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Speaking as someone who loves the film, I wouldn't say that's necessarily an inaccurate description, Idol Rich. Part of this is, I think, the transition from comic to film; a lot of time and space has been removed, some spots of it more necessary than others. Time is crucial. The film's pace is, up until the end, very good for capturing the madcap, over the top action-oriented joy, brutal violence and grand cultural stew sense of place of Treasure Town. But it all goes by too quickly for reflection. At times it felt as though characters were saying or doing something only because it was necessary to move the plot forward, and I suspect that's just the case. My memory's probably a little rusty and colored here, but there's a great deal more time stretched between major events in the manga. I seem to recall a whole issue/chapter revolving around the Rat, and another complete episode following the rapidly maddening Black-without-White. There's time enough to see how events connect, and naturally understand characters' relationships.
Some spoilers for both the comic and the film ahoy.
Last warning!
The bond between Sawada and White was, at least in the comic, very touching to me. Much of the story's depth, in terms of emotion, character development, and general musing, is difficult for me to pin down in a neat, easy to explain way, as any good symbol-rich storytelling should be. It's in that sort of vague-meaning that I found it appropriate for an impotent, naive detective to become something of a father/older brother figure to White. There's a bit in the comic where White's doing his typical loopy rambling as he and Sawada are out on a walk, when he blurts out, "I is missing lots of screws. Head screws. And Black, he's missing lots of screws too--heart screws. But White's got all the screws Black is missing!" That grammatical little train wreck is really the meat of the scene: it explains, fully and finally, the relationship between Black and White in a way that's moving and just a little poetic. The scene is in the film--right up until that point. There are a few other places where the movie doesn't quite include what I felt was the "meat" of the moment. There are a number of scenes in which Sawada and White are simply goofing off, playing with toy cars and rubber arrow guns. None of these moments add anything to the story, but they solidify the eventual bond between the two characters. Nothing is added to the larger narrative, but events that affect the whole work make sense only because of scenes like this.
So if the film felt shallow in a sense, a lot of it's been removed or fast forwarded. Even then, the original story is so idiosyncratic and atypical that I can't really criticize anyone for not enjoying it, or not connecting with the characters or engaging with any of the ideas.
Eh, I think that's enough run on sentencery for one night. |
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