Great Film overall

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I saw the "Kitaro Millennium Curse" (2008) before seeing this one, so I have a little different impression of this movie than everyone else. Gegege no Kitaro is a fun movie that brings Kitaro story to the big screen. The characters are remarkably real, and believable. Usage of CG to show Ittan Momen (Flying cloth) was a nice touch.The movie was little rough at the edges as it was the first attempt to bring Kitaro into live action movie (This improves a lot on the Millennium Curse). The story tried to tell too much. There's the Yokai kingdom with Oo Tengu as the judge, there's Kitaro's friends Neko Musume, Konaki Jiji, Sunakake Babaa, Nurikabe, and Ittan Momen, and then there's love story between Kitaro and the girl. Things got little bit confusing, and the characters didn't get enough time of the day on each of their parts.But the movie was fun to watch, and entertaining. I really liked the rendition of Kitaro in this movie. It could have been a real cheese, but it wasn't. The movie is recommended as is its sequel. A nice Yokai movie from Japan.

This film is based on a manga I haven't seen, but it is still a pretty good, special effects laden, imaginative film. Ostensibly about finding and returning an evil stone that was taken by a young boy's father, who in turn is chased with his high school age sister by an array of interesting, not of this world characters, this film takes you to a lot of places. The good versus evil theme is, of course, prevalent throughout, and the film is recommended more for children from about 10 to 17. The film has flaws, the film is far from perfect, but I think it will keep children entertained without scaring them out of their wits. In that sense, the film is successful.

Coming in on the heels of Miike's "Great Yokai War" there's nothing this Yokai themed film can do but be compared to it. Unfortunately that's a tough hurdle but since Miike couldn't keep all of his adult perversity out of a kid-friendly film maybe the producers thought there was a chance for them with this one.The art direction is fine and the whole production is decent looking. Unfortunately a few mistakes really pull this movie down. First is the casting of Pop TV star Eiji Wentz for the main role. He seems like a nice guy but brings very little inspiration to the role of Kitaro. Later in the film when he's supposed to be falling in love with the sister, we need the other Yokai to verbally inform us that this has occurred since Wentz is unable to convey the emotion at all. However it's probable that the young teen girls who are fans of his couldn't care less how blandly he acts. It falls to the other actors (and CG animation) to fill in the personality of the film. The film moves along well into the last half where is loses it's pacing and gets boring.Hard to recommend to anyone but Eiji Wentz fans and those familiar with the Kitaro manga.

I watched one of the Kitaro cartoons and while it seems a bit more adult than this movie it still is at least to me for children. The live action movie about a world divided into humans and monsters is very Japanese. Unlike an American movie like say The Dark Crystal this stays firmly in the kiddie mode with a little eyeball guy with a body a cat girl and various "monsters" that are about as monstrous as H&R Puffenstuf. The story about a glowing stone or rock being stolen gives way to teaching young kids about right and wrong and a parent's death but anyone could see the happy ending from a thousand miles away. There are some lines an eight year old at least in America just wouldn't understand and since this is aimed at them parents will have some explaining to do at points in the film. I found the Ratman more annoying than the little Japanese boy but most Americans find all little Japanese boys annoying even in Godzilla movies. It's not a terrible movie just a fair rental for children. I would rather watch something like Spirited Away with kids but I wonder what a live action version of that film would be like. Also this might work better in America with dubbed English voices and simpler lines for kids.