The Fable

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Walked into this film cold on Netflix, didn't know anything about its cast, crew or "Manga" heritage, but I'm watching this thinking, "This is clever filmmaking." Everything I respect about samurai & assassin movies is tied together nicely here. Not quite a comedy, but this over-the-top yet subtle Japanese humor that made me go, "Damn, this is fun." Not sure what a spoiler would be here: Our hero gets the job done, doesn't kill anyone, so a win-win all around? Props to Mr Okada, and Mses Kimura & Yamamoto are delightful as well. Are we supposed to know what their real relationship is before the Osaka sibling pretense? Doesn't matter. I was actually wondering if this film was a success in Japan, and how this director would work with an Anglo cast. Apparently there is a sequel, I'll watch that next. Hope it's as fun as this original.

If you are a normal moviegoer who has never heard about the source material, I can guarantee you that The Fable (2019) will be a solid time-killer but as a fan of the original manga which the movie is based on I gotta say, I expected a lot more than just an okay movie. On the surface level, I think the movie did a good job by staying as close as possible to the manga premise especially with the character design, the setting yet falls completely flat when it comes to how the comedy plays out in my opinion. There's a lot of funny gag in the manga that works brilliantly due to the subtle and grounded nature of the writing being butchered in the live-action version by needlessly putting over-the-top dialogues and exaggerated facial expressions to the character and the story. I also think the live-action adaptation will work better as a long-run tv series more than a theatrical release movie but I cannot praise the movie enough for 1UP the manga in the action with the last 30 minutes of the movie. In the end, I'm still glad this move exists cause Japan honestly needs more stable live-action movie franchise like this before they go on and adapt some of the weirder ones so I definitely recommend The Fable and looking forward to the sequel.

Known as 'The Fable' an assassin has been trained since childhood to be the perfect assassin; now he has been told that he must take a year off. He must live as 'Akira Sato', an ordinary man. This means no guns and definitely no killing... if he kills anybody, for whatever reason, he will be killed. It won't be that easy though. He moves to Osaka where he gets an ordinary job. Unfortunately for him he keeps running into people who want trouble or want his unique services. Ultimately, when a new friend is kidnapped, he must try to rescue her from a large number of yakuza without killing any of them. This film may not be the sort that is likely to compete for any major awards but it is a lot of fun. The action begins in the opening scene as we see just how efficient an assassin 'The Fable' is. This action is far from bloodless. The story could have been played straight but it is full of humour. Some of this, such as our protagonist finding a particularly silly comedian hilarious, does wear a bit thin at times but not enough to spoil my enjoyment. The cast is solid; frequently hamming it up in a way that suits the material. Overall I'd definitely recommend fans of action films give this a go. I'll definitely be watching the sequel. These comments are based on watching the Film in Japanese with English subtitles.

It tries to be funny but not quite; there are funny moments but some are too contrived and artificial that these scenes don't work. The action sequences, however, are well-executed no doubt. But there's nothing significantly different that really grabs the viewer's attention.

At first I didn't have a clue what sort of movie this would be. But when the ending credits rolled I kept watching as I did expect another joke. The joke wasn't funny ... but even unfunny jokes can grow on you It deals with a pretty serious issue but it doesn't address the issue really. I don't like my movies to spell out things what we should think. Some movies do, but it should deserve a little more attention than it did. The first action scene was solid and the climax of the movie was a good watch as well. The best part of the movie is however the flashback to when he was a boy and in particular the one where special effects where used especially the flower. That also had a nice narrative to it. I did like the overall direction and despite that I think not all scenes should be in it, I think the director has a great feel for storytelling So only a 6 because it wasn't funny and it missed the opportunity to address an issue. Acting was again great from both woman and the child in the movie. The car owner was good as well. But the other actors could do with some more direction. Will gladly watch the second one as some brainless entertainment.

I first watched the sequel and then this. Both are kind of similar, although the sequel felt a little more grounded. Great action scenes, all actors do a great job, even the stupid faced Yakuza types that normally just bug out their eyes and jut their chins and shout rude slang, in this film they have a personality and act with care for their characters. As others noticed, it is a film threading a fine line between comedy and dark action, which doesn't always work, but mostly does. In fact, the film feels really inconsistent: good acting in a manga adaption, forced sex trafficking followed by comedy, great action scenes in a rather unentertaining story, although not a formulaic one, deeper levels of characterization in a movie about an autistic assassin. Worth a watch.

This is one of those rare movies that parodies a genre, but is at the same time one of the best movies in that genre. Like how Kill Bill spoofs the martial arts genre, but is at the same time one of the best martial arts movies. So The Fable is a spoof of the professional assassin trope, but at the same time one of the most enjoyable and satisfying examples in the genre. Perhaps the Branded to Kill of our age? The aggressively unfunny anti-humor, especially the bits with 'Jackal Tomioka', reminded me of Norm MacDonald's legendary roast of Bob Saget, and never failed to make me laugh out loud. Would give a 10/10, but I choose to keep that spot vacant for the sequal. (I'm in an optimistic mood.)

This movie was on my watchlist for some time before i actually had the courage to start watching it. Wasn't expecting much but the action scenes were amazing and the humour was just my thing. The main actor delivers a splendid job portraying an estranged hitman trying to fit in. Watched the sequel as well and I'll probably read the books now that i found out about this.

This movie reminds me a lot of the comic City Hunter. Although, this movie is comical comedic, the actions are not. They are very well choreographed. Recommended for comedy and action fans. Now, I am going for the part two. Hope it is as good.