Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Robb C. As the Gods Will is a rare and strange treat. It is, as other reviewers point out, a combination of Saw and Battle Royale with delightful humor and gore sprinkled throughout. I have to agree with that statement; this film delivers. It is weird but the type of weird that you'd recommend to other viewers who'd want to watch something totally different and refreshing than what we get in our cinemas nowadays.It is absolutely intriguing; even from the start. It is the type of film that hooks you with its opening scene and just makes you guess all throughout the entire duration period, even up to the last minute. There are brutal games that follow one another as we watch this and the manner in which its played is truly creative and imaginative; a feast for the eyes and the senses filled with everything you'd possibly want in a Miike film. Even the gore was done well. The slashing heads and dismembering; some done in a comedic way while others in a dramatic or suspenseful fashion. This film is the one that blends in dark humor; I'm usually very coy about that since most of the time it isn't done very well and comes off as being unrealistic. In here, I believe it's handled perfectly. The gritty gore is complemented by the humor, not a joke pulled off by a character (that will just honestly be strange considering the situation they're in) but because of the bizarre and outlandishness of it all. This film truly has charm amidst the deadly games, I'll admit that.The only thing I'm picky about with this film is that I think they showed too much with the CGI. Personally it would've been better left off just because our minds would have a perfect imagination of some things this film tries to convey but instead it's shown and I wished they hadn't. I would've plucked some scenes out so that the viewer would be left to imagine how it'd look like for themselves. Besides that, As the Gods Will is a delightful and a refreshing film. It certainly plays with the supernatural and has a little bit of everything sprinkled throughout. It is nihilistic in nature and chooses to stay like that for the entire film which increases its charm. It's a rare film I'll say, something that's memorable for its peculiarity. It works here entirely.

cesarecesarini Seeing that it's based on a manga for boys and rising young popular actors were cast in it, obviously, this movie was targeted at 10s to early 20s. As such, the gore and violence was pretty tame for a Miike movie. The death games that the high schoolers have to survive are so simple, thus not so interesting, but the opening sequence with the Daruma doll, where gore was replaced with 80,000 red marbles/bouncy balls, was well executed along the theme of child's play succeeding in creating surrealistic imagery and is considered as the highlight of the movie. The CG was not so bad overall. I like the modeling of the Daruma doll with glaring bloodshot eyes. Also I like the twisted casting for the deadly matreshka dolls dubbed by the voice actors who play Doraemon and Jibanyan, 2 iconic anime characters loved by the nation.Acting wise, feels like Ryunosuke Kamiki stole the show and the character played by Nao Omori was totally unnecessary.

hannabarbie-79736 I watched the whole of it just because I'm that type of person.I'm not one of those critics that goes to the movies just to find justifications for why they hate that particular film. I try to enjoy everything I watch and look for its good points and for that, I rate a lot of movies highly. I'd rate most of the films I've seen 7 and above out of ten, see how considerate I am? not in this one. this is just dumb and creepy and weird. please. spare yourself. no matter how intriguing the plot seemed, don't watch this.I've seen elfen lied and battle royale. those are 9 out of ten for me. so don't think this is one of those deep gory masterpieces.

quincytheodore Based on manga with the same title, Kamisama no iu tôri (As the Gods Will) is a story of average high school students forced to play a series of deadly games. Takeshi Miike who has proved capable with such theme is the perfect pick to create a fascinating, occasionally humorous and gory live action of the manga. He has a distinct stylish visual, timely touch of horror and a proper respect to the original source.For such grimly movie, the cinematography is very sleek and cool. Viewpoints from above and panoramic shots are used often to set the ambiance. Visual offers bloody gore with mildly tone down violence. For the part of full blood pool of the manga, this movie counterpart uses a more comical effect yet without neglecting the intensity of the scene. In fact Miike, as expected, produces a couple of nasty gruesome sequences of his own.Humor and philosophical elements are steadily present. The first half sees more comedy for ironic purpose, as the story progresses and the death dealing intensifies the tone tends to be more serious. The movie has taken the liberty of creating more appropriate screenplay for later games. This is due to the fact that it might become overly complex for a feature length movie to display later arcs, and frankly it's not a cause for concern as the new screenplay is still presentable and keeps all the thrilling attributes of the manga.Miike has a knack for the unassuming shift of tone, as seen from Crows Zero and 13 Assassins. Sometimes the movie would transition from quiet scene to a rather explicit one. It doesn't venture into dark territory too much, but it does warrant a mature rating. If there's any concern, it's that the nature of the games is highly inspired by Japanese culture, this might create a rather awkward narrative at some points though it's only a minor hindrance.Equally quirky and disturbing, the myriad of bizarrely captivating games of death is brought to live by Takeshi Miike.