Hell Dogs

No pun intended - there is something about this story ... yes we have seen it before. It is not something new we really get served here. But the way it is presented is ... well you kind of can see that the director is seasoned as they say. This is not his first rodeo (if they had them in ... actually why shouldn't they have them in Japan?) ... but cultural things aside, this takes lessons from the West (noir, crime movies) as much as just being aware of its own culture.

The acting is really top notch - and the script is as tight as it has to be! It reminds me a bit of Johnnie To but also Kitano. Showing the trivial life in between shootouts ... showing the interactions between Yakuza ... but also how they present themselves to outsiders. A lot of research was done surely (I'm not calling anyone Shirley).

The movie knows what it wants and while it is two hours long (which may seem like a lot for some), it never gets boring ... not for one second! I understand that some may have issues with the characters presented ... and trying to keep track of them is not an easy task! But that also makes this movie re-watchable ... a lot! To say the least!

The fact that we deal with the Yakuza (sorry for the pun) also means that there will be a lot of violence! And the violence is as well shot as the scenes of dialog. This may not be action of fast paced - but you need the time to breathe in between! Especially after the movie gets really mad ... and to understand what the next move or step is going to be.

Characters are well drawn, but they also have codes of ethics that we may not entirely understand ... not all of us. The respect - the punishment ... where even the boss is not shown mercy if he screws up ... again, quite complex, but in the best way possible and imaginable! Glad I found it - and another example of Netflix doing things right.

I was very skeptical about this movie because I was not familiar with Japanese movies. I am very glad that I have watched it.

Intriguing plot and amazing cast! It kept me on edge from time to time. Background music was well done and perfect..

The story is about loyalty, betrayal, revenge, love. If you like these types of movies, you will feel right at home. Story pacing is good. Don't expect mindless bang bang like other reviewer or your will be disappointed.

To be honest, I am glad that I have watched it. I have again witnessed that for foreign movies, IMDB rating is not something to rely on.

The idea of going undercover to get a job done is not new, in American cinema it probably goes back at least to Undercover Agent (1939). Police procedurals being popular, almost every other country on the planet has played with this genre also, and it is especially popular in Asia. Masato Harada is a senior director with decades of experience in Japan and this appears to have been his pet project. References in the film show that Harada was very familiar with the American "film noir" (as above), and in many ways Hell Dogs is almost an homage. That said, while direction and acting is sharp, and the action scenes razor-sharp, my concerns are the same ones mentioned in the overseas reviews. Running over 2 hours is just too long; long scenes of exposition with heavy dialog; long distances between action scenes; and so many characters to keep track of that the viewer gets the sense a pop quiz may be coming. Tighter editing would have helped. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Nice cinematography and story.

The characters are well developed and you really understand their motivation and why they are acting like that, they are also pretty different with different life stories that are very well acted out.

The violent scenes are very well masked-up so they don't seem that gritty nevertheless you manage to have the whole story.

I really liked the connection between the two leads, if was believable.

Nice soundtrack, it really manage to communicate the tension in a very subtle way. I would definitely look for the scores.

The twist at the end was interesting, I even had a moment " would he or wouldn't he do it"

The film is not easy-to-digest popcorn entertainment, however. I was often on the edge of my seat, not only for the many hardcore action scenes staged for maximum blood-spattering and bone-crunching impact but also to figure out what was going on as characters rattled off reams of exposition.

The setting does not resemble that of a typical yakuza film, where low-level hoodlums chow down on convenience store food and run their scams out of hole-in-the-wall offices.

The film delivers mayhem with punch and panache at a blistering pace, though the two main protagonists sometimes escape certain death with what seems to be nothing but willpower.