Devilman (2004) 1h 52m

Coming from the same table at the same anime convention (although a year earlier) is 2004's entry to the Devilman series.  Created by Go Nagai back in the early 70's, Devilman has had a manga, multiple films, and anime series with the most recent being on Netflix.  Though much tamer than its counterparts, let's jump into today's review.

Grandma got me a Hot Topic gift card!

Devilman focuses on Akira and Ryo.  Ryo is essentially a violent delinquent that describes himself as "pure evil."  Akira is Ryo's only friend, despite being the opposite of Ryo in every way.  Akira is the only person that can calm Ryo on his angsty rampages.  One day Ryo has Akira go with him to his father's lab where an experiment with demons and demon energy has lost control and released the dark entities to our plane of existence.  Akira is hit by a particularly nasty demon but is able to retain his humanity, while Ryo becomes angelic.  The world descends into chaos as the released demons possess bodies and feed upon humanity and only Akira can stop them while also trying to save the world from itself.  Ryo has other ideas in mind.

I've said this about other films in the past, but this is truly the center point between amazing and crap.  Despite the long time it didn't drag too much but at the same time I wish the story pacing were a bit stronger.  The CG could be a bit questionable but it works well for the fight scenes where there's a lot of action and not a lot of time to focus on the details.  I also wish the Ryo reveal was done a bit more tactfully.  We're presented with info in the second act that should really only exist for the final reveal.  Otherwise, it is a solid film.  It's just not enough for me to get behind.  I would recommend Devilman with an apathetic "you might like it."

I give Devilman 2.5 '72 anime Devilmen out of 5:

Day 12: 12 Days of Terror (2004) 1h 26m

You know what was an awesome and under appreciated TV show?  Sliders.  It was one of Jerry O'Connell's great TV works before his acting career took off (aside from My Secret Identity, and not counting Stand By Me).  He isn't in this movie, but John Rhys-Davies who played Arturo is in it!

Speaking of TV, 2004's 12 Days of Terror was a made for TV movie about a shark attack on the Jersey Shore in 1916.  Think of it as old-timey Jaws with less of a budget... and a worse script... and some take-it-or-leave-it acting.  I'm personally to the point where I wish I could go back in time to see how people acted in certain time periods.  This film made everything seem so forced to be from 1916.

There wasn't even 12 solid days of terror, I think there were two shark attacks and then 12 days later some other ones.  This movie also pushes the idea that it was a baby great white that did the attacks but apparently the real shark or sharks were never identified.

This film did have one great scene though which I felt exemplified America, even to this day.  There was a shark attack in a creek (or "crick" as Rhys-Davies keeps yelling) and men and women just lined the edge of the creek firing guns into the water.  There wasn't even a sign of the shark there, they were just shooting guns into the water.

Someone on IMDB reviewed this movie and said that it should be Oscar worthy.  I feel more like it's bad, but not even bad enough for a Razzie.  That makes it the worst kind of movie.  Where you can't have fun with it, but you can't enjoy it either.

I give 12 Days of Terror 1 squeaky shark out of 5: