Tokyo Ghoul live action movie is...good. I mean, as far as adaptations go. The movie doesn't skimp out on the blood and guts and for the more queasy, you might not want visit the concession stand or risk losing your popcorn. Easy to follow but suffers like many adaptations with the too much to explain with too little time syndrome. The pacing also had its ups and downs but mostly because of the intensity of some of its key scenes that make the quieter moments quieter. Great acting all around, especially from its mains. Both Kubota and Shimizu play their parts well and, though I can already hear the overacting complaints from others despite Kubota really making a perfect Kaneki with the switches between calm and paranoia. Despite not being the best CGI in the business, it never took me out of the story. I was almost always invested and I can't believe I'm saying this but...I want a second one.
32 Reviews
So I havent seen any of the original anime or even read the books
mikwlsn17 September 2019
Good Adaptation
sakurach4n24 December 2018
I've seen several live actions before and usually I'm not really impressed by them. This was one different. For a live action, it stays really faithful to the story and I think a sequel would be a great way to continue this as I ended the movie wanting to see more. I wish some physical particularities from the characters had been kept in the movie, but at the same time if that happened perhaps it would take away the realness of it all.
Pretty Good -
info-591829 April 2018
While the general world is very similiar to the premise of the "vampire society living in our world" there are a few twists. The "Ghoul" society is a secret society that exists in our world, and eat humans.
However, we take the side of the Ghouls in this story against the human police organisaiton that hunts them down. The Ghouls themselves are split into sectors, and fight each other.
The world developed is an interesting one, and very Japanese. Acting is very good, as are the special effects. Overall, a pretty interesting film, really not pure horror or action film, but a touch of both. The confusion of the main character, who spends most of the film trying to come to grips with what he is, is a nice major plotline. In this film, its the Ghouls that seem to have the humanity, not the humans. If you like vampire cinema, Japanese movies, horror, or science fiction, you will definitely like this.
The world developed is an interesting one, and very Japanese. Acting is very good, as are the special effects. Overall, a pretty interesting film, really not pure horror or action film, but a touch of both. The confusion of the main character, who spends most of the film trying to come to grips with what he is, is a nice major plotline. In this film, its the Ghouls that seem to have the humanity, not the humans. If you like vampire cinema, Japanese movies, horror, or science fiction, you will definitely like this.
Good Movie but little Goofy
mattinglyjohn23 January 2018
This was an interesting movie. The acting is not the greatest but I liked the story. This is what made it worth watching. I started it thinking that I would not like it very much but decided I should give it a try. Im glad I did. Dont approach it expecting a total block buster drama, but rather as what it is..A comic book adaptation movie. Some of it is pretty goofy but as its based on a comic book i give it them. Best for a younger audience, but including myself from a more middle aged group I still enjoyed the movie.
Melodramatic and Boring
claudio_carvalho6 January 2018
In Tokyo, the shy student Kaneki Ken (Masataka Kubota) dates the girl Kamishiro Rize (Yû Aoi) and while in a lonely park, she attacks him since she is a flesh-eater ghoul. Kaneki escapes but soon he learns that he has become a ghoul. He befriends a group of peaceful ghouls and tries to live his new life with them. However they are hunted down by relentless two police officers from the Ghoul Division in charge of eradicate ghouls from their district.
"Tôkyô guru", a.k.a "Tokyo Ghoul", is a boring and melodramatic Japanese action-horror film based on the legend of the flesh-eaters ghouls. The cinematography and performances are good, but the action is broken by melodramatic scenes and the film becomes boring. My vote is four.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
"Tôkyô guru", a.k.a "Tokyo Ghoul", is a boring and melodramatic Japanese action-horror film based on the legend of the flesh-eaters ghouls. The cinematography and performances are good, but the action is broken by melodramatic scenes and the film becomes boring. My vote is four.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
Better Than Most Live Action Movies In Recent Years
parkergirl12 January 2018
As a fan of both the manga and the anime, I expected to get sorely disappointed with this movie. Surprisingly, I wasn't. Okay, it wasn't perfect (no live action is, I think) but the movie stayed as faithful to the original story as possible and, for me, that matters a lot. The acting was great; Masataka Kubota was just perfect for the role and some people saying he seems way too old is just plain bullshit. Kubota is a far better actor than many Japanese actors I've watched as of late. Granted, the special effects could be better, but the action scenes were executed well and didn't feel awkward for the most part. Overall, I enjoyed it and looking forward to the sequel.
Fairly enjoyable
pompeiirome31 December 2017
Overall, this was a pretty good adaptation. There most likely will be a trilogy to tell the whole story, well, at least if they want to cover everything the animated series had to offer. This movie completely cuts out the rival ghouls who wish to find rize and end up kidnapping kaneke. The torture scene, as well as, the rescue scenes are cut out which makes me think that storyline will appear in the 2nd movie if they decide to continue with the live action adaptations. Then the third one will probably pick up with kaneke's transformation into the white haired ghoul when he realizes the full extent of his powers.
A progressively more unnecessary adaptation
joaofilipeafonso-353743 January 2018
Tokyo Ghoul is an adaptation of a sucessful manga series and it clearly shows: that is, it clearly shows that it is a film whose main goal is to tell a story that has already been told without adding anything to it. I'm not familiar with both the manga and the anime adaptation but I'm sure they are far superior in the quality of storytelling.
Some elements of the movie are salvageable, such as the cinematography, some of the acting and sometimes the special effects are surprisingly good. But both the special effects of the film and its remaining problems have one thing in common: they overstay their welcome. The special effects have some detail and show there was work put into them, but sadly the budget wouldn't sustain the level of movement and interaction that was required to tell this story.
Tokyo Ghoul is a poor waste of time and money, with clear cuts of story that add up to confusion and an overall sense of doubt. Fans of the manga will feel frustration due to the lack of anything that would justify a film adaptation and new viewers will feel confused and uninterested. And the worst part is that the story that was told has the potential of being so much more entertaining and genuinely intriguing if told properly.
Some elements of the movie are salvageable, such as the cinematography, some of the acting and sometimes the special effects are surprisingly good. But both the special effects of the film and its remaining problems have one thing in common: they overstay their welcome. The special effects have some detail and show there was work put into them, but sadly the budget wouldn't sustain the level of movement and interaction that was required to tell this story.
Tokyo Ghoul is a poor waste of time and money, with clear cuts of story that add up to confusion and an overall sense of doubt. Fans of the manga will feel frustration due to the lack of anything that would justify a film adaptation and new viewers will feel confused and uninterested. And the worst part is that the story that was told has the potential of being so much more entertaining and genuinely intriguing if told properly.
Not bad at all
anime-akuma23 March 2018
Probably the worse manga adaptation of the year
Jithindurden24 December 2017
It feels like Death Note and Tokyo Ghoul was competing for the worst manga adaptation of the year. The plot comprises of the first 6 episodes of the anime adaptation which comes around in the same running time but the film messes it all up with an unfocused narrative losing any depth in the tale. The acting looks uninspired for the most part which I presume to be the problem of the debutant director's lack of control over the acting. The kagune vfx looks bad but it's probably because they didn't have any idea how else to show it. The actors didn't look right for the parts, som where older while some were younger than they are supposed to be for the characters to work. The first half had a flow even though there wasn't anything great but it was destroyed by choppy editing in the second half. The various levels of conundrums that were deeply explored in the anime look stale and idiosyncratic. This could have been a great film but it was worse than Death Note.
Much, much better than expected.
marethyu24 September 2017
I personally really enjoyed the film! Admittedly, I am a fan of basically every Tokyo Ghoul adaptation (except rootA), but I even found myself preferring the movie over the anime! It's not exactly going to be an easy film for the uninitiated, though. Many reviewers have noted the lack of explanations for why the ghouls wear masks, which can be figured out by simple logic admittedly. They're killing people, they can't exactly let themselves be seen. Less readily apparent would be what a quinque actually is. They only use the word once throughout, and I can see some audience members being unsure of what's being referred to, so I would recommend reading up a little bit on some of the series' important terms.
And yes, the CGI is kinda bad. Not deal-breaking, but it did lose some of the tension, especially in the earliest fight scene. Which is a real shame, since all the actors do a great job of establishing a tragic, violent, and suspenseful tone that really captures the psychological elements so many fans love about the series. Sure, some actors ham it up a bit too much (Nishio and Kaneki's actors in particular go OTT in fight scenes), but there are also some lovely quiet performances from Hinami and Yoshimura's actors. There's also some nice attention to detail for the fans to obsess over, with rips in clothing appearing throughout scenes, and traumatic situations creating an observable impact on character's posture while fighting. I may have mentioned a lot about the fighting, but I hasten to add that the film really shines in its quieter moments, with gorgeous directing and genuinely engaging characters (although maybe that's just my fan side showing through). Some scenes seem to exist exclusively to be developed on in future films, but they're less than a minute or two total, so I didn't really mind that much. Mileage may vary on them though.
The film definitely does not take its audience to be dumb, with metaphors that many films would develop into minute-long exposition on the film's themes just set out for the audience to fill it. I had a lot of fun with this movie (as well as my fair share of emotional trauma), and it's a much better adaptation than most recent anime live-actions, or even the anime as far as I'm concerned. Let's hope this applies to the upcoming Ajin film as well.....
And yes, the CGI is kinda bad. Not deal-breaking, but it did lose some of the tension, especially in the earliest fight scene. Which is a real shame, since all the actors do a great job of establishing a tragic, violent, and suspenseful tone that really captures the psychological elements so many fans love about the series. Sure, some actors ham it up a bit too much (Nishio and Kaneki's actors in particular go OTT in fight scenes), but there are also some lovely quiet performances from Hinami and Yoshimura's actors. There's also some nice attention to detail for the fans to obsess over, with rips in clothing appearing throughout scenes, and traumatic situations creating an observable impact on character's posture while fighting. I may have mentioned a lot about the fighting, but I hasten to add that the film really shines in its quieter moments, with gorgeous directing and genuinely engaging characters (although maybe that's just my fan side showing through). Some scenes seem to exist exclusively to be developed on in future films, but they're less than a minute or two total, so I didn't really mind that much. Mileage may vary on them though.
The film definitely does not take its audience to be dumb, with metaphors that many films would develop into minute-long exposition on the film's themes just set out for the audience to fill it. I had a lot of fun with this movie (as well as my fair share of emotional trauma), and it's a much better adaptation than most recent anime live-actions, or even the anime as far as I'm concerned. Let's hope this applies to the upcoming Ajin film as well.....
A good film
jnicol-6928814 October 2018
Ghoul a slice of life?
RuriGokou28 June 2019
After watching for 30 minutes I expected to know in some way about what is going on, but terms are thrown around without much explanation. There isn't a clear plot. Rather it felt more like a slice of life about how this spineless beta male becomes a ghoul and how he dealt with it.
Boring movie. I need to stop watching anime adaptations.
Boring movie. I need to stop watching anime adaptations.
Good...
RosanaBotafogo7 March 2021
I liked it, it vaguely reminded me of the excellent "Death Note", keeping the respective differences, both have a dark theme, with adolescent clothes, which I like a lot, stripped script, bloods and tentacles, adorable ... From the middle to the end, there was a drag unattractive, between the girl and her late father, but she recovers and the final bloodbath pays off...
Not worth watching...
skateboardinghao21 September 2020
It was slow and choppy because they tried to fit so many anime episodes in such a short time frame. It took away from the story and you didn't have a connection with the characters. I'd rather wash panty stains off underwear than to watch this again. I had such high expectations. The anime is great and story wise it's complex and deep. Not this choppy floppy movie adaptation tho...it was boring actually
One-Line Review: Tokyo Ghoul / Solid Action and Horror Flick / 7 Stars
nairtejas29 January 2020
The first 10 minutes of Tokyo Ghoul had me as I inched near to the edge of my seat without propping back till it ended as the message of how humans may not be on top of the food chain enraptured me, even though the substandard CGI and lacklustre drama sequences prevented me from taking in the full glory of the original manga's background. TN.
(Watched and reviewed at the India premiere of the 3rd Japanese Film Festival of India in Mumbai.)
(Watched and reviewed at the India premiere of the 3rd Japanese Film Festival of India in Mumbai.)
Stay away
divg-57-80005429 March 2019
Good effort but not enough
rapsland-5267615 May 2020
It is always difficult to make a movie based on comics. I liked Tokyo Ghoul animated series but the Movie wasn't good enouhg.
Pro: They have tried to stick to the original story.
Cons: Effect were not satisfiying (2017) Performers also not convincing.
I hope for a Hollywood remake.
Watch the Anime
sondra_armas327 May 2019
Tough but Fair
boyarrrafshi2 January 2018
It was alright for the most part. CGI, average at best. Action, somewhat bland. Story is just average. Characters have little to no depth. The ending - is - the saving grace of this film. Interested to see what they make next.
Beyond unexpectation
skif-876413 May 2018
Ghoulish? Not so much. But still entertaining...
paul_haakonsen9 June 2018
I was familiar with the title, but haven't read the anime or seen any of the animated shows, so I was not sure what to expect from this particular movie. But it being a Japanese movie, and the word "Ghoul" being part of the title was more than enough to make me sit down and watch the movie at the first given chance.
The movie was adequately entertaining, although the characters in the storyline seemed somewhat one-dimensional and flat, and there wasn't much emphasis on character development throughout the entire movie.
The special effects were quite good, although there were some scenes where the CGI was rather questionable. But for the majority of the CGI and effects, then it was quite good.
The storyline was nicely paced and there wasn't really a dull moment throughout the entire movie.
"Tokyo Ghoul" (aka "Tôkyô gûru") is good entertainment for what it turned out to be. Did it spur me to go out to watch the animated show or read the comics? Hardly so...
The movie was adequately entertaining, although the characters in the storyline seemed somewhat one-dimensional and flat, and there wasn't much emphasis on character development throughout the entire movie.
The special effects were quite good, although there were some scenes where the CGI was rather questionable. But for the majority of the CGI and effects, then it was quite good.
The storyline was nicely paced and there wasn't really a dull moment throughout the entire movie.
"Tokyo Ghoul" (aka "Tôkyô gûru") is good entertainment for what it turned out to be. Did it spur me to go out to watch the animated show or read the comics? Hardly so...
Awful
kirsi_pelto1 June 2020
TOO DRAMATIC TO TAKE SERIOUSLY 😂
pachecorenerp24 May 2022
In my opinion, there are so many things about the movie that could have been a lot better. Anime looks amazing with the artistic fight styles and drama within itself but when it comes to a live-action movie, there is only so much you can do before it just gets silly. The movie was so over the top dramatic, there is no real color or emotional aspect as depicted in the tv show (The tv show was literally a masterpiece). The atmosphere, effects, everything was just so unrealistic and so unnecessary. What really made me dread the movie was the unnecessarily loud, constant screaming, made me say, "Seriously? This is just getting annoying...make it stop." Seriously, can anyone in that movie cry like an average person? Even in grief, it's just random bloody murder screams that won't stop. The casting was poorly done too and didn't actually express the characters well. I wouldn't even say it's the actor's fault. The movie just wasn't put together right at all. The only imagery that I really found appealing was Rize laughing. I liked the creep factor of her exposing herself as a ghoul. Kaneki's mask looked cool too but I would imagine the actor being very uncomfortable wearing it while filming lol. Anyway, don't mean to criticize but I must warn fans: after watching such an ingenious show, the live-action will just make you cringe. Not even the gore was realistic...and the kagunes... don't get me started. ANYWAY, there are some elements in the movie I enjoyed. It was pretty fun overall.
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