A lowly criminal crook is released from prison after serving his time with good behaviour. Unfortunately his old gang is waiting for him, having readied a sushi buffet in his honour. The twist? It's served nyotaimori style, on top of a nude female body. And thus the stage is set for one of the most intense dinner conversations you're ever likely to witness.
This film has been accused of ripping off Quentin Tarantino's style. And yes, I can see where these accusations come from. The heavily Japanese themes and backgrounds filtered through Western understanding, brutal and hardcore characters, shocking scenes of extreme violence, the larger than life feel of the plot. The only thing missing is a distinctive soundtrack and even that is somewhat present in the most intense situations when the score builds and builds as the characters just keep staring at one another. The thing is, though, I don't see why this is a problem. It's one thing to rip off characters and story ideas. That's plagiarism and really cheap. But style? That's like saying that once Steven Spielberg became known for using heavy background lights, no one else could use those ever again. So, if there's exists a director like this one, who can do what Tarantino does with this amount of professionalism, then more power to him, I say.
Aside from that "criticism" the film is more than fine. The story isn't overly complicated and you can see final scene coming from miles away, given the film's subject matter, but this is one of those films where the experience and the journey are more important than the end result. It's about the dialogue and the characters more than it's about the story. And both of those are really good. I especially enjoyed Tony Todd's Duke, who tried to act like a big, collected yakuza boss, but all of his cocky American underlings kept interrupting his moments and monologues. I get your blight, Duke. Mark Hamill also really shines in the role of Crow, a maddened torture expert. He and Max (Andy Mackenzie) make for a great pair of mad dogs.
The production values are also high enough to convince, the torture scenes are suitably brutal to please their target audience and as a whole it's a very solid package. The story could have used one twist or surprise more for me to remember this film years later, but as it is, it's more than enough for me to recommend it to all fans of grindhouse genre.
This film has been accused of ripping off Quentin Tarantino's style. And yes, I can see where these accusations come from. The heavily Japanese themes and backgrounds filtered through Western understanding, brutal and hardcore characters, shocking scenes of extreme violence, the larger than life feel of the plot. The only thing missing is a distinctive soundtrack and even that is somewhat present in the most intense situations when the score builds and builds as the characters just keep staring at one another. The thing is, though, I don't see why this is a problem. It's one thing to rip off characters and story ideas. That's plagiarism and really cheap. But style? That's like saying that once Steven Spielberg became known for using heavy background lights, no one else could use those ever again. So, if there's exists a director like this one, who can do what Tarantino does with this amount of professionalism, then more power to him, I say.
Aside from that "criticism" the film is more than fine. The story isn't overly complicated and you can see final scene coming from miles away, given the film's subject matter, but this is one of those films where the experience and the journey are more important than the end result. It's about the dialogue and the characters more than it's about the story. And both of those are really good. I especially enjoyed Tony Todd's Duke, who tried to act like a big, collected yakuza boss, but all of his cocky American underlings kept interrupting his moments and monologues. I get your blight, Duke. Mark Hamill also really shines in the role of Crow, a maddened torture expert. He and Max (Andy Mackenzie) make for a great pair of mad dogs.
The production values are also high enough to convince, the torture scenes are suitably brutal to please their target audience and as a whole it's a very solid package. The story could have used one twist or surprise more for me to remember this film years later, but as it is, it's more than enough for me to recommend it to all fans of grindhouse genre.