The Great Yokai War

Miike's goofy, gallant, action-packed fantasy deserves to become a classic family film.

A big, silly party.

Narrative coherence is perhaps not among the film's virtues, but its loopy, cluttered story is part of the fun. And a clearer, simpler plot might have required the sacrifice of some delightful grace notes and visual marvels, like the elastic-necked geisha or the one-eyed ambulatory umbrella.

Odd blend of the truly cheesy with a few genuine f/x makes for a cutesy if not exactly thrilling spectacle.

The film makes no more or less sense than Ridley Scott's Legend or Jim Henson's Labyrinth, and in fact has a creaky, blue-gel '80s-ness to it, but for many, keeping up with Miike's cranked output is an end in itself.