Guest Post by Emblemmaniac - Why I think Naruto is a bad move by Lionsgate
In case you have missed it, Lionsgate have announced that they are going to make a live action-version of the anime/manga Naruto. Many have questioned this, calling it a bad move by Lionsgate; they have cited the risk that this movie becomes another Dragon Ball Evolution or Last Airbender. Honestly, I agree. Still, I don't, like some other, think that the problem is the sheer scope of the material that they would have to work with.
The problem is, rather, the tone and style of the series. Naruto takes place in a fairly stereotypically Japanese ”world”, such as that which can be seen in many Asian movies. That means, for one thing, that many Asian actors would be required to fill out the roles. Other than this, the style of the anime is such, taking the behaviour, philosophy and more, that a regular ”american” production may not work out entirely. An live action Naruto done right, should be something in the vein of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which I highly doubt Lionsgate will do. For this reason, I would rather see a Japanese studios take on the task than Lionsgate.
Acording to John Campea from Colider, Warner Brothers have long considered adapting the anime/manga series Akira. To make it take place in the USA but still remain faithful to the original, they have decided that San Francisco is to be ”New Tokyo”. You can probably guess what I fear that Lionsgate will do to Naruto just to cut the budget somewhat, and to put it mildly, it wouldn't be optimal.
Still, just because Naruto may not work out as a live action-adaption, it doesn't mean that animes in general couldn't work that way. For example, Edge of Tomorrow came out last year, based upon a manga called All you need is kill. This manga is a bit more ”ethnically neutral” in its style, for example considering the characters, the world it took place in and so on (This is what I have heard anyway. If I am misinformed, I would be grateful for some comments).
Source -
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/lionsgate-naruto-movie-micahel-gracey-1201554281/
Read the full review here:
http://the-movie-maister.blogspot.se/2015/08/why-i-think-naruto-is-bad-move-by.html#!/2015/08/why-i-think-naruto-is-bad-move-by.html
