Tokyo Mafia

This film essentially begins with a Tokyo gangster by the name of "Ginya Yabuki" (Riki Takeuchi) getting into a heated argument with his immediate supervisor named "Iwagami" (Ren Osugi) which ends with him being excommunicated from his Yakuza clan. No longer being welcomed in Tokyo, Ginya goes to Hong Kong to recuperate but eventually returns with his own criminal organization he calls the Tokyo Mafia. But rather than taking on the various gangs directly, he decides to circumvent them at first by cornering a specific illegal market and gradually increasing his influence instead. Naturally, his sudden financial success--along with the enmity of Iwagami--creates tension with all of the other gangs who want in on the action. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a rather standard Japanese crime film which was limited to a certain degree by the rather basic English dubbing. Likewise, the special effects could have used some improvement with one specific scene involving a decapitation being especially cheap looking. On the other hand, I liked the way the director (Seiichi Shirai) showcased the ruthlessness of several high-ranking members of organized crime, with one specific scene depicting a man owing money to a crime lord being sent to Hong Kong for a meeting--only to have his organs unexpectedly removed to pay his debt. Now that's ruthless. Be that as it may, while there are certainly better films of this nature out there, I suppose this one passed the time well enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.