Review: Here's one for fans of a different side of Takashi Miike; those that are long over pigeon-holing him into a handful of sinister qualifications. Or maybe THE GREAT YOKAI WAR will serve as a good introduction to the director's versatility for newer fans, or... heck, this is a movie for pretty much everyone. Miike's adventurous epic , which recalls and retools to an extent the late-60s yokai flicks that came out of Daiei, is one of his most accessible and enjoyable movies of any genre.

The beauty of YOKAI WAR is that it's essentially a children's movie from the '80s. It's a rare and flamboyant production that isn't afraid to get mildly violent here and there, and doesn't pander to a younger audience through dogs that play basketball or half-sugary villains that pose no real threat. While that may disappoint fans of sports-playing canines, it should excite anyone that was or still is a fan of puppet-filled classics like LABYRINTH or THE DARK CRYSTAL. It's notable that, regardless of how menacing the antagonists seem in the movie, there's an overall light-hearted air about everything. Yokai just want to have festivals and cause mischief, and this makes the inevitable final confrontation more like an end-all party than a decisive battle to the death.

A great deal of the film's nostalgic qualities stem from the style of effects used, which range from computer graphics to borderline sock puppets. Though the majority of the evil machinations are represented with CG, most of the characters here, mainly the hundreds of yokai, come to life via fantastic costume design and the occasional puppet. The makeup on the more prominent characters is really something special, but there's still a deep charm in the most rickety of constructions. Of course, all the costumes in the world won't bring each unique yokai to life without someone behind the makeup to drive it home; a place where 90% of YOKAI WAR's star power lies. From Naoto Takenaka as Abura Sumashi to the legendary Bunta Sugawara as Shuntaro Ino, the line-up of mischievous monsters is like a quick-run who's who of Japanese cinema.

None of this would come together at all without Ryunosuke Kamiki. Basing any non-animated story around a child character is always going to be a risk, because, to put it bluntly, most child actors are terrible. More often than not, the audience would be better off with a smallish man wearing shoes on his knees than an actual child, like something out of a Spanish telenovela. In this instance, however, everything is golden. As Tadashi, Kamiki is likable from the start, and his interactions with a bizarre new world seem curiously genuine.

The villainous Yasunori Kato and his all-white minion Agi (played wickedly by Chiaki Kuriyama) pose a palpable threat through the transforming of various yokai into hideous mechanized creations. Agi definitely steals the show here, though, proving a much more fun and active foreground to Kato's menacing overlord appeal.

There's even some decent action in this beast. Don't expect a mélange of crazy fighting set-pieces, but what's here is exciting and creative. Tadashi is a slave to the control of his sword when engaged in combat. Swinging around wildly to the will of the blade, he cuts and slices at Kato's evil machines with the swift ease of an unexplained magic. The way the urgency of Tadashi's quest is juxtaposed with the jubilant nature of the general yokai population in these sequences is appealing, to say the least.

Something really fun is happening in THE GREAT YOKAI WAR, and it's something that we don't get to see too often nowadays; an atmosphere that shouldn't be taken for granted. Maybe this is nostalgia taking the reigns, but there's an innocent quality to even the darkest imagery, like a call to adventure for all viewers. Do yourself a favor and answer it.