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Yakuza
zombies, samurai, timetravel, sorcery, reincarnation, pretty Japanese babes
and even more zombies, Versus is a title that I had an absolute ball
watching.
The
funny thing is that in the start of the movie, you'll essentially be wondering
what the hell is going on. Prisoner KSC2-303 and another prisoner have escaped
and arrangements have been made for them to be brought into the captivity of a
Yakuza warlord. A fight breaks out amongst 303 and the Yakuza thugs when he
finds that they also have a young lady held against her will with them. One of
the Yakuza is killed and promptly comes back to life is this damned forest
they are all in.
This
flick packs style and tons of it into it's running time. Prisoner 303 is your
quintessential hero who is the good looking guy with nerves of steel. His
clothing is cool and gives him that certain something that will appeal to all
viewers, just bear in mind that he stole it from a corpse! Gun and swordplay
have a major focus here, quite deliberately as you will learn if you take the
time to treat yourself to the directors interview in the extras section.
The
rest you are going to have to see for yourself and it's a mega cool black
comedy of sorts packed with action and everything else that makes Asian cinema
one of my favorite forms of entertainment. I highly recommend this film to
anyone who enjoys the supernatural! It's not scary enough to be called horror
although there are certainly some horrific elements to the visual appearance
of some of the undead Yakuza. There's also plenty of blood and gore so the
squeamish out there have been warned.
I am going to
add this here and in the extras section, do not watch the extras first as
there is a major spoiler waiting there for you that will totally wreck the
very nice twist waiting at the end of the film! The feature runs for two hours
and seriously is so good that you will not notice the time passing. It's also
been slugged with an R 18+ rating which in my opinion is a bunch of bollocks.
M15+ would have done it fine, the Office of Film and Literature amaze me with
whatever system they have there.
Highly
recommended!
16:9 video,
Nice and clear, shot with a
clear flair, this is one good looking movie that just plain and simple screams
"cool". It's really surprising how good this film looks when you get into the
extras and are made aware of their budget restrictions when making it.
Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
with English Subtitles. Sound on this flick is awesome and encompasses the
viewer, everything works so very well that you will literally feel that you
are in the film.
The
extras here are sweet and include a mini movie called Nervous that will have
you laughing. The interview with director Ryuhei Kitamura is extremely
interesting for the simple fact that he speaks very well in English and is
very opinionated. One thing to be very sure of is that you do not watch the
making before the main feature as he does give away a main plot point. You
have been warned...
Of
course the obligatory trailers are here as well and whilst I usually don't
think they really count toward the score, I'll often make exceptions for
Eastern Eye Trailers as they are highly entertaining in their own right so
make sure you check them out. | 
