Yakuza Apocalypse

[GeneChing]

I have a soft spot for anything Takashi Miike does.

U.S. release October 9, 2015


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn1fNww2XG8

[GeneChing]

It had me at Miike, but add martial-arts frog? Must see.


‘Yakuza Apocalypse’: Gore, vampires … and a martial-arts frog? (http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/yakuza-apocalypse-gore-vampires-and-a-martial-arts-frog/)
Originally published October 8, 2015 at 3:00 pm Updated October 8, 2015 at 1:49 pm

http://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/6930e3a8-697f-11e5-a344-b062eeb27e8b-1560x1040.jpg
A giant plush frog uses mad martial-arts skills to vanquish his enemies in “Yakuza Apocalypse.”

review of “Yakuza Apocalypse”: Lurid and nutso doesn’t even begin to describe this blood-drenched opus about yakuzas and vampires from goremeister Takashi Miike. Rating: 1.5 stars out of 4.
By Soren Andersen
Special to The Seattle Times
“Yakuza Apocalypse.”

Much is promised in that title.

Much is delivered: sharp swords. Elaborate tattoos. Massive violence.

Movie Review ★½  
‘Yakuza Apocalypse,’ with Hayato Ichihara. Directed by Takashi Miike, from a screenplay by Yo****aka Yamaguchi. 116 minutes. Rated R for strong bloody violence, a rape and language. In Japanese, with English subtitles. Sundance Cinemas (21+).

Standard for any apocalypse, don’t you know.

Standard especially for prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike (see 2001’s “Ichi the Killer,” or maybe, if you’re easily queasy, don’t). Right from the get-go, Miike treats the audience to a fight scene drenched in gushers of gore.

And he’s just warming up. Batterings, shootings, cuttings and guttings are pretty much nonstop throughout.

Turns out there is more to the gore than standard-issue gangster mayhem. Certain select yakuza are vampires. One in particular is able to talk after his head is yanked off. And chomp a fellow yakuza, infecting him with the vampire gene.

The young fellow, an apprentice gangster (Hayato Ichihara), tries to resist the call of the bloodsucker. Insert scenes of him gazing longingly (and hungrily) at the neck of the young woman he loves. Must. Not. Bite.

The call is hard to resist, especially when random extras are involved, and before you know it he’s leading an army of shambling zombie-vampires through the streets.

Then things turn really wild when a guy in a big green plush frog suit shows up, displaying mad martial-arts skills and zapping victims with his evil eye.

Lurid and nutso doesn’t even begin to describe this opus. You have to see it to believe it … if you have the stomach for it.

[Jimbo]

I got this and watched it. I enjoyed it, but then I'm used to Takashi Miike's various works. I can see this as a like/hate movie for most people. To say that it's weird is an understatement, but not any weirder than many of Miike's other works. BTW, the frog is awesome.

**slight spoiler alert**



The ending is sudden and weird, and leaves it open to a sequel. But wth Miike, he could have just decided to end it this way, period.