City Hunter from Netflix Is Getting Positive Ratings, But Reviewers Point Out The Outdated Humor of This Manga Adaptation
Netflix has lined up a new live-action manga adaptation. City Hunter is already available for streaming.
From time to time, interesting productions appear on Netflix, which unfortunately aren’t publicized enough to reach a wider audience. And it looks like the film City Hunter, which debuted on the platform on April 25, can be one of them.
This production is an adaptation of Tsukasa Hojo's manga of the same name. It depicts the story of a talented marksman and a hopeless playboy who reluctantly joins forces with the sister of his dead partner to investigate his death. The film about detective Ryo Saeba is a crime comedy for which you need to reserve 1 hour and 44 minutes.
Although City Hunter doesn’t yet have many reviews or ratings from viewers, it can already be seen that they are mostly positive, as can be checked on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as on IMDb. However, the critics point out that the specific humor of this production, stemming from the fact that the main character is a playboy, may make it unconvincing to some viewers.
Below you can read excerpts from the reviews, both positive and negative.
If you’re even slightly against playboy characters, this might not be for you. But if you’re all in on a seemingly horrible guy with a real heart of gold and badass action sequences, then City Hunter is ace – Kate Sánchez from But Why Tho? A Geek Community.
The action was satisfactory, but I guess I was blindsided by the fact that the comedy was so misogynistic in nature. Maybe if I was familiar with the source material, I would’ve been better prepared to tackle some of [City Hunter's] perverse stuff – Pramit Chatterjee from Digital Mafia Talkies.
When it comes to unfunny jokes that should have died a death in some smoke-filled boardroom from the 1980s, City Hunter takes the cake. […] However, despite the film’s lackluster first half, it does grow into a more enjoyable comedy action flick as the plot progresses. By the third act, City Hunter seems to have finally hit a good balance of slapstick, action, and narrative. Ryo also becomes a more toned-down version of the annoying character we meet in the opening scene – Lori Meek from Ready Steady Cut.
It's not for me, but it might be for you, if you like your entertainment to be slapdash, silly, and sexist, until it gets bloody – Peter Martin from ScreenAnarchy.
So, as you can see, while the title is mostly reviewed positively, it isn’t without its flaws, and some note that both the manga and the anime based on it were products of their time and adapting that now doesn't necessarily work. But it seems that this film adaptation should appeal to fans of the original.
Below you can see Netflix’s City Hunter trailer.
