Shinjuku Incident

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: San suk si gin Release Date: 2009 Director: Tung-Shing Yee Netflix Link IMDb Link

I don’t know why I expected anything good from Jackie Chan after he jumped the shark with that babysitting spy movie (which released in the US first). I figured since this was an HK movie instead of pure Hollywood tripe, it might be alright. I figured wrong. With the exception of Daniel Wu in a silver wig (for no apparent reason), there is not a damn thing in this movie I haven’t seen elsewhere a billion times.

Since there are no martial arts scenes, Shinjuku Incident relies heavily on the plot which is its major failing. When it bothers to make sense, it’s clichéd, but most of the time it doesn’t even do that. The character motivations are nonsensical and the transformations they make over the course of the film are not only unbelievable; they’re ridiculous. The only really interesting thing about it is the portrayal of Japanese xenophobia, but even that has been done better elsewhere. Shinjuku Incident takes an interesting, promising premise and runs it into the ground. It’s also overly long, it drags; it has no martial arts, little violence and not enough gushing blood. Boooo. 3 meh stars.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Ryû ga gotoku: gekijô-ban Japanese: 龍が如く 劇場版 Release Date: 2007 Director: Takashi Miike Netflix Link IMDb Link

Yakuza: Like a Dragon far exceeded my expectations, but then again, it’s a movie based on a video game so my expectations were really low. Most of the time in Yakuza flicks, you can expect either an overused plot or none at all, but this one actually had a plot, and a rather complex one at that, which is completely unexpected coming from a video game turned movie and, as much as I like him, from Takashi Miike. At times, it’s terribly awesome, at others it’s awesomely terrible. Some cool fight scenes, a couple of explosions and some interesting characters almost make up for the weird plot made up of vignettes that barely connect, if at all. All things considered, it’s a pretty bad film, but I happen to like bad films like this.

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.

A Colt Is My Passport

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Koruto wa ore no pasupoto Release Date: 1967 Director: Takashi Nomura Netflix Link IMDb Link

The most recent film in the Nikkatsu Noir set is a solid addition to the series. A Colt Is My Passport is nicely filmed with a little bit of shaky cam, lots of wide-angle shots and deep-contrast shadows. Joe Shishido plays man in the middle as the gang boss who contracts him turns against him in an effort to make peace with rival clans. Both Shishido’s character and the story line in A Colt Is My Passport bear a mild resemblance to Suzuki’s Branded To Kill which was made the same year and also stars Shishido. A Colt Is My Passport makes good use of a wealth of influences to turn out a finely-crafted, hard-boiled crime story.

I Am Waiting

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Ore wa matteru ze Release Date: 1957 Director: Koreyoshi Kurahara Netflix Link IMDb Link

I Am Waiting is a well-executed and acted crime story which still leaves a little to be desired. The most notable parts of I Am Waiting are its nicely filmed, black and white cinematography and Yujiro Ishihara as a man caught in the middle of a struggle between a girl and her gangster employer. There’s a bit of a mystery here involving the main character’s brother, but overall, the film is very sparse with both action and plot development. The two, nearly disparate halves of the story lumber along at a relatively slow pace and barely connect. I Am Waiting is worth watching as part of the Nikkatsu Noir set, but it’s not my favorite of the series. 3.5 stars.

Cruel Gun Story

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Kenju zankoku monogatari Release Date: 1964 Director: Takumi Furukawa Netflix Link IMDb Link

Cruel Gun Story is the story of a heist gone wrong followed by deceit, betrayal and mixed allegiances. Jo Shishido at his swaggering machismo best with his omnipresent sunglasses (day or night) stars as a criminal recently sprung from prison in order to head an armored car robbery. With twists and turns, and more double-crosses than you can count, Cruel Gun Story does a fairly good job of keeping suspense through most of the film. Unfortunately, towards the end, it starts to fall apart since I saw the ending a mile away. Even so, there’s still enough to like about it (like knife fights and shootouts) if you’re into classic Japanese films.

Rusty Knife

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Sabita naifu Release Date: 1958 Director: Toshio Masuda Netflix Link IMDb Link

Rusty Knife is one of the best of the Nikkatsu Noir series. Not only is it visually interesting, but the story line is intriguing with its multiple double-crosses; gangsters working for the cops and cops working for gangsters. The plot is a well-written, complex tale of an evil yakuza boss pitted against two angsty former-gangsters turned good guys who are being pressured to narc on the boss for an incident 5 years prior. Jo Shishido has a small part, but the stars are really Yujiro Ishihara as one of the former gangster and Naoki Sugiura as the gang boss. Rusty Knife is a great little story full of murder, mayhem and mystery.

Take Aim at the Police Van

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Jûsangô taihi-sen ori: Sono gôshô o nerae Release Date: 1960 Director: Netflix Link IMDb Link

Take Aim At The Police Van is typical Suzuki; gorgeously shot in black and white with plenty of violence. The reason why Suzuki is one of my favorite Japanese directors is his ability to take a standard exploitation-type plot and turn it into a visual masterpiece with a turnaround time that would make your head spin. Most of his Nikkatsu movies were shot in a week with a month for completion. What’s different here is that the story is actually a fairly involved little murder mystery. In this film, we not only have the benefit of his intricate cinematography, but a plot that seems to match. If you are a fan of Suzuki, Take Aim At The Police Van is well worth the watch.

Pigs and Battleships

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Buta to gunkan Release Date: 1961 Director: Shohei Imamura Netflix Link IMDb Link

One of Shohei Imamura’s finest early efforts and my favorite of the Pigs, Pimps & Prostitutes series. At just under two hours, Pigs and Battleships is one of Imamura’s shortest films as well. It is essentially the story of a bumbling wannabe yakuza peppered with a little bit of drama and comedy. However, Pigs and Battleships is far more than a simple yakuza tale. With a definite post-war slant, it is full of social commentary and critique of the American occupation of Japan and its involvement in the Korean War. Typical of Imamura, this film is visually interesting, but it has a deeper plot and more of a message than the other films in the series. If you are interested in Imamura’s films or post-war Japanese cinema, Pigs and Battleships should be on your list of films to see.

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Gincho nagaremono mesuneko bakuchi Release Date: 1972 Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi Netflix Link IMDb Link

Typical of sequels, the second installment of the Wandering Ginza Butterfly films isn’t quite as good as the first, but it makes up for it somewhat by adding the always charming Sonny Chiba to the fray. This time around, our cool-as-ice heroine accidentally intertwines with characters that lead her to a face to face encounter with the man who killed her father. There are a few characters in this film whose sole purpose seems to be bumbling and unnecessary comic relief. But, no matter, there are some very bad, bad guys, sword-fighting, violence and everything else you can expect in a Toei Studio’s film from this era. Wandering Ginza 2 is not as good as the original, but still entirely worth a watch.