City Hunter - Special 3: Un complotto da un milione di dollari

For as simple as the goals of action-comedy may be as a genre, not every example is so fleet-footed as 'City Hunter.' One doesn't particularly need any previous knowledge of the manga or anime to jump in and quickly glean who the characters are, and their relationships, and the action and comedy speak entirely for themselves at any time. In a modern cinematic landscape of self-important snark and endless world-building, it's refreshing to revisit a time when a piece was allowed to stand entirely on its own two legs. That any single plot may or may not specifically require the detective skills of protagonist Saeba Ryo - and in turn have a substantive story on hand - is almost beside the point as the endless antics of lascivious (and downright creepy) Saeba, and his friends and colleagues, pair neatly with the sometimes wild violence. And so it is here: everything we need to know to appreciate 'Million dollar conspiracy' is contained squarely within these 45-50 minutes, so we can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

Granted, one could argue that any instances of exposition or plot development here are rather forced, inserted unnaturally. This surely extends to the pacing and plot development generally, and to be honest, instances within about the last third especially rub me the wrong way. Yet I don't know if that's an issue specifically with the writing or direction of this one flick as much as it is a trouble with the limited, diminutive runtime, the often decidedly cartoonish tenor of the franchise, and/or the genre at large. Anyway, this is nitpicking: 'City Hunter' just wants to have a good time, and maybe tell a good story along the way, and that's just what we get. The humor really is funny, the action is exciting, and even if the narrative requires extra helpings of suspension of disbelief, and a meat grinder, it's decent enough just as it is. As a nice bonus, I'm extra pleased here with the original music of Yano Tatsumi - grabbing and flavorful as it splendidly complements every scene, and the action above all.

Factor in the reliably excellent animation, and I don't think there's any going wrong with this little picture. As we expect of anime, there's excellent detail in the beautiful backgrounds, in the fetching character designs, and in all other active elements including the effects and the fluid action. Actually, all told, even with its harried storytelling I wonder if this 1990 release isn't tighter and more cohesive than the first theatrical movie, '.357 Magnum,' of 1989. But then, at this point we're just splitting hairs. It won't appeal to all comers, it's not perfect, and the characterization of Saeba hasn't really aged well and was never appropriate in the first place, even (especially) for the intended audience of young men and boys. Still, the franchise only wants to entertain, and no matter how much we may reasonably critique some facets, it ably does just that. There's no reason to go out of your way for 'Million dollar conspiracy,' but if you do have the chance to watch then this is a swell way to fill an hour.