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Reviews
Red Shadow: Akakage (2001)
Lot's of fun, but not as good as Samurai Fiction
From the great Hiroyuki Nakano who proved himself with "Samurai Fiction" comes an entertaining, if not wholly fulfilling, Ninja movie!
If you enjoyed Samurai Fiction, then you should have a blast watching Red Shadow. It's one of the most entertaining films to come out of Asia in the past few years, with some really breathtaking stunts, great costumes and sets, and some charismatic characters. Still, at the end of the film I felt a bit that a little something was missing. I still can't quite put my finger on it.
Stylistically, Red Shadow is at least on par with Nakano's earlier masterpiece. The cinematography is beautiful (and in glorious color this time), and Nakano gives us some extremely cool crane shots. The humor is there, as is the respectively tongue-in-cheek tone, but Red Shadow takes a slight turn for the melodramatic in the middle, and I think that might be where it's biggest stumble was.
I won't go into details, as it would kind of spoil an important bit of the film, but the fun, light-hearted film that makes you feel as if you could jump, flip, and spin through the air suddenly stops and takes a more dramatic tone. It's a brief break, though, and a necessary one to set up the characters for the second half. It's problematic, though, because it divides the film into two very distinct segments, so much so that they could almost be different films!
Still, it's not that big of a flaw. Just a little irritating in hindsight. There are others, though: a slightly anti-climactic ending, a couple of plot holes, but nothing that really takes that much away from the film.
The characters aren't quite as interesting or charismatic as those in Samurai Fiction; that stops the film from being much more than entertainment.
This review has been pretty negative in tone, but it's really just from the high standard Nakano had set for himself. From another director, Red Shadow would be a great achievement. It's extremely stylish; the techno-rock soundtrack is very cool and somehow works well in context; the costumes look incredible; the special effects are subtle and convincing; the stunts and acrobatic feats a really awe-inspiring; the comedy succeeds almost without fail. It's certainly worth a look, and if you're prepared for the quirky comedy/romance/action tone, you should really enjoy Red Shadow.
Pick up the Media Blasters DVD. It's a really great 2-disc set.
Zatôichi (1989)
Not brilliant, but pretty damn good.
Zatoichi is a very strong film from the man himself, Shintaro Katsu. I won't say too much in this review, but this is a very strong entry to the Zatoichi series. It has its faults, but most of the time it is a beautifully shot piece that connects extremely will to the viewer.
The fights are great, and really make me kind of sad that Takeshi Kitano decided to go the CGI route in his version of Zatoichi. Here, the arterial sprays are real. And it is one amazingly blood-stained opus. Evidently, Shintaro's sun (the main villain) actually killed an extra during shooting! A crime or total dedication to one's character, you be the one to decide.
Some of the film's major problems: That wretched 80s English song. It's horrible. Whenever it plays, you drop out of Katsu's world. Why it is in there, I'll never understand. It's possible that the song alone (played twice) keeps this film from being great. Another problem: Zooms. I have no problem with snap zooms or very deliberate zooming shots, they can be great especially in older films, but here, the zooming is sloppy. It's as if the DP doesn't know what shot he wants, so he messes around with it as he goes. This problem only occurs maybe three times, but when it does, it stood out to me.
Otherwise, a great film. The faults I find with it are relatively minor quibbles.
Kitano's 2003 update is a better film, but this is arguably more fun and more fulfilling to Zatoichi fans.
The Media Blasters DVD is great! Surprisingly nice anamorphic transfer, good original Japanese audio with very legible English subtitles. Not much as far as special features go, but the film alone is enough to make this a worthy purchase.
Godzilla 2001 (2001)
Crazy
A crazy parody of the classic Godzilla series of films. Adam Black, obviously Caucasian, runs around Dallas in an attempt to save it from Godzilla (who rises from the depths of the oft-polluted Trinity River), until he discovers that his enemy might not be so bad. It's been dubbed over, presumably from gibberish to English, which gives the movie a nice sense of light-heartedness. Production values aren't very high, and some footage is obviously taken from other (older) Godzilla movies. But it all rests on the shoulders of leading man Adam Black, who fills the role quite well. The funniest aspect of his performance is that, in Black's performance, everything is taken seriously and with full (sometimes slightly exaggerated) gravity.
The concept of Godzilla tearing his way through Dallas, TX, along with a plethora of cheesy effects, makes this a moderately worthwhile watch for any fan of parody, but Black's performance also makes it a worthy tribute to the classic Godzilla films.
Oh, and it's a lot better than that OTHER American Godzilla movie!