I wasn't very impressed with the first Stray Cat Rock movie, so I was quite happy to discover that the follow up, Wild Jumbo, wasn't as focused on the youth gang scene, but was a heist caper instead. Unfortunately, the actual crime in the film doesn't occur until fifteen minutes before the end, leaving plenty of time for not-very-funny comedic antics as our quite obnoxious anti-heroes - a group of five friends who call themselves the Pelicans - drive around in a jeep getting up to no good, shooting out the tires of a woman's car, digging up old fire-arms from the war, and squabbling with a rival gang called the Seibu Society. The first hour or so really drags.
The crime, when it finally happens (and not a moment too soon), involves holding up a van carrying 30 million yen that has been donated to the religious organisation Seikyo Gakkai. Having grabbed the bags of cash, the gang - C-ko (Meiko Kaji), Taki (Takeo Chii), Ganishin (Tatsuya Fuji), Jirô (Yûsuke Natsu) and Debo (Sôichirô Maeno) - plan to drop the money over a bridge and swim it to the coast, but, as is often the case in this type of film, things don't go quite as planned. The finale features lots of shooting during which ***here comes the spoiler*** all of The Pelicans are killed, along with Asako (Bunjaku Han), the woman who has been helping them. This would have been quite a downer if I actually gave a damn about any of the characters.
