Limit of Love: Umizaru

"It's our only hope!" Take a guess at how many variations on this sentence feature in this movie... After massive viewer success of part one, they didn’t have to wait long to see how the lives of the members of coast watch pan out. You can see that a lot money went into this movie from the very first camera shots. The music is just as outstanding as in part one, and the sound is a whole level better. It is technically meticulous (especially the camerawork looks like something straight out of a Bay movie) and it’s overflowing with adrenalin. But still, it just isn’t the same. Last time it was a classic “training movie" with all the clichés, this time for a change it’s a perfect example of a disaster movie. Of course, again with all the clichés that this genre entails. Last time it was the romantic interludes that annoyed me most, here for a change it’s the two or three scenes where the heroes’ capabilities are just too exaggerated (or I never want to see a ladder again). It’s not like they manage to hold their breath for half the movie, repelling tsunami waves with their pigeon chests, but it spoils the pleasant “realness". Overall, slightly less good than last time, especially in the second half. Even that time the four stars were a little wobbly, so... Simply a simple popcorn movie, a bit tearful in places, but quite tasty otherwise. And the answer to the question at the beginning? I don’t know myself, but certainly more times than I would have liked. (10.02.2008)