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by E.W. Capers |
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Synopsis
After a six-year absence Kamui, a lovely boy with mysterious, supernatural powers, revisits his childhood friends,
siblings Fuma and Kotori, honoring an old vow to protect them from harm. Little does Kamui know that an imminent
clash of great forces approaches setting him at the center of an apocalyptic showdown.
Hinoto, a mystical, white-haired goddess pleads with Kamui to join the Dragons of Heaven -
seven ordinary people with similar otherworldly gifts divinely chosen to prevent a global
disaster engineered to destroy humanity. Kamui refuses to join the Dragons of Heaven …
until Hinoto's duplicitous little sister, Kanoe, kidnaps Kotori. Instead of luring "The
Chosen One," Kanoe unwittingly reveals Fuma as Kamui's alter ego, and, with a little
deception and seductive charm, manipulates Fuma into leading the Dragons of Earth - another
group of seven gifted youngsters whose aim is to incite a global disaster and save nature
from the scourge of humanity. As a Dragon of Earth, Fuma becomes Kamui's enemy by default,
foredoomed to combat his best friend and to annihilate every human being in existence beginning
with the denizens of Tokyo.
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For all its excitable jabber about worldwide doom and devastation, the "X" movie, based on Clamp's popular manga
series, delivers scantly more than those over-the-top ass whippings on Monday Night Nitro.
The first eighty or so minutes of film features lightweight bouts among the supporting cast in preparation for
what promises to be a grand finale match. But viewing a rousing smack down between two mighty opponents is not half
as exciting as having a guy to root for-even the WWF knows that. Sure, the movie throws in some careful hints that
the Dragons of Heaven are "good," and the Dragons of Earth are "not-so-good-but-not-quite-evil," but Kamui's pretty
boy brooding, for all its sex appeal, lacks charm, primarily because it lacks purpose - he broods out of confusion
not out of emotional strife. And, without a definite "bad" guy in the fray, Fuma's erratic transformation from Jekyl
to Hyde makes for a rather droll adversary. Since the Dragons of the Earth intend to preserve nature, Fuma's
transformation is more along the lines of from Jekyl to Greenpeace.
Despite some stunning visual effects during these battle scenes, "X" fails to stage a well-rounded story. Its
script, which prefers to handle characters in bundles rather than as individuals, relies heavily on the collective
behavior of the heroes and their foes, and neither group has any time for depth. But then, the writers had their
hands full. Seven members in each of the DofH and DofE squads, plus the main characters Kamui, Fuma and Kotori
holding down the front line, is a lot to juggle in an hour and a half. This probably accounts for the script's haste
in wiping out its characters as soon as possible.
Spectacular as these battle royales may be, the dull contenders don't win many fans. And Clamp's admirable
impulse to create a battle for humanity not grounded in a good vs. evil dynamic is lost in all of the classic
affectations of a battle between good and evil that they include.
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