Review: Jellyfish Eyes

The directorial debut from acclaimed artist Takashi Murakami struggles to identify its audience. The film is sort of a mashup of E.T and Pokemon with a bunch of political subtext thrown in. Audiences will likely be older, knowing Murakami from his work on Kanye West's Graduation album and other pop culture moments. The film, however, is largely aimed at children aside from its rather heavy handed political message. While there is no shortage of Murakami's unique and creative aesthetics on display, all of this makes Jellyfish Eyes a curious mess of a film.

Young Masashi (Takuto Sueoka) recently lost his father in a tsunami, beautifully rendered as a shimmering wall. When he moves with his mother to the countryside he ends up more closely located to his Uncle Naoto. Naoto works at a mysterious laboratory overlooking the town. Masashi is an outcast at school but soon he meets a strange flying creature he names Kurage-Bo or Jellyfish Boy. Soon he learns that all of the children in the town possess one of these odd creatures—known as F.R.I.E.N.D.s—which they use to have tournament battles.

Jellyfish Eyes is all about seeing Murakami’s imaginatively-designed creatures. He uses puppetry and computer animation in striking ways at times. The film however often feels like a video game. The battles are long and lack any tension. While the F.R.I.E.N.D.s are all wild creations full of amazing little details, the film's human characters are all one note. The backstory for the creatures and even the central plot of the bad guys is so convoluted that I doubt anyone can walk away clear about the plot elements. It is only until the final moments that Jellyfish Eyes begins to reveal key bits of information, then only to end and tease an upcoming sequel.

Overall this is a film to see if you are a fan of Murakami's work. His creature design is something to behold. The film however is less impressive. It is messy, confusing, and shifts tone so much that it is hard to ever feel engaged with the story.

2.5/5