06-27-2020, 12:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-27-2020, 12:55 PM by Drunk Monk.)
I should add that the sword fight isn't particularly good. It's one take, one move, shot with a jiggly perspective that's hard to follow. The gun play isn't that well choreographed either. The finale fight in the hardware store is shot in the dark and it's hard to tell where the various characters are at any given time. It's just a lot of pew, pew, pew. Miike was shooting for impact - it's where the bullets land (and where the swords cut) that is captivating. One of the villains uses a bag of meth to staunch his wound - hilarity ensues.
The other element that I really had to focus upon was language - the yakuza speak Japanese and the tong speak Chinese. A few characters speak both and act as translators, which adds a dynamic to the dialog that is interesting but hard to track. While reading the subs, I often got befuddled listening to the dialog too.
This isn't a great Miike, but it's a good Miike, and I've been needed a dose of Miike to vent my frustrations lately.
The other element that I really had to focus upon was language - the yakuza speak Japanese and the tong speak Chinese. A few characters speak both and act as translators, which adds a dynamic to the dialog that is interesting but hard to track. While reading the subs, I often got befuddled listening to the dialog too.
This isn't a great Miike, but it's a good Miike, and I've been needed a dose of Miike to vent my frustrations lately.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse