[yasr_overall_rating]
In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro crosses the line to conquer all of Tokyo. The war begins.
When “West Side Story” came out in 1961, it was celebrated then and still is today. Directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins crafted a wonderful musical that also incorporated some genuinely heartfelt moments and drama but what was most important, was the film’s emphasis on story and character development. Granted, at two and a half hours, they had more than enough time to tell their story but they did so without alienating their audience.
I have to give director Sion Sono kudos for setting out to make an ambitious Japanese musical about rival gangs on the streets of Tokyo. But that is where my admiration ends. While most musicals break in between songs to allow the story and characters to propel the movie forward, here, we are bombarded with almost two hours of street rap with hardly any pauses inserted. And what’s more, because you can only watch it with English subtitles, each song is lost in translation, its significance diminished.
Its musical attributes aside, the film employs the same technique the Wachowkis utilized so effectively in “The Matrix,” the art of not cutting in the midst of an action scene. Instead of a barrage of quick cuts, we were able to concentrate on the characters onscreen as they fought each other in one continuous take. The actors rehearsed until they had every movement down pat and it genuinely looked like they were trying to hit each other. Here, the cuts are applied in the same manner but it’s apparent early on that the same level of proficiency and strategy, is sorely missing and instead of fight scenes being truly effective and exciting, they come off as lifeless and unimaginative, much like the overall story.
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