Director: Daishi Matsunaga
Year: 2022
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: Pyua japanizu
Genre: Action
Plot:
Following an accident on set, an actor decides the time is right to focus on his career as a high-quality stuntman in numerous action films in the industry. When his latest shoot takes him to a small village, he meets up with a high-school student who’s being targeted and harassed by members of the local yakuza and Chinese brokers who require saving to get away alive. When several more encounters continue to bring them together, he realizes that the series of confrontations has awakened a bloodlust within him that he had long buried and sets out to protect her in a manner that proves nearly as extreme as the criminal behavior.
Review:
This one has a lot to like. One of the strongest factors here involves the use of a traditional storyline setup that works incredibly well as a standalone effort. The familiar set up on the old guard, resorting to a life of peace only to get dragged back into the action when he sees someone who needs his help, is given a fine touch here with a parental overview of the formula. That we’re given a healthy backstory into his past involving the tragedy on the film shoot that resulted in his long-running loneliness and hesitation towards romance, sets us up with his character quite well. Realizing that he is connecting to the student as a means of getting past that trauma adds a heartwarming touch to the story, as her being targeted by the gangs and thugs in the area adds such a sympathetic turn to her that it makes for an appropriate trigger to launch into a rage, completing the storyline.
That setup gives the film its other enjoyable factor in the high-energy action scenes. This has a lot of great fun within the confines of the movie shoots we see him undergo, as the sets are enjoyable and chaotic in the best way possible. The stunt work involved, as well as the purposeful stage-fighting we see, as he demonstrates his skills as a performer, gives this a solid background to the later scenes involving him and the student meeting up together against the criminal gang after her. Given the chance to see the intensity kick up with the real-world implications contrasting obviously with the fake film sets where the events take place, there’s a series of fun brawls and confrontations that take place here which have a nice energy contained and come across nicely when Daisuke gains a fury and intensity to fight back. Alongside the frenetic pace due to its short length, these factors are what make the film a lot to enjoy.
While there are plenty of enjoyable factors, it does have some minor issues. The main one is the general overfamiliarity with the storyline. Here we get the whole concept of the loner who’s decided to give up a part of himself following a personal tragedy and suddenly finds himself forced to go back to his old ways. This concept has been utilized in numerous other films in this style, which makes this setup feel overly familiar, especially with the on-set accident that starts his detachment from society. It feels suitable as an instigating factor to trigger everything, but from that point on, there are few surprises in store in terms of where the storyline goes. That becomes especially so as the introduction of the student comes about, and her story involving the gangsters taunting her becomes apparent that we’re getting such a familiar storyline. The only other issue comes from the low-budget qualities featured within, from the cramped sets and special effects work to the overall presentation that screams indie film.
Overview: ***/5
An overall enjoyable and entertaining effort, this has quite a lot of positive points to like about it, which are only somewhat hindered by a minor set of flaws that may not even apply to most viewers. Those who are engaged by the setup or are plain unbothered by those negatives will have the most to like with the film overall, while those turned off by its drawbacks should heed caution.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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