Tokyo Ghoul: ‘S’ (2019) Review
Growing accustomed to his new life as a half-ghoul, Ken Kaneki (Masataka Kubota) is determined to protect his new allies at Antiku from the anti-ghoul forces that seek to eradicate them. However, when the infamous gourmet Shu Tsukiyama (Shoto Matsuda) wishes to savour his unique flavour, it’s ghoul vs ghoul as Kaneki must fight his way out of the already-grim ghoul society’s twisted underbelly.
Directing duo Takuya Kawasaki and Kazuhiko Hiramaki’s sequel of the 2017 film TOKYO GHOUL, (which is also based on Sui Ishida’s manga series of the same name) is a mixed bag. It’s stylish in places, boasts a couple of decent fighting sequences but otherwise it all feels rather one-note and muted. However on the plus side, and having never seen the first movie, I didn’t feel like I had come late to the party, everything was self-explanatory and it works well as a stand-alone.
The film’s main baddie Gourmet, played by Shoto Matsuda, is obsessed with eating. We’re not talking Big Macs or KFC here but human flesh. However whereas the likes of that other notable big-screen cannibal Hannibal Lecter not only eats human flesh but is articulate, intelligent and can be the ultimate host (to those that he chooses not to eat) the baddie here is a bit of a bore. He does nothing but simper and dribble over his next potential human meal and, aside from the odd scrap, very little else.
TOKYO GHOUL: ‘S’ is not looking to expand upon the mythology but simply give the punters more of what they got first time, just like the majority of film sequels do. There are moments that truly dazzle – such as the exquisite scene in the ghoul-populated restaurant – but they only go to show how mundane and lifeless the rest of the film is. One for hard-core fans only!
Screen Anime channel hosts exclusive UK & Ireland premiere of this live-action horror sequel from 25th April until 25th May.