Boba_Fett1138 Kiyoshi Kurosawa movies at first sight always seem like some typical genre pieces but then he does something totally unexpected with its story and approach, with as a result that his movies are often something really special and unique to watch. Also often quite weird though, as is also the case with "Dopperugengâ".But unlike most of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's movies, this one doesn't take itself very seriously. It's also more of a comedy than anything else really. And this is what makes the movie such a perfectly watchable and entertaining one, even though at times you will most likely have no idea what is going on with its story.The movie has a pretty odd but yet intriguing main premise of an inventor, who is slowly starting to loose it and a doppelganger of him starts to appear, who seems to help him out with all of his problems. This is pretty most what the movie its first half is all about. In its second half things start to take an even more weird turn. I definitely liked the movie its more slower but stylish first half better than its insane second one but still overall it all remained good and entertaining enough to keep me watching and interested till the end.The entire movie sound weird but fact is that it's all done incredibly well. It's all nicely directed and told and also uses some good old fashioned trickery and true creativity, instead of some overly present CGI effects.All of the actors are really likable in their roles. Kôji Yakusho is an actor that works quite often together with Kiyoshi Kurosawa and he is also one of my favorite, still working, Japanese actors, who every now and then also pops up in a big Hollywood production.An unusual but unique and likable movie. Definitely not Kiyoshi Kurosawa's best or most interesting and provoking movie though.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

kayakofan I've had never been disappointed by a Kurosawa film, but this is probably the first. "Doppelganger" is the worst I've seen from this director.Tartan Films is advertising this as "The most frightening film yet from Kiyoshi Kurosawa". What? The most frightening film from Kurosawa is definitely "Kairo". And if you think this is horror, your in for a surprise. This can't be classified as horror, or thriller. This is a drama, and a pretty bad one at that. A lot of scenes that were meant to be shocking have turned out being funny, and a lot of the plot is really confusing. And since it's Kurosawa, the pacing is slow. But it's so slow that you'll lose interest forty minutes in, and feel like doing something else. The thing that annoyed me the most was the use of CGI. Now CGI, if used well, can be really cool. But if executed with little care... It can be a disaster. I think that describes one scene here that has a very minimal use of CGI.The only positive thing I can give "Dopppelganger" is that it has really good acting. Koji Yakusho gives a great performance, along with the rest of the cast. But that's pretty much it...Please, do yourself a favor, and go watch "Kairo" or "Ko-Rei" if you want to be scared. This is a bad, bad attempt at a smart drama. Which it is intelligent, but... Well, there's a lot missing.3/10 for the good acting.

ned38 i probably shouldn't comment on this, as i turned it off an hour into it. absolutely unwatchable. i loved "cure", kurosawa's previous outing with the great koji yakusho, but this one was a mess through and through. it's like they didn't know what to do with it. the premise, about a man who meets his exact double, is nearly foolproof. there're so many ways to approach it, i really can't believe they couldn't make at least a decent movie out of this. but right from the beginning, the tone is all over the place and the plot just completely meanders. even yakusho's acting is weak (never thought i'd have to write that). not good.

MAXIMUMMOVIE Where to start? "Doppelganger" was truly a struggle to watch. It wasn't without a few moments that did succeed in keeping you glued to the screen but those were very few and to get to them you would have to withstand that urge to stop watching. Truth is I would of stopped it about half way through if it weren't for Hiromi Nagasaku who is quite the looker. To sum up the movie in as few words as possible It was about 40 minutes of blah blah blah followed by 30 minutes of confusion. I watched "Doppelganger" on DVD and both the picture and Audio was very good. Just a shame the movie could never really amount to much. But, did I mention Hiromi Nagasaku is a hottie?