Violence Jack 3: why me? This is the third time I'm putting my mental health at risk to review this for you all, so I hope you get something out of it.
Overview: At this point, I don't think Violence Jack needs much of an introduction. If you're one of those backwards people who like to watch movies in reverse order or something (Star Wars), here's your tiny preface: post apocalyptic tale of wanton violence, with a healthy dose of stabbing, ripping, evisceration, and angst.
Story: 7
A lonely jeep rumbles across the ruined landscape, assaulted by a gang of bikers. The occupants, a man and woman, are quickly rounded up, the man cruelly murdered, and the woman is sexually assaulted, lacerated, and left to die. This is Violence Jack afterall, what did you expect?
This time around, we get a cohesive story. We have two narratives going; one of this kid who lives in post-earthquake Hope Town, and one of this woman out for vengeance for the death of her loved one, and her own brutal mistreatment at the hands of this biker gang, known as Hell's Wind.
Violence Jack awakens.
A sadistic tale of the psychopathic Hell's Wind gang, led by Dante (symbolism intact), who exist purely to terrorize the desolate Kanto region: rape, murder, and torture are the MO, the denizens of Hope Town soon find themselves beset upon by vile fiends. The woman takes it upon herself to administer some sweet, sweet justice on them-and very nearly succeeds, but finds that despite all her rage, she is still just a rat in a cage.
After a beloved teacher is captured in a raid from Hell's Wind, the aforementioned boy, the woman out for vengeance, and Violence Jack team up to reach the ferocious conclusion.
Who lives? who walks free? With a name like Violence Jack, I can assure you nobody does.
Art: 7
As the Violence Jack saga has progressed, the art style has definitely improved. Totally watchable, with some minor discrepancies with character design- nothing major. Viscera show up in their bloody, pink and red glory, and the fire looks pretty nice.
Sound: 7
Sound jumped up a lot from the previous films. We have some decent 80s-y action riffs, and it picks up at the high points to add a bit of dramatic tension. Definite improvement
Characters: 6
A little more heartfelt this time, since we have a more coherent story, and not just clips of the ultraviolent nature. A strong female side character is also a nice change from previous entries. Overall fine, still what you'd expect from Violence Jack
Enjoyment: 6+1
This film was definitely the best of the three. I enjoyed there being an actual story, the violence was satisfying also. A few missteps with continuity, but ah, who cares?
A few key ultraviolent moments: Chainsaw scene (9/10 brutality) Man ripped in half by motorcycles (8/10 brutality) Flaming Curb stomp (10/10 brutality)
[27/30 brutality points, enjoyment gets +1]
Overall: 7
As I reach the end of this Saga, i realize Violence Jack taught me something. One _can_ make violence for the sake of violence a plot point, but you really have to follow through, and Jack did this. They set up the standard for viciousness in Jack 1, upped the ante with 2, and culminated it in this.
Edit: Just watched Mad Max again, and this OVA definitely pays a lot of homage to it, which is a good thing. The biker gang, killing for fun, and a character out for revenge of his lost ones makes for a decent copyjob.
I need to go wash my eyes and scrub my brain with clorox now.
