Rating: 
Summary: Don't compare this to Tarentino flicks-this is the real deal
Review: Don't ever, EVER compare this movie to a Tarantino flick AGAIN, EVER. First of all, this movie couldn't rip off a Tarantino flick because Tarantion rips off every Japanese/Asian movie's style in every single one of his movies! This movie is fantastic, quirky, violent, hilarious, stylish, and it actually has heart. If you can't handle the sight of pure originality, go back to your Pulp Fictions and Resevior Dogs (oops, sorry, Resevior Dogs ripped off Kubricks THE KILLING and mixed it with Scorsese's Mean Streets style).At any rate, see this movie: it's a damn good time.
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous for what it is.
Review: For what it is, a large cast Yakuza film which in reality is about the "awakening" of a young girl, this is a well put together piece, hence why it even sees the light of day at all in the US. Characters are colourful and entertaining, certain scenes seem absolutely outrageous, and while there are cliche moments they are not the ones the American eye is seeing. But that's fine: if you laughed a bit at the stupidity of some of the characters ridiculous costumes and cheered for the weasely gay unibrowed assasin, well, maybe you did like the movie. And once again, Asano Tadanobu is brilliant. And if you're a fan of his you'll be entertained for months with this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent attempt; not quite there
Review: Here's a pretty good try at a comic crime film that doesn't quite make it. Some of the elements are definitely in place and on occasion this is really funny. But the director/screenwriter duo here doesn't mine the situations for all they're worth and so the result is less than it should be. The best character in the film is a gay wacko hitman with a squeaky voice and archetypal nasty villain laugh. He's without question one of the best characters in Japanese (or any) contemporary film, hands down. You can't wait to see what he'll do next whenever he's on screen and this really boosts the film's punch. Other characters include a teenage girl who runs away from her hotel job working for a sleazy bell captain; a young rebellious Yakuza who steals a lot of money from his boss; the local Yakuza boss himself, his trying-to-be-cool son, and the local crew; and a selfish outsider who nevertheless lends a hand to the young Yakuza guy. So all the elements seem to be in place for a quirky film and, as mentioned, some of them do gel. But the film could and should have done a lot more with the teenage girl, and with the Yakuza boss' sister who seems to be on screen just for show. As well, some of the dialogue among the local Yakuza crew is funny, but more often than not it isn't, and when it fails, you can feel the film trying hard to make you react. This forced quality is unfortunately too often in place to make this a memorable film. But the hitman is great. If it was up to me, I would do a film with him as the main character. Nice try, but needs work.
Rating:
Summary: Decent attempt; not quite there
Review: Here's a pretty good try at a comic crime film that doesn't quite make it. Some of the elements are definitely in place and on occasion this is really funny. But the director/screenwriter duo here doesn't mine the situations for all they're worth and so the result is less than it should be. The best character in the film is a gay wacko hitman with a squeaky voice and archetypal nasty villain laugh. He's without question one of the best characters in Japanese (or any) contemporary film, hands down. You can't wait to see what he'll do next whenever he's on screen and this really boosts the film's punch. Other characters include a teenage girl who runs away from her hotel job working for a sleazy bell captain; a young rebellious Yakuza who steals a lot of money from his boss; the local Yakuza boss himself, his trying-to-be-cool son, and the local crew; and a selfish outsider who nevertheless lends a hand to the young Yakuza guy. So all the elements seem to be in place for a quirky film and, as mentioned, some of them do gel. But the film could and should have done a lot more with the teenage girl, and with the Yakuza boss' sister who seems to be on screen just for show. As well, some of the dialogue among the local Yakuza crew is funny, but more often than not it isn't, and when it fails, you can feel the film trying hard to make you react. This forced quality is unfortunately too often in place to make this a memorable film. But the hitman is great. If it was up to me, I would do a film with him as the main character. Nice try, but needs work.
Rating:
Summary: A funny gangster movie.
Review: I don't know what some of these reviewers are talkin' about, but I thought this movie was very entertaining. I thought the story was good. The main character is a cool fellow who ran away from his yakuza gang with stolen money. He ends up with the hotel girl who got in a car accident with the yakuza. Now the yakuza wanna track them both down. I thought the action was pretty good, it was bloody, and funny sometimes. Most of the characters are funny. The yakuzas were even funny ,and esspecially the nerdy assassin. That guy is too funny! The restroom scene and the robbery scene was the best. The ending was a bit dissopointing, but it wasn't that bad. I still had fun throughout the movie. This film got me laughing a lot. It feels like your watching an anime in live action. If you like Japanese comedies or anime, you should give this a try. Also check out Adrenaline Drive, It's kind of similar to this.
Rating: 
Summary: I fell asleep........ TWICE!!
Review: I love japanese film. I really wanted this to be good. Even though I liked the character development and the plot was ok I just couldnt get into this. I actually fell asleep.... twice! The camera work at times can be interesting but some scenes are way too drawn out without really going anywhere. The mood and pace of the film is very monotone and flatline, especially for a film that touts itself as being this grand rollercoaster ride. And in response to another reviewer here, Taranteno does take alot from asian cinema, but asian cinema borrows alot from western culture as well, at this point there is alot of equal give and take. If you want to see an interesting so called "cool" japanese film see Samurai Fiction instead.
Rating:
Summary: Flat..possible spoilers, but not really.
Review: I will not discuss the plot, because it is described in the other reviews. The director set up interesting premises that could have been cool and quirky, but fails. For example, at the beginning, all the weird yakuzas get out of their cars to chase the man on the run, and they are all out of their element, they look strange in their super cool clothes in the middle of the woods, and then before they chase him, they argue for a while, and this could be cool, if it develoepd to some action, but then it just ends, very suddenly. There are many scenes like this, that have potential, but then come out flat. The acting is all good, it has many akward moments, which work, but...here's the biggest problem, the cinematography. Everything is a long shot. Everything shows the people from far away, you almost have to squint to see them. and people in reviews keep mentioning the fast paced editing. Why? This is a very slow movie, with a few fast moments, I say moments, not sequences. The action lasts for but a moment. Most of the movie is these supposedly quirky and cool gangsters sitting around, with the director looking at the 'in between the action in between the calm" kind of moments. This is similiar to the set up of Takeshi Kitano movies, but in those, there are no super cool looking gangsters, who look so cool, that make you look at them, and you're waiting for them do something cool, but then...they just sit there. and then die at some point.
the director is trying so hard to be cool and quirky, and you can really feel that. but, there's just not enough going for you to feel the coolness of the characters. it's like looking at britney spears scratch her head on her break during a photo shoot. And then you don't see the hot photo shoot. there she is, she looks great, but she's just sitting there, and youre looking at someone who's bored...and then it's a new scene. Oh, and you see everything from a litle far off, so you can't see too much of her face.
so, that's all I have to say. dissapointing. very cool cover though.
Rating:
Summary: This movie fights for awesome.
Review: If you are looking for a shoot em' up blood-opera, this isn't it. There's no fancy diving through the air shooting, or jumping over a semi with a motorbike action here.
What this movie DOES have is pretty much everything else you could want. This is the first action film I've seen where I got to know the henchmen as people. The plot is good. The characters are all solid. The wardrobe is great, and cinematography is intense.
Unlike Hollywood movies, this film does not spell everything out for the viewer. Even on my third viewing, I was making connections to things that I hadn't noticed the first two times.
My advice to you is this: See it, love it, make everyone else do the same.
Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed this movie, greatly.
Review: The film summary can be wrought by just about any other review, but I'm going to go into what really turned me on to this movie.
First off, the Japanese approach to cinematography, character development and dialogue are exotic and unique to me as I have been constantly plagued by watching crappy domestic films for this past decade. Many people might not like this movie because it doesn't revolve around aspects that they normally see in movies. There isn't alot of sex, but there is alot of sexual tension. There are alot of things that go unsaid that the viewer is dependent to draw his own conclusions. Some of the scenes might run on "too long" but I see those scenes as necessary. The general movie is fast paced, and the long scenes "where nothing cool happens" give a good contrast to the fast pace. It gives the characters and the viewers, time to chew on the situation. Again, many will not enjoy this movie. I loved it. Your loss, my gain.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: The story is basically about a girl who works at a hotel, Toshiko, and how her car crashes into two yakuza, thereby saving Samehada, the guy they were after. Apparently he stole money from them, and now a dozen or so yakuza are after him. Toshiko has joined Samehada along on the ride due to troubling circumstances at the hotel she used to work at.
This story had sounded interesting, and is apparently based on a manga. The characters in this movie with a cool gangster soundtrack to back them up, in my opinion, are the strength of this movie, because their personalities all so varied and fascinating. There are even moments of humor, but unfortunately, not often enough to save the movie. There are parts that drag, are a little long, and very very strange. I suppose the strangeness is manga worthy. If you're even curious at all about this film, I suppose rent it like I did. Even then, the ending left much to be desired, and you wondering if you could have spent two hours doing something else more enjoyable.
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