LoveDeath

Japan, 2006

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring: Shinji Takeda, NorA, Riki Takeuchi
IMDB: 6.7

LoveDeath from director Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus, Azumi) is essentially a Japanese road movie cum Yakuza flick, which explains the 'death' portion of the film's title. There's loads of guns, standoffs, random killings, and even a few squirty death sequences.

The 'love' portion of the title refers to the romance between the two leads, Sai (Shinji Takeda) and Sheila (NorA), and explains why Sai lets himself get embroiled in the sticky situation that Sheila has gotten herself into. Having taken the dangerous path of stealing money from the Yakuza, Sheila finds herself on the run from a revenge-bent Yakuza crime lord with only Sai to protect her.

Luckily, Sai is a kick-ass kinda dude, who is up to the task of dealing with the teams of Yakuza assassins on their tail.

 

LoveDeath is a very long movie - clocking in at 2hrs and 39 minutes, with a huge cast of characters. I've often heard reviewers comment that a movie would be better if it was edited down in length. No doubt they would say the same here. If this film was edited down to say, the standard 90 minutes, it would be rated very highly, as there is easily 90 minutes of excellence contained.

However, if you did that you'd lose the remaining 69 minutes, which might not be of the same high quality, but I still want to see. Personally, I'm glad that Kitamura got his way and left everything in. But you need to set aside an evening for this movie.

 


The acting of the two leads is a standout - Shinji Takeda is very, very cool in a wiry, chiseled Bruce-Lee kinda way, and newcomer NorA is sexy and surprisingly good considering this was her first ever film role. I'm not sure if she was a model previously, it wouldn't be a surprise ... but her official site lists her as an actress and a singer. She has since starred in Kitamura's Midnight Meat Train, but nothing else is listed - at IMDB at least. What a shame.

Apparently the film is riddled with characters played by famous personages, chiefly musicians - however I can't claim to know who they are. Some of the acting by these side-characters seemed quite dodgy and amateurish at times. On a more positive note, it also features a ton of eye-candy provided by model/racequeens such as YinLing and Miho Yoshioka among others, cast in roles such as Dominatrix, Nurse, Waitress etc. And as an added bonus, even rubber-faced Riki Takeuchi makes a guest appearance.

 


This film has all the familiar staples of the new breed of Japanese cinema ... its quirky, sexy, crude, silly, violent, bloody, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. The story doesn't break any new ground - there's no deeper meaning to be discovered, and there's not really anything standout to make this movie a must-see. Just come along for the ride and experience some good ol Japanese fun. Recommended.

7.0/10

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Trailer

RocknRolla

Great Britain, 2008

Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Toby Kebbell, Tom Hardy, Tom Wilkinson
IMDB: 7.5

"A real rocknrolla wants the fuckin' lot"

Fans of director Guy Richie (Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver) will be happy to know that he has not strayed from the style and substance of his previous movies.

Lenny, considering himself the top dog in the London underworld, is doing a deal with the Russian Mafia who are paying him handsomely to grease the appropriate channels and get approval for construction of a new arena. Unfortunately, the 7 million euro commission fee gets stolen en route causing major headaches for them both.

Along the way we meet Mr One-Two (Gerard Butler), the head of 'The Wild Bunch' and his merry band of crims for hire, Johnny Quid the druggie Rock star who may or may not be dead, and a couple of extraordinarily persistent Chechnyan mercenaries.

I won't go into the story any further, as there is a lot going on in its almost 2hr running time, with many different characters and side-stories. Suffice to say that the story moves quickly, and is pure entertainment from start to finish.

The usual British gangsters, thugs and druggies are here, counter-balanced this time by the ever gorgeous Thandie Newton as femme fatale Stella, who adds a welcome sexy dimension to the film. Its a huge and impressive cast of characters too - all turning in top performances in what is a very polished film. The cinematography and visuals are equally impressive.

Guy Richie has certainly made the British gangster flick genre his own, and this latest movie is typically excellent, and highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10

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The Gene Generation

USA, 2008

Director: Pearry Teo
Starring: Bai Ling, Alec Newman, Parry Shen
IMDB: 4.6

It's not easy being a fan of futuristic science fiction movies as they're so rarely done well. But as its one of my favourite genres, I can't help but be excited when something interesting is on the horizon. And this one has been on the horizon for a long time!

The trailers have been doing the rounds for well over a year now, featuring a grimy dystopian aesthetic, a story involving genetic manipulation, a pumping hard rock soundtrack, and not least a leather-clad ass-kicking Bai Ling in the title role. Expectations were high.

Michelle (Bai Ling) is a contract killer, eliminating DNA Hackers who the government wants rid of. Handy with a wide range of weapons, she's also a formidable martial artist, which is even the more amazing considering she's dressed in tight leather most of the time. Not that this guy is complaining. At all.

Unfortunately she's saddled with a shithook of a brother whose gambling problems and general lack of smarts gets them into trouble with the wrong people. When burglarising a neighbour he unwittingly steals a one-of-a-kind genetic manipulation device - and this lands them in the middle of a bad situation.

Despite the interesting cyberpunk premise of the film, the movie pretty much plays out like an action movie. Which is a lost opportunity in my opinion, because the cyberpunk genre has a lot of interesting ideas to draw upon. The Gene Generation is basically an action movie with a razor thin veneer of science to support the plot.

First time director Pearry Teo definitely has his heart in the right place, but maybe not quite the experience or the budget to pull such an ambitious idea off. The dialogue, acting, and special effects are at times pretty darn woeful, and at others surprisingly good.

A consistently good performance was given by the inimitable Bai Ling (who always brings something special to her roles), and Alec Newman was good as the genetic scientist Christian. However Parry Shen as Michelle's brother and pretty much all of the support characters really dragged the film down, not helped by some fairly inane dialogue. Giving a few of them cheap and nasty effects on their voices does nothing except add a C-movie vibe. Bad idea.

What really holds the movie together is the presence of Bai Ling. She features prominently on the cover art, and I'd say most people checking this out will be there for the ass-kicking hot asian chick factor. Well, I was anyway. And she fills that role perfectly with her tall, lithe figure and edgy looks. She has some great kill scenes, gets covered in blood (and has to take a shower to clean it off), and kicks multiple bad-guy ass with her martial arts moves.

In summary, the movie has some great scenes and ideas but also a number of factors that drag it firmly down into B-movie territory (in the bad sense of the word) and spoil what could've been a really great movie. I still enjoyed it though, and fans of Bai Ling should definitely check it out. Hopefully Mr Teo's next project will have a better budget to more fully realise some great ideas.

Rating: 5.5/10

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Trailer

Deadly Outlaw: Rekka

aka Jitsuroku Andô Noboru kyôdô-den: Rekka
Japan, 2002
Starring: Riki Takeuchi, Sonny Chiba, Miho Nomoto, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Miki Katsumura
Director: Takashi Miike
IMDB: 6.6

Another entry in the Miike yakuza pantheon, this one has many familiar faces and an all-round stellar cast. Rubber-faced Riki Takeuchi stars as the yakuza hothead Kunisada - the "deadly outlaw" of the title, and will be familiar to Miike fans from the Dead Or Alive trilogy, Kikoku, and Fudoh. You may also recognise the legendary Sonny Chiba, recently seen in Kill Bill. But the supporting cast are uniformly excellent as well, although maybe not so familiar to western viewers.

And its not all hard-ass Yakuza types either. The guys are joined by two 'Korean' gals Myung Hyung (J-Idol Miki Katsumura) and Sung Lee (the gorgeous Miho Nomoto) - who is the object of one of the film's more memorable lines, "I can't live without you anymore ... especially your pussy." Hah, now there's some honesty for you.

The film opens in typical Miike style, similar to the adrenalised opening sequence of DOA 1 - all action, guns and hard rock soundtrack. Kunisada's father gets wiped out, and this gets him well pissed ... in fact filled with burning fire (rekka) for revenge. But political manoeuvrings are afoot in the yakuza underworld, and the powers that be are not so keen for him to start a war.

Kunisada doesn't give a fuck, and proceeds to exact his revenge nonetheless. Because Kunisada is badass.

This is not as 'out there' as some of Takashi Miike's films, but it certainly carries his signature style. We have the offbeat humour, pounding soundtrack, outrageous stunts - and all set in the seedier side-streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo. It also features tinges of his usual sexual perversity, explicit gore and ultra-violence - albeit in a slightly more toned down version than some of his other offerings.

But first and foremost this is a very competent yakuza action/drama flick. The Miike 'shock tactics' are just cream on the top.

Don't go into this expecting something ultra-weird like Visitor Q or Gozu and you will be well pleased with this offbeat but solid Yakuza tale with strong performances all round.

Rock'n Roll.

Twisted rating: 8/10

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