Yakuza Apocalypse (film): WTF did I just watch?

in #films5 years ago

I don't even remember how this ended up on my list but it was on the back burner for a long time. I'll admit that the only reason i watched it was because it was the only film remaining on my pre-loaded USB stick, and my dog was asleep on my legs so I figured "what the hell... i'll just watch it."


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The movie is classified as a "action fantasy–yakuza vampire" film and I for one can't really imagine that there are too many films that fall into that particular category. The movie starts out typically enough and because I didn't know it was a fantasy - vampire film going in, it looked like it was going to have a fantastic mobster-type storyline.

The film begins with Genyō (played by a Japanese actor with the very non-Japanese sounding name of Lily Franky) wandering the city where he is the Yakuza boss. He attacks some sort of stronghold on his own, where he sustains an absurd amount of wounds including being sliced, stabbed, and even shot multiple times. I was thinking to myself that "this it too over-the-top, no one could survive that" but then a bit later it is revealed that he is a vampire and this is why he can't be killed by traditional means. Keep in mind that I had no idea this was a vampire film at the time.


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Does this sound silly enough yet? Well, it gets stranger as the film goes on.

A number of very odd characters are introduced to us and they just get more bizarre as the story goes on.

We are introduced to a martial arts expert who dresses like a bird of some sort and even has a beak that he keeps in his mouth at all times and he maintains his lair underground where a bunch of people are inexplicably knitting something all the time.

One of the main henchmen of the "bad guys" (to be honest it is quite difficult to determine who the heroes and villains are in this one) is a nerdy looking backpacker who doesn't speak Japanese very well.


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Turns out that no one can understand what he is saying and he has very little dialogue because he isn't actually Japanese, which I suppose isn't that difficult to determine simply by looking at him. He is in fact Indonesian martial-artist Yayan Ruhian, who would later star in "The Force Awakens."

All of this absurdity meets an apex when we are abruptly introduced to the main "bad guy" boss who is dressed in a cartoon frog outfit you would expect to be handing out flyers at an Asian shopping mall.


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While I didn't have any idea what was going on at this point, I have to admit that I really enjoyed watching a guy in a frog-costume beat the crap out of dozens of henchmen.

This film takes crazy to a whole new level and despite the fact that I can't say very much for the overall story (and not just because I don't know what it actually is) the movie was entertaining and at times, extremely humorous. If you are fan of nicely coordinated fights and don't really care too much about the storyline, this is a time-sink that I don't think you will regret. It isn't, however, an amazing film... it's more of just... i guess an oddity. It takes the right kind of person to appreciate it and that type of person just happens to be me.

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Oh Japanese movies, never cease to amuse me in a way that makes me scratch my head and ask the question "Why am I amused by this?". I've watched a couple of Japanese movies (not much, only a handful), but not this one. I probably will, though, thanks to your funny post, only to see the kick-ass frog. The most decent one I've seen is Battle Royale, which also made me question the story too.

great response. Battle Royale you say? That sounds really familiar. I'll have to look that one up.

Japanese humor is kind of lost on me but I do appreciate some o their horror films. Do yourself a traumatizing favor and watch "Audition" ... while it starts slow I promise you that movie will haunt you till the end of your days. :P

Your explanation of this fill reminds me a lot of "From Dusk Till Dawn". I am not sure a lot of people knew that was the type of film it was going in. Then they are in the bar and everything just goes to crap and you are like WTF! Even if the movie sucked, your review of it was awesome.

That was the one where Selma Hayak is doing a striptease in the bar and Clooney has a pretty sweet tattoo set right? I think so, but yeah, that one turned real quick and was odd, but entertaining.

Yep, that is the one!

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i am so proud when see Indonesian Fighter can involved in international action movie.
We note yayan ruhian, Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais.
Thank you @gooddream
Warm regard from Indonesia

The most powerful gang in the world in this film
I'll watch it later
I hope this film to combine action and comedy

hahaha...you need to put a new movie on your usb,but the movie was fun old school.

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