User reviews

This second film of the "Stray Cat Rock" collection begins with a small group of misfits driving around a beach in Japan and essentially having fun in their own reckless way. As it so happens, one particular member of the group named "Taki" (Takeo Chii) has a secret crush on a young woman named "Asako" (Bunjaku Han) but is too shy to do anything about it. So, in order to help him out, his friends go to great lengths to bring her to him. Although their attempt fails rather badly, Asako also just happens to have feelings for Taki and eventually the two get together. It's during this time that Asako discloses that she is the mistress of an influential executive within a religious cult and that she has information that will make all of them rich beyond their dreams--if they have the courage to act. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film started off rather lethargically but picked up a bit at the mid-point and got a bit more interesting from there. Even so, I don't consider this to be quite as good as its predecessor and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

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.

After the popularity of the first Stray Cat Rock movie Delinquent Girl Boss (1970), Nikkatsu Studios were quick to cash in on the hype and produced several sequels that were all released in the same year as the original, except for the last one which came out next year in early 1971. The second movie in the series is called Wild Jumbo (don't ask me why) and remains a very entertaining entry in the rocking franchise.

To me Akiko Wada was the most central actress in the first movie and it is a little disappointing to see she only appears in a tiny cameo in the sequel (reportedly archive material from the first movie), but soon the new actors take the stage with such energy that the past needs not be reminisced any longer, although some actors from the first movie return in different roles. Meiko Kaji (C-ko) and Tatsuya Fuji (Ganishin) are probably the most notable actors of the bunch, but I liked Takeo Chii (Taki), Yusuke Natsu (Jiro) and Soichiro Maeno (Debo) a lot too despite their lack of acting experience at the time.

Storywise Wild Jumbo is a heist film: a group of five friends, also known as the Pelican Gang, spends time hanging out in the city, driving around in their all-terrain buggy car and listening to psychedelic jazz fusion when one of them is approached by a mysterious horse-riding girl named Asako (Bunjaku Han) who suggests they rob 30 million yen from a religious movement called Seikyo Gakkei. The Pelicans – C-ko, Taki, Ganishin, Jiro and Debo – accept the challenge, but things are not as easy as they may initially seem.

The visuals of Wild Jumbo are pronouncedly less psychedelic than in Delinquent Girl Boss and the setting is less urban in general. Instead, a large part of the runtime is spent on a sunny sandy beach surrounded by steep tree-covered mountain slopes. The mood is also more leisurely and comedic than before; the heist plot only gets going in the latter half and at points the movie resembles a carefree beach party flick. Not that there's anything wrong about that, I really liked the gang's antics and the general atmosphere. In spite of a lighter mood, the ending is actually very wistful and sad, as opposed to the more hopeful conclusion of the first movie.

The series has been said to reflect a new direction for the Nikkatsu Studios, which is easy to understand while watching Wild Jumbo. The soundtrack is just as groovy and awesome as before and many unconventional cinematic techniques, such as fast-forwarding, speech bubbles, freeze frames and inverted colours, are utilized at one point or another, evoking allusions to the French new wave. The trickery never feels out of place though; certain aggressiveness in the shooting style is something of a trademark of the series after all. Looking past the surface, the movie doesn't try very hard to ponder the justifications of the gang's plan although it is fleetingly mentioned that Seikyo Gakkei deserves to have their money robbed. Maybe some more substance could have improved the movie a bit, but it is certainly highly watchable as it is now too.

As with so many franchises, the Stray Cat Rock sequels are generally not as well respected as the first film, but in my opinion Wild Jumbo is in no way less entertaining than Delinquent Girl Boss. Both have their strengths (urban grittiness in the first movie, laid-back atmosphere in the second) and personally I enjoy both a lot, so anyone who dug one should give the other a chance as well. The whole franchise would actually deserve more popularity among film aficionados anyway – hopefully the movies can somehow find their way to new viewers.