BeyondHardBoiled

Now I'm normally quick to defend movies in the "serial killer" sub genre. There are some great films to come out of it, such as Kim Jee Woon's "I Saw the Devil" and Sion Sono's "Coldfish", but this film just seems like Category III gore trash.

I watched this mainly to see Simon Yam and wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but I was shocked. This was severely underwhelming.

The plot's very cliché, nothing that stands out to make it really interesting. It's laid out terribly, there is a scene that goes on for minutes of cops playing poker, which is hardly relevant. It gets very repetitive by the end.

The acting is horrible, including Yam's, which is unfortunate. This is almost embarrassing. I guess it has to do with the dialogue. Some lines are written for some dark comic relief, but it's hard to distinguish from the regular dialogue.

Finally, the ending is very unsatisfactory.

I suggest you avoid this, even you Yamster fans.

This film by Takashi Ishii should be more well known.

A night club owner, a extortionist, a pimp, an insane business man, and an ex-cop come together to create the title's team of Five to rob the Yakuza. As the film goes on, they are hunted by two pro killers that are seemingly around every corner.

The story itself is nothing groundbreaking, but the style makes it worth it. There are several elements Ishii uses to create this solid crime thriller.

The overall cinematography is excellent, presenting dark shadowy shots, which reflect the film's dark tone and settings.

The characters are also well done, each one's backstory slowly revealed as the film goes on. They're fairly unique and interesting, enough so that the audience can sympathize. Each actor puts on a satisfactory performance that is pretty realistic.

The soundtrack combined with the great directing constructs genuinely unsettling scenes.

Some parts here and there are a teeny tiny bit forced, but can be easily forgiven.

Many of this film's viewers come to see Takeshi Kitano, but he's only a small part of the whole thing. If you're disappointed, there is much more to this picture to look forward to. It's one of Beat Takeshi's best films he only acts in.

Ishii is well known for his manga art, but that should not over shadow his film making capability. I have not seen Gonin 2, but look forward to seeing it. He is know releasing a third, Gonin Saga which I am excited for.

What do you get when you put a Thai Drug cartel, Tribal Warriors, the Vietnam People's Army, Chinese mercenaries and a small child in a John Woo film? An absolute mess.

I am a Woo fan myself, so I was curious to see his first "true" film as he calls it. It was a bit hard to find, which is not surprising after seeing it. It should have been completely forgotten.

It's bad. There is little to no plot, and all it really serves itself as is an action film. This was made before Woo was established as the master of Heroic Bloodshed, so his style was no where near perfected, meaning the action scenes in this film are lackluster. The whole thing is basically worthless then.

This was released after the success of Woo's "A Better Tomorrow", which is actually pretty decent. I'm not sure why he thought to put this out after that, it only degrades his image. He thankfully then came out with "The Killer" which made up for it.

Avoid this film, even if you're a Woo fan.