Video game movies tend to suck ass. There are a few exceptions of course, but overall, for some reason movie makers can’t do any good when it comes to making video game movies.
But can you really go wrong with a movie with hot japanese girls in bikinis/schoolgirl outfits killing zombies with katanas that also parodies everything anime/zombie flick/action movie? The answer is no, you can’t go wrong with that. And that is really all Onechanbara is about.
 
Story (possibly slight spoilers)
Based on a game series by the same name(originally part of the Simple 200 series by D3 publisher), Onechanbara has a relatively simple premise. A crazy scientist from D3 corporation was conducting experiments to bring people back to life. Of course, that caused a huge zombie outbreak throughout the world. People who survived the outbreak are struggling to survive and trying not to become zombies themselves.
Enter Aya,  bikini-clad hot japanese girl out to find her sister, Saki, who is working for the evil scientist ho caused the outbreak and, after the outbreak, didn’t stop conducting his experiments. Aya has been, for a couple years, just randomly wandering around japan with some fat guy, killing every zombie in sight.
One night when fighting a bunch of zombies they come across some leater-clad girl with a shootgun that knows where to find Saki, so they head out towards the enemy’s… castle? Yeah, sure looks like it. Anyways, they head out over there, and along the way you hear about each character’s heart wretching past. Basically it all involves one of their loved ones getting killed or kidnapped by the evil professor/Saki.
The story isn’t incredible, but it works well and the characters, as cliche as they are, aren’t exactly that bad either(though the fat dude is pretty damn useless). Overall, entertaining story, it’s enough to keep the movie going and the emotional moments aren’t too bad. Not a bad story, but don’t expect anything incredible.

Action scenes
Now THIS is where this movie is great(well, other than the japanese schoolgirls/bikini girls). The action scenes are basically a big parody of anime and action movie action scenes, and wow they pulled that off really well. Just about everything in there parodies something. You get the anime-style “teleport dash”, auras covering characters/weapons, characters moving incredibly fast and being able to stop bullets and such. Realy, the action scenes really carry the movie on their own. Fast paced, exciting, and just really cool visually.

Zombie scenes
I did say it was a parody before, and the “zombie scenes” are just funny. They actually aren’t really scary and just exploit a bunch of zombie flick cliches. They keep popping out of nowhere, there’s body part getting ripped off, zombies just randomly eating people on the side of buildings… The visual effects really have a B-movie feel to them, and frankly i like that. They give more… realistic visuals sometimes than just badass CG. And if the effect is badly pulled off, at least you get a good laugh out of it.

Pictures
Of course I took a few screen captures.
Sorry for the low quality, but the video file i managed to find didn’t look that great either.

First appearance of Aya

Facing off against a few zombies. They're gonna get pwnd.

WTF is that?

Oh, they were clashing after powering up... wait what?

More super powers... I dare you to try stopping a bullet with a katana like that.Â

OVERALL
So is this a good movie? Well, yes, it is.  But you have to go at it with an open mind. You have to either have little to no expectations on this, or know that it’s just a big parody.
The visual effects are nice, the B-movie feel really helps, the action scenes are fun, the story, although really simple, is quite good, the whole parodying everything zombie/action/anime flick thing is really fun, and if you like anime you’ll have a blast out of the final battle. 
Bottom line: You like sexy japanese girls wearing bikinis or schoolgirl outfit? Check this movie out now. And if you want a good laugh and some nice thrill out of the fights too. Not a bad movie, and an example that movies based on video games can actually be good.

Other bottom line: I can’t wait for the Wii release of Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers in early 2009.(as well as an Xbox360 version… if i have a 360 by then)

jobocan Movie