Yakuza Apocalypse

"Yakuza Apocalypse" is one of last year's most flamboyant movies. It shouldn't come as a surprise that it's the most recent movie of famous Japanese director Takashi Miike, a diversified workaholic who shoots numerous movies each year and who has gained critical acclaim with psychological horror movies such as "Audition" (1999), gangster movies like "Family" (2001), experimental flicks like "Gozu" (2003), historically inspired action movies like "Thirteen Assassins" (2010), courtroom dramas like "Ace Attorney" (2012) and brutal revenge flicks like "Shield of Straw" (2013). Obviously, there is a lot of hit and miss in this director's extensive filmography but I have adored most of his movies. No matter what genre Takshi Miike touches, his movies are often direct, intense and surprising and he has a very distinctive style that some people love and others despise. There are only few people who would describe Takashi Miike as an average director and his movies mostly get very positive ratings or extremely negative critics which is the reason why most of his movies still have balanced averages. ''Yakuza Apocalypse'' is definitely a controversial movie. Some people might get lost while watching this film while others will adore this movie's eclectic style.

It's not easy to describe this unpredictable movie. It's basically a mixture of a gangster movie with a supernatural horror film and an absurd fantasy parody. "Yakuza Apocalypse" works a lot with contrasts. It features a rape scene and a brutal assassination on one side but humorously exaggerated special effects and slapstick fight choreographies on the other. There are profound dialogues but there is also a lot of situation comedy. The mood of the film can switch from brutal to light-hearted, from emotional to superficial and from serious to ridiculous in a few minutes. It's remarkable that the director still doesn't lose the film's guide line and manages not only to tell an intriguing story but also to include some smartly hidden social criticism here and there by ridiculing conservative gangster codes.

"Yakuza Apocalypse" tells the story of a disrespected young Yakuza who wants to avenge the death of his mentor who was assassinated by the mob of an international gangster syndicate. What makes this movie outstanding are the eclectic characters in this potpourri of genres. You will encounter a weird woman whose head is filled with a noisy liquid, a smart Asian gangster who looks and talks like William Shakespeare, an Indonesian martial arts expert, a hyperactive kappa goblin and a giant frog that wants to destroy the world. Expect the unexpected and you will get some very original entertainment.

In the end, even by Takashi Miike' standards, if he has any, this is one of his weirdest movies along with "Gozu" which is one of my favourite films of all times. This movie here is a little bit less atmospheric and the acting is only of an average quality. Still, this film offers multiple fireworks of creativity and has the potential to become a true cult movie in the future in the key of odd, recent North American films like "The Interview" and "Tusk". This flick has so many incredible genre changes, hilarious details and weird characters that it can be watched a dozen times without getting boring because there will always be something new to rediscover. "Yakuza Apocalypse" offers many flamboyant scenes that should lead to controversial debates with your friends but you can also switch your brain off and enjoy this incredible fun ride on your own. If you're expecting a serious mainstream movie though, you will be disappointed and get the exact opposite. Those who aren't familiar with Takashi Miike's works should maybe try out "Gozu" and other movies before approaching this pleasant oddball.

Miike melds genres in this yakuza/vampire flick. This is certainly crazy, but I don't think it's one of Miike's better films. Hayato Ichihara stars as a yakuza henchman who sees his boss decapitated in front of him. The boss has a secret: he's a vampire. And before his head dies, he bites Ichihara on the neck and imparts his powers to him. With those powers (and the power to create more vampires), he looks for vengeance for his boss. Simple enough set-up, but there's a ton of other stuff packed into the film. A lot of that stuff is fun - particularly the late-film appearance of a giant green frog monster who kicks all kinds of butt - but none of it is very coherent. It feels like just weird stuff for the sake of weirdness. Still, there's enough here worth seeing that I'd recommend seeing it, particularly if you're a fan of Miike or just cult cinema. Yayan Ruhian, who starred in The Raid and its sequel, also stars (he also briefly appears in The Force Awakens, but at least here he gets to fight).

For those not experienced any of Takeshi Miike's previous work, you are going to be in for a bit of a door slamming in the face experience with this one. There's no denying that he can direct a movie (and he has made some excellent movies) but some of his most popular films have been more offbeat & comical like this.

There's no point explaining the storyline as it's non-linear, intentionally a farce and practically irrelevant. Don't bother trying to intellectualise any of it either like one guy I overheard did as I left the cinema. It's just a farce, and makes no pretences to be otherwise.

You'll either fall for its ludicrous charms in much the same way many do with Month Pythons' work, but it will leave many cold. The humour is quirky but often violent and cruel so won't suit all. Might even offend some sensibilities. It often bored me but others in the cinema were in hysterics. Lots of teenage boy level humour too.

For those who lose patience with this, the only respite is that despite the silliness, you'll find at least something somewhere to laugh at.

It's not by any means the director's best work. Not by a long shot. Still for fan boys they'll lap it up, for all else it will likely miss the mark even if doesn't do so on the screen.

First off I believe Takashi Miike is a mad genius and a very hard working director i mean the guy makes like 4 movies a year and that's pretty exhausting if you ask me but he manages to bring quality as much as quantity and his latest movie Yakuza Apocalypse is no different from his other works it's got all the elements you want from a Miike film, genre mixing, gore, weirdness and over the top violence with little to no humanity to it. the plot is very simple, a Yakuza boss ,who is also a vampire but he managed to keep that a secret from everybody else, is murdered but before he dies he bites his henchman and the latter gets infected and decides to avenge his boss. if you think this is a serious movie please don't watch it because you're not getting the point or you probably never seen a Takashi Miike film apart from those serious ones he makes once in a while like 13 Assassins and Audition to mention a few. the point from this movie is that it's absurd but it tries to be a serious film kind of like Leslie Nielsen's character in The Naked Gun franchise he's a very serious guy but everything around him is just plain stupid and absurd. but here comes the genius of Takashi Miike he manages to keep this film Absurd and Sublime at the same time he knows that there's a fine line between Genius and Maniac and he walks that line with complete confidence. Overall this is a decent film it's not Miike's best but it's still highly entertaining and fun especially for the people who are familiar with his work. My Rating 7/10.

The joy of Yakuza Apocalypse is that it's Takashi Miike doing that Takashi Miike does, what he has done, since the 90's and yet it's a filmmaker even more confident in his skills and more assured in the timing of his shots and cuts. Thinking back to another gonzo-Yakuza movie like Dead or Alive or even Ichi the Killer, he reveled in more of a sloppy, throw-lots-of-WILD-things-at-the-wall approach to his compositions and how he would cut, but now he's gone through films like 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri, where he found a way to balance action and a more (what's the damn word here) patient way to get the audience into the drama. And yes, drama may sound strange in a movie that could also be called YAKUZA VAMPIRE SHOWDOWN and be entirely accurate. But it is a joy as a fan to see Miike in full command of his powers as the truest Gonzo filmmaker in the world. Does it mean he's the best? I dunno.

All I do know is that in Yakuza Apocalypse, if you're on board for the kind of insanity as far as action set pieces, characters, and plot turns that Miike has done in his career - the kind of 'don't give a f***ery' that has made him a household name for cult film enthusiasts - you get things like... a man in a green frog suit who can do martial arts to such a point where Bruce Lee runs for the hills, a duck-billed... man, no, really, he has duck bills in his mouth (and refers to this green-frog-suited man as "the world's most dangerous terrorist"), and, of course Yakuza vampires. How our hero, a young Yakuza who just has always wanted to do right by his boss - and that his boss gets his ass kicked and head chopped off by a rival looking to take over (you can tell since he speaks English and has like a Shakespeare-style neck collar, and his own bad-ass kung-fu fighter that can kick anyone into oblivion), gets turned and then makes others vampires.... well, you have to see it for yourself.

I think the biggest knock I had against this, at least during the first half, was that it is too long. At 115 minutes I'm sure where are scenes here or there that could have been cut, things involving some of the lower-rung Yakuza gangster men (the ones who, you know, are especially idiots but loyal and tough Yakuza guys, they more or less last until the climax too), and made it a little tighter. At the same time, I'm not sure looking back I'd want Miike to close and bottle up his full Miike-ness from the audience. By the time he and his writers go into action over-drive, which involves the entirety of this whole small... town, village, whatever you call it (there are also Western influences that are impossible to miss involving showdowns in the street and shots aping such things), it becomes one of the director's high points of a long career.

He and especially all of the insane stunt performers, who are fighting in such intense set pieces and choreography that I almost felt bad for them, but just almost (that poor guy in the frog suit, what he must've gone through) give it their all, up until the final frames where I threw up my hands going, "SURE?! WHY NOT!!??!"