Like a Dragon (2007)

AKA Ryu ga gotoku: gekijo-ban / Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Japan

110 mins.

Directed by Takashi Miike

Starring: Kazuki Kitamura, Goro Kishitani, Sho Aikawa

Takashi Miike's loose adaptation of the PS2 game "Yakuza" is definitely an odd duck. I've never played the obscure game it's based on, much less owned a PS2 (PC fanatic at the time). After seeing the movie, though, I highly doubt anything in the game is as intriguing as some scenes in this bad mothertrucker.

First of all, it defies most formula conventions and delivers a uniquely Miike experience. That usually goes without saying but it applies doubly here. Reminiscent of City of Lost Souls before it and Crows Zero after it, Like A Dragon has as many laughs as it does bullets. Hollywood rarely succeeds in making action movies with the right amount of humor, unless Shane Black is a part of the proceedings. Luckily, Miike is firmly on the other side of the galaxy when it comes to Hollywood.

Combining bombastic action with a violent sense of humor, the film almost seems to want you to hate it, but for me it was hard not to like what ends up being one of the most twisted action comedies in recent memory. If your sense of humor swings toward the conventional, you probably won't laugh at all. If you're like me, though...well...

The characters are all a hoot and a half. A gangster fresh out of jail, his bat-wielding and bugnuts crazy arch-nemesis, a lost little girl, two Bonnie and Clyde posers, a pair of idiot bank-robbers, a mysterious Korean hitman, a bunch of sweaty cops, a sadomasochistic video store owner who also happens to be an arms dealer and plenty of other characters inhabit one hot night in a fictional district of Tokyo with two missing women and ten billion yen at stake. Too many characters? Not with Miike at the helm. He just introduces them, sets them in motion and sits back with you to watch them collide.

Again, if you're expecting a deathly serious action fest, you had better look elsewhere. Relying on vicious physical gags and some truly inspired comic timing, Miike mixes in dynamic camerawork with colorful imagery to continuously rebel against traditional action conventions. This is definitely not one of Miike's most profound works, but it is certainly one of his most undeniably fun.

The best thing about Miike is he can go from a freaking stage play (Demon Pond) to a videogame adaptation and have a dozen crazy films inbetween. The man has a serious shot at making Roger Corman's output look like Terence Malick's in comparison.

lMC