Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Tokyo Godfathers (2003) 5/10
In Tokyo Godfathers, director Satoshi Kon creates over the top characters and situations within a realistic world and the end result is a jarring pastiche that never feels quite right. Whereas his previous films like the excellent Millennium Actress (2001) used animation to give realistic portrait of life and Paprika (2006) allowed his imagination to run wild, Tokyo Godfathers does not seem to know whether to be realistic or exaggerated and the result is a film that tries to aim for pathos even as it becomes increasingly over the top. The main characters are a trio of bums who happen to come across an abandoned baby. In their quest to return the child to its rightful parent, various hijinks occur, many of which feels utterly ridiculous and not particularly realistic. The film does not have particularly likeable characters, and its exaggerated tone makes it all the more difficult to identify with its characters who seem more like caricatures. This is difficult when the film obviously wants to make us sympathetic to for example the young girl estranged from her father but sabotages the attempt at pathos with over the top hijinks. The end result is a disjointed film that neither achieves slapstick comedy nor emotional connection. The film itself is still competently crafted and direction, but lacks soul.
