Soo

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Korean: 수 Release Date: 2007 Director: Yoichi Sai Netflix Link IMDb Link

The most discouraging kind of film, for me, is the kind that has a lot of potential, but just never makes the best use of it. That is the case with Soo. There are a great number of things I liked about it – the cinematography, the cast, the sound effects, the incredibly raw and powerful violence – but I found the sum total of its parts to be lacking. First of all, it’s over 2 hours long when it doesn’t really need to be. If they had chopped at least a half an hour out of it, it would have made for a much tighter story. Secondly, the plot was a little bit what the fuck? I won’t go into detail for the sake of spoilers, but some of the actions by the character made me wonder if they weren’t a little off in the head or maybe not even human.

And finally, even though the fight scenes in this film are supremely badass, they furthered the concept that maybe this wasn’t a story about humans after all, but about robots; battle robots who have seen a few movies about humans and are doing their best impersonation of what they think they are, but fail. In John Woo style, Soo teaches us that nobody ever runs out of ammo unless it’s integral to the plot, you can get stabbed at least 15 times and still fight back, and body parts, like ears, are surprisingly easy to rip off with your bare hands. If you’re the main character, you can can get repeatedly stabbed, shot at least three times, beaten with baseball bats, crowbars, fists, feet and whatever other bludgeoning tools are at hand, and you can still fight until you get retribution. See? Robots.

Unfortunately, Soo makes the cinema cardinal sin of not being bad or good, but of simply being mediocre. It’s not entirely unwatchable and worth a shot if you like violent revenge films, but it’s not anything I would strongly recommend.

Hard Revenge, Milly Double Feature

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Hâdo ribenji, Mirî / Hâdo ribenji, Mirî: Buraddi batoru Japanese: ハード・リベンジ、ミリー Release Date: 2008 / 2009 Director: Takanori Tsujimoto Netflix Link IMDb Link: Part 1, Part 2

Hard Revenge, Milly has a double feature on one disc; Hard Revenge, Milly and Hard Revenge, Milly: Bloody Battle. The first movie is only about 45 minutes long though, and the the second is just over an hour. It actually might have been more effective had they boiled it down to only one movie. Hard Revenge, Milly was what Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay was trying to be and failed. It features a very capable lead heroine in Miki Mizuno, awesomely bad special effects, cheesy dialog, waaaaaaaay over the top fight scenes and more gore than you ever thought possible. Weeeeee! It’s not as good as The Machine Girl or Tokyo Gore Police in the same genre, but it’s worth a watch if you love high-octane splatter and your expectations aren’t all that high. Actually, I would recommend watching it right after Battle Girl and it will seem like the most awesome movie(s) ever in comparison.

3 Seconds Before Explosion

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Bakuha 3-byô mae Release Date: 1967 Director: Tan Ida Netflix Link IMDb Link

This was not at all what I thought it would be, but that’s mostly due to the fact that I didn’t read the synopsis. I was expecting another bloody, 70′s Yakuza flick. What I got is an odd spy story with several gangs pitted against each other trying to find missing jewels before the clock runs out. I could explain the plot further, but it’s pretty ridiculous, so why bother. Akira Kobayashi plays a badass spy who’s supposedly lightning fast and no one can catch him, yet we get to watch him repeatedly scale buildings or climb walls at the speed of a turtle. Go, fastboy, go! This would have been a lot better had it been a Yakuza flick. Or at least, I might have enjoyed it more if it was a Yakuza flick since spy stories aren’t really my thing. But, in its defense, it does have quite a bit of violence, gushing blood and even some explosions where body bits are smashed against walls.

Bloody Territories

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Arakure Release Date: 1969 Director: Yasuharu Hasebe Netflix Link IMDb Link

Bloody Territories is a Nikkatsu Yakuza exploitation film like any other really, except that they actually show the bizarre Yakuza reconciliation ceremony (involving raw fish, swords and rhythmic hand clapping). Yasuharu Hasebe wants sooooo desperately to be Kinji Fukasaku and Akira Kobayashi is trying so hard to be Jo Shishido. Both of them fall short in their attempts. Regardless, Bloody Territories is aptly named as nearly everyone in this film gushes a monstrous amount of blood as they are violently stabbed to death over a struggle for the prized Shinjuku territory. Hooray for gushing blood. Underhanded deals, back-stabbing (both literal and figurative) and honor (mostly lack thereof) abound in the quest for the top. It’s not the best nor worst of its kind and worth a watch if you like violent Yakuza films.

Kill Zone

	Rating: 5 out of 5 Chinese: 杀破狼 (Saat po long) Release Date: 2005 Director: Wilson Yip Netflix Link IMDb Link

Kill Zone a.k.a. Saat Po Long (S.P.L.) was not at all what I thought it would be. Judging from the staid box cover and the synopsis, I was expecting a cop versus thugs flick like any other. Instead, it is so much better. Yes, it has a really evil bad guy, played expertly by Sammo Hung, versus a group of cops led by Simon Yam and Donnie Yen, but S.P.L. is so much better than the average HK flick. Not only is the plot slightly unusual with an ending of Shakespearean magnitude, but it’s peppered with some excellent martial arts to boot. The fight with Donnie Yen versus Jacky Wu, who actually holds his own with Yen, is spectacular. And then, when you add Sammo Hung versus Donnie Yen in a fight to the finish with smashed glass and falls that actually look like they hurt a lot, well, martial arts choreography just doesn’t get much better than this. On top of all the bone-crunching, martial arts mastery, it has some real emotional depth, some great acting and a good story. S.P.L. is a must-see for any fan of Hong Kong cinema. Awesome awesome awesome.

Ichi

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Release Date: 2008 Director: Fumihiko Sori Netflix Link IMDb Link

While Ichi does have some spectacular slow-motion fight sequences, I was expecting more of a high-octane splatter fest, akin to The Machine Girl or The Samurai Princess, but that’s not what this film is all about. It’s actually an homage to the Zatoichi films. It walks a very fine line between a tribute to and a total rip off of its predecessors. It’s not really a reimagining of the character since there’s not all that much new or original here, except that the character is now a female traveling musician lacking Zatoichi’s sense of humor and impishness. If you’ve seen Zatoichi or any number of samurai-seeking-vengeance type films, you already pretty well know the story, but if you enjoy those types of films, Ichi is worth watching.

Dog Bite Dog

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Gau ngao gau Chinese: 狗咬狗 Release Date: 2006 Director: Pou-Soi Cheang Netflix Link IMDb Link

I have mixed feelings on this one. Some scenes were amazingly cool, but the sum total of its parts wasn’t enough to make Dog Bite Dog a great film. Actor, singer, fashion designer and notorious bad boy, Edison Chen, is pitted against Sam Lee, best known for his comedic roles, in what should be a tense cop versus con battle of wits. Instead, what we end up with is a bizarre love story and side plots that go nowhere. The cast is stellar, the acting is great, the cinematography and sound effects are unique; it’s mainly the story that I found generally uninspired. I liked where it was headed, but it never really got there. And just when you think it’s over, it keeps on going leaving you with an ending that didn’t really need to be. Worth watching, but not highly recommended.

The City of Violence

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Jjakpae Release Date: 2006 Director: Seung-wan Ryoo Netflix Link IMDb Link

The City of Violence is a nicely composed gangland drama with a surprising amount of martial arts, knife fights and even nods to Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill and The Warriors with some Baseball Furies look-alikes, etc. The fight scenes are really well done and the evil guy is evil; you want him dead, right now. While the story isn’t all that original, The City Of Violence presents it in a fresh way making it seem as if we haven’t seen a similar story a thousand times before. The City of Violence isn’t quite a straight gangster drama, nor is it a martial arts film; it’s rather an entertaining combination of both and it was much better than I expected.

Samurai Princess

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Samurai purinsesu: Gedô-hime Release Date: 2009 Director: Kengo Kaji Netflix Link IMDb Link

Sword-fighting, cannibalism, arterial spray, bad special effects – and that’s all before the title sequence. Samurai Princess is ridiculous. It could be ridiculously entertaining or just ridiculously bad, depending on your frame of mind. Make no mistake, this is a terrible movie chock full of unimpressive special effects make-up mixed with CGI and they don’t even try to blend the two, shaky cam, a bizarre storyline and more dismembered limbs than you would even care to count. The acting is melodramatic, but too be fair, making your way through the dialog without cracking up laughing does prove some acting chops. Samurai Princess is worth watching if you’re looking for a really, really bad and goofy movie that doesn’t even attempt to be serious cinema.

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa Release Date: 1974 Director: Yukio Noda Netflix Link IMDb Link

Zero Woman is standard fare for a 70′s Japanese exploitation film; gushing blood, rape, violence, half-naked women in bondage and a pretty conventional plot. The female lead is supposed to be a badass cop turned con who is sent undercover to foil a kidnapping in order to gain her freedom from prison. Yet, rather than actually acting on her task, she spends most of the time not doing much of anything other than brooding. When she does actually do something, the scenes, while interesting and even fairly original, aren’t quite enough to counterbalance all of the sitting around. There are much more action-packed female lead exploitation films out there from this same time period.