Outrage Coda

Being a huge fan of the first two Outrage movies, I anticipated the newest (and apparently last) Outrage movie in the franchise, Outrage Coda.

After watching the movie I had the definite sense something was missing. The most obvious was that many of the participants in the first two movies weren't there. They were all killed off either in the first or second movie. There's plenty of mob killings in Outrage Coda. Yes, there is action galore, but ....

In my opinion, the absence of Detective Kataoka, the slimy, scheming, corrupt detective who was the Iago to Otomo's Othello is a serious drawback. His conniving scheming between the major crime families and between Otomo and the crime families provided the drama which made the story and the action compelling. Detective Kataoka is not in Outrage Coda obviously, he was done away with in Beyond Outrage, but the scheming, conspiracies, and intrigues between the two families are. This results in a lot of back-and-forth between the families, conspiracies, action, and shoot-outs, but an overall less interesting movie than the first two.

Takeshi Kitano is a good filmmaker, and it is a good movie. For this reason, whether or of you are a confirmed fan of the first two, you should purchase this movie. If you are an Outrage fan, you will watch the first two movies a lot more and this one less.

After watching the whole series, I think now it's the time to pounder on them. Of course, this review is only for the third installment.

By now, whoever is watching, either is aware of everything or happened to come by randomly. If you are the latter, you might feel let down, since this is not your mainstream mafia movie. This is an epic, a sad tale about a loyal, and, might I add, methodical, Yakuza. Methodical as this movie!

Everything is carefully crafted, but, then again, it takes its time. It drags like Otomo: reckless, but slow-paced; though, it plays out so nicely that it's good to watch, if you like Japanese movies.

Surely not a classic like The Godfather, and it does sounds kinda funny when you come to think of it, since most "executives" looks like a bunch of sloths, but Otomo's "plank" determination onto killing every goddamn traitor is outstanding.

Not a movie for everyone, but it should be, I guess... if you like... Yakuza stuff.

This whole trilogy did not impress me at all. Takeshi performs as good as always and the rest of the cast was good also. But generally, all three movies looked flat to me. I love a ton of shooting and a lot of yelling, but these three movies look like a ton of shooting and yelling, and not much of anything else. I reckon Takeshi wanted to make simply an entertaining film, that would probably be enjoyed by mainly Japanese audiences.

The plot in all three movies is basically the same. Yakuza families trying to rise above other Yakuza families. After each dead, a Yakuza family seeks revenge against another family. All of them plot against each other. That's it.

Looks like Takeshi was bored to think of a more interesting plot. I don't know..Some twists in it maybe could help. Some more of that dark humor present here and there would also help. But unfortunately, the overall taste left on me after watching all three movies, is that there is nothing to remember afterwards. At some point even the background music looks like it is totally out of place.

Regarding positives, the actors who played the Yakuza bosses and underbosses all play their parts well. And there are scenes with subtle black humor that made me laugh genuinely. Lastly, these movies do show the vanity of the gangster universe. Sure you can rise to the highest peak in a crime syndicate, but at the end of the day you are nothing but an expendable tool yourself. And each passing day only brings your downfall closer.

I would keep the best ideas from all three movies and i would think of a better plot for a single movie. Three movies with so many similarities between them, for me this is kind of an overkill.

Not among Takeshi's best.

The first Outrage movie was an all-out extremely violent yakuza gang movie, with traces of humor and dialogues. A popcorn movie, but still satisfying to watch.

The second Outrage movie built a more intricate set-up and story, that justified the 2nd half of the film scenes.

The third and final part, Coda, is about the clash between traditional / old-school yakuza versus modern, petulant yakuza.

It's about honor and respect of the code versus greed, constant betrayal and perversity.

The movie features better written dialogues than in the previous two parts, and an interesting take on how modern society might affect yakuza businesses.

Kitano's character, Otomo, follows the traditional code of honor of the yakuza, to the end. It was a beautiful story.

Note that the scenario doesn't actually consider the modern spirit to be negative in all circumstances: Otomo's boss, Chang, is a business man who has embraced modernity, and who does not condone violence.

Kitano delivered an amazing trilogy.

These movies taught me to play with them. I know now that people betray you no matter how good you are, you only have to be true to yourself and the right person will notice it.

Do what you do well and never let anybody lure you to the wrong side, always someone wants something from you but be sure that it is the right things.

Never let slows minds slow you down.