other -- a slick supernatural gun-fu flick OR a sad post-modern fable about the dreary hopelessness of life's painful, doomed progression towards death. And doom. With death. And sorrow. With a dash of WOE.

Anyway, if you're game for some intriguing foreign fodder, pick it up. If you'd rather not contemplate misery before bedtime but you need some fangy Asian cheese, leave *Moon Child* on the shelf and grab *The Vampire Effect* instead.




"The Real Deal"
Dont belive the other reviews, that say this movie is bad because it's not. The people that write that say it because they hate Gackt and everything he does.

Kei (HYDE) is a vampier that losses his "partner" and feels alone and hopeless. A young Sho finds him and rescuse him with his friendship. Later on Sho grows old (Gackt) and learns the ways of Kei. They, along with Toshi, Shinji and Son rise as small-time gagsters while living in the streets and killing for sport and survival. Over time, their tight friendship is corrupted because of their rivalry.

The movie was really intresting, the beggining is very funny and the shot outs are awesome. Whene its about to reach the end it gets slow and depressing. The thing I didnt like was the ending, which fell short for this movie. HYDE and Gackt's acting is awesome, I never expected it to be good. Also, the score is fantastic. If you are a HYDE fan, an L'Arc-en-Ciel fan, Gackt fan or of vampiers, this movie is for you. If your looking for something to scare you, this is definetly not your movie, try ringu, ju-on or spiral.




"Even Gackt and HYDE Couldn't Save This Movie"
Let me start by saying that I bought this movie only because I'm a big Gackt fan and a fan of HYDE, too. I have to say, I wasn't dissapointed by them. I was dissapointed by the plot. Or should I say, the lack of a plot.

The movie's main plot was very weak at best and the whole thing lacked any sort of cohesion at all. I would have to describe it as, 'Some guys and an incidental vampire shoot at each other and they all end up dead.'

The whole vampire angle was the only thing that interested me, but it was almost ignored until the last fifteen minutes of the movie. And when it was finally remembered, it was done in a very cliche manner with the ever-dreaded vampire-angst. Perfectly willing to gun people down, we still don't like drinking blood.

So, in closing, I would only reccomend it based on a love of Gackt and/or HYDE. Gackt looked very cute throughout the entire movie and HYDE looked nice most of the time. If you're just looking for a good movie, don't waste your time here.



"*is still crying*"
This movie was just... wow. At first I was a little unsure about it, because a few sites and reviews had said it wasn't all that good, not to mention the fact that most singers can't act. But when I watched it... it has a wide emotional range and you are really pulled in to the plot and drawn to the characters. I think its a wonderful movie and I hope to God that they never try to dub the voices. It is fine the way it is.



"An Interesting Piece"
Moon Child caught my interest simply because it was Gackt and Hyde together. I, being a rather large Gackt fan and a long-time follower of LaRuKu, felt this pairing was a dream come true. What I asked for was a sexy sci-fi vampire romp with plenty of great poses and J-Rocker action, yet what I received was a strong movie of friendship and the search for happiness.

The movie starts strong and keeps on going, yet slows down near the middle when their lives start to fall apart. Piece by piece things crumble until the characters manage to sort true happiness from despair and find some order in their lives.

I found the movie ot be a little lacking in some parts, and some of the angst seems very Malice Mizer in nature. There's a distinct break in the movie where the plot take a major twist, and it leaves watchers wondering exactly what will happen next. Keep your mind open for this one, folks; it won't go where you expect it to, but at least the ride is fun.







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