XX: Utsukushiki kinô

Beautiful Killing Machine is a very average Japanese "girl with gun" movie whose only real interest is in the twist ending. Female bodyguard (Cheryl -Rei Natsume) is hired to protect a Honk Kong jewel thief (Kou - Naomasa Musaka) from the "Owl" (Kenichi Endo). Cheryl is supported by her mentor, one armed bar keeper Mark (Shunsuke Kariya) and her female physician, Dr. Hayami (Saiko Isshiki) who helps Cheryl deal with flashbacks concerning a kick boxing event that links Cheryl to the "Owl". The movie is clearly a low budget direct to video affair with limited cast and settings. Within that context the storyline is simplistic, the action sequences unlikely to satisfy any "action" fans and the female nudity, adequate as it is, insufficient to satisfy voyeurs. The acting was generally acceptable, with Shunsuke Kariya coming off best, but nothing to write home about. In fact the only real interest in this film is the plot twist at the end, in regards to the prior relationship of Cheryl and the "Owl". It isn't what you expected it to be. It appears some other commentators didn't get the twist, probably those pesky sub-titles, or as recorded in Amazon's comment board, were even offended by it. Personally I just said "Oh, thats a very different way of bringing all the plot points together". Consequently whether you are in any way satisfied by this movie may depend on your reaction to the twist ending.

"Cheryl" (Rei Natsume) is a bodyguard who has been assigned to guard a jewel smuggler from Hong Kong by the name of "Kou Sawamura" (Naomasa Musaka). To help her she relies upon a very small team which consists of her handler named "Mark" (Shunsuke Kariya), an electronics technician by the name of "Lucky Earl" and her physician "Dr. Kyoko Hayami" (Saiko Isshiki). Unfortunately, what none of them realize is the extent to which Kou Sawamura's enemies want him dead as they have hired the best assassin available who goes by the name of "the Owl". So far so good as far as plots are concerned and even though the character development is sketchy this movie proceeds pretty well--up until the last 20 minutes--at which time a new twist is introduced which pretty much ruins everything. Now, from what I understand this film is based on a short story so I am not sure how closely it follows the original outline. Likewise, it's not unusual for Japanese "pinku" movies to sometimes push the proverbial envelope when it comes to scenes involving sex or gore. But in any case, I wasn't particularly pleased with the ending and I have rated this movie accordingly. Below average.

Model Rei Natsume plays Cheryl, a kick ass bodyguard who takes on the most dangerous assignments between bouts of brooding on her shadowy past. The role mostly requires her to take a lot of long strides in short skirts, while looking pensive or world-weary or possibly constipated. It's hard to tell. Rei isn't much of an actress, but she is a knockout, and that pretty much sums up the movie: on a dramatic level it's just not very refined, but taken as the sum of its exploitative elements, it delivers the goods. There is more nudity than the Playboy Channel and more fights than UFC marathon night on Spike.

The plot isn't much: Cheryl's latest client falls into the scope rifle sights of notorious assassin The Owl, and Cheryl protects him even though he's a jerk because she's a professional. After expending more shell casings than the Battle of the Bulge, Cheryl and Owl face off for the inevitable throw-down. No prize for guessing who wins. But despite being rather pedestrian on a conceptual as well as dramatic level, the movie moves forward smoothly and has a slick glossy look (for a feature shot on high-resolution video, as so many Japanese action movies have been). As such, it is one of the better examples of the girls-with-guns genre which was so popular during the 90s but which has pretty much died out. Someone looking for exploitation flick kicks could do a lot worse.

Let's cut to the chase: these "XX: Beautiful [ ]" films (I've seen 5 out of the total 6 now) are not as good as their covers. Their covers promise female action films, but in reality they are basically dramas with a dose of sex, kinkiness and violence. "Beautiful Killing Machine" is the best of the bunch for the simple reason that its heroine, Cheryl, is a bodyguard who does not rely exclusively on her gun, and does not become helpless without it. Her fight scenes are not great, but their mere existence is enough to lift this film above the other entries in the series. The problem is that the middle section wallows so much in psychodrama, conversations and "arty" images that the film becomes inert for long periods of time. In the end, it turns out to be more of a bizarre love story than an action flick. (**1/2)

The first five minutes of this movie had me cringing as an annoying kid was watching Cheryl fight bad guys. This kid actually pumped his fist in the air & exclaimed "YES!!" I thought to myself, "Oh gawd, Kev, what have you bought??", even contemplating crying, but thankfully the kid left via helicopter five minutes into the film, never to be heard from again. Must have been the producers kid or something. Anyway, the main plot is that Cheryl is a hit-woman who has to protect Kou from the mafia, who send the assassin known as "The Owl" to kill him. Cheryl also has recurring nightmares of kickboxing for some unknown reason.

My Grade:D+

DVD extras: Trailers for The Ninja Dragon, Dimension Travelers, Tokyo Mafia: Yakuza Blood, Zero Woman: Assassin Lover, Tokyo Mafia: Battle For Shinjuku, Beautiful Hunter, Beautiful Beast & Theaterical trailer; a (not very good) trivia game; & cast bios

Eye Candy: Cheryl takes a shower & has multiple nude full body massages, Mari, a escort, has a love scene & takes a shower