Dead Or Alive 2 Details

Dead or Alive 2 is not one of Miike?s greater works, but it still packs a punch, visually, thematically and stylistically. While one could argue that Dead or Alive was a surreal subversion of the Yakuza v. Cops genre that has long been a mainstay of Japanese cinema ? taking the form to its violent limits and then (literally) exploding it, Dead or Alive 2 is more of a tale of memory and redemption. The film contains some amazing images and vignettes, particularly Shinya Tsukamoto?s incredible appearance as a crazed bar owner/magician who uses three fag packets to demonstrate the likely course of the gang war he inexplicably wants to provoke. However, it hangs together less comfortably than some of Miike?s other work. If I had not seen Ichi the Killer and Audition I would give it a ?4?, but Miike is such a great artist that I expect a lot of him. Still a must see for any fan of quality cinema.

Slow but Sharp

The story on the face of it is odd but pretty simple. Two childhood friends reunite after 30 years when they are both hired to kill the same Triad gang leader. From this they rediscover their friendship and go on a killing spree in order to donate money to children in the third world.

It isn’t so much the story line that draws you into this film it is the gradual descent into Japanese bizzaro world. The directorial devices create a dreamy and meandering effect that in some case assist the story but in others make the film appear somewhat disjointed. The only issue I found with this movie is the sense that it is too slow for an action flick and too violent to be anything else. This is defiantly a western opinion as in Japan mixing ultra-violence with comic characters or love stories is somehow second nature.

The acting is certainly passable if not exceptional. The action sequences are somewhat thin on the ground for Miike and look a little dated (although this has its benefits in terms of realism). All in all not bad but could do better.