Resurrection of the Golden Wolf : a macho actioner

When I saw an advertisement announcing the release of Kadokawa classics on DVD, I immediately popped into the local music store and purchased Resurrection of the Golden Wolf!!

A 1979 action thriller starring legendary Japanese actor Yusaki Matsuda, Resurrection of the Golden Wolf has enjoyed a surge in interest since the anime Cowboy Bebop became a hit. The anime’s main character Spike is rumoured to be modeled on the character Matsuda plays in Resurrection of the Golden Wolf.

Tetsuya Asakura (Yusaki Matsuda) is a timid office worker during the day, but becomes a ruthless robber / vigilante with shoulder length permed hair at night. Tetsuya blackmails his way into becoming a senior executive at the company but is eventually killed by one of the women he took advantage of.

Primarily a vehicle for Matsuda, the picture relies on flamboyant set pieces that are by no meaning realistic – a machine gun fails to pick Tetsuya out despite his running across a field with no obstacles to shield him!! Typical of the period, Tetsuya is cool (drives fancy cars), thoroughly masculine (he is an ace boxer) and chauvinistic in a very un-PC kind of way. Women get slapped around, used and tossed away without any sympathy. Sonny Chiba has a minor role as an equally unsavory character with basically the same traits. It is a miracle how anyone could look up to Tetsuya as even an anti-hero.

Resurrection of the Golden Wolf shows a Japanese man rebelling totally from the system. The Tetsuya character does not have any goals – he is an anarchist. Even when he becomes a senior executive, he does not seek stability and ultimately implodes on his own destructive streak. Watching this movie, I was reminded of another Japanese movie The Man Who Stole The Sun (starring pop legend Kenji Sawada). In that picture, the main character also rebelled against the system, but he had more motive and the cause was more reasonable.

Having said all that, the DVD was entertaining in a cult movie sense. I particularly liked the outstanding soundtrack and the theme song.

Miami Vice : Gong Li steals the show

I saw Michael Mann’s updated Miami Vice the first day it screened in Hong Kong. I think Mann did the right thing in choosing to create a totally new movie unconstrained by the TV series instead of simply updating it for a new century. In look and feel, this Miami Vice can be seen as a companion piece to Collateral. Both use the same digital photography techniques to produce a washed out, and at times grainy, picture. The undercover scenes exhibit an almost home-made documentary / behind-the-scenes feel thanks to the grainy digital photography. Both movies focus on the ruthless nature of both professional criminals and cops.

The plot is nothing special. Miami vice squad detectives Sonny Crockett (Colin Farell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) infiltrate a drug racket but Crockett falls in love with the drug lord’s mistress Isabella (Gong Li). Can he bust the drug lord without risking Isabella’s life?

Plot wise, Miami Vice delivers hardly any surprises, especially for fans of the TV series. The success of the film thus relies on the execution – and here Mann delivers. The cinematography is achingly beautiful and the gunfights provide visceral thrills unparalleled when compared to any action movie released this year.

In terms of acting, Foxx has little to do, Farrell turned out to be less awful than I expected, and Gong Li steals the show. I must say Gong Li looks fab and seems to have lost plenty of weight for the movie. Wardrobe, as in all of Mann’s movies, is exceedingly stylish.

Overall, not quite the ace I hoped for, but not a dud either.

Death Note : a terrific battle of wits between two teenagers

One of the most awaited Japanese movies of the summer, Death Note was adapted from the popular manga of the same name by director Shusuke Kaneko (Azumi 2). This is only the first installment of a 2-part movie franchise.

Law student Light (Tatsuya Fujiwara of Battle Royale) finds a mysterious notebook one night after witnessing a criminal outwit the legal system. The notebook apparently contains supernatural powers – once a name is written onto the notebook, the person will die in real life. Governed by rules contained in the cover of the notebook, Light begins to get rid of all criminals in the country, from people on the most-wanted list to criminals who manage to slip through the cracks of the legal system. When the police set up a task force to find the mysterious criminal killer, Light and super-detective L (Kenichi Matsuyama of Nana) engage in a battle of wits to see who is more wily.

This synopsis does not really do justice to the movie. Kaneko seems more concerned with how Light changes from a law student disillusioned with an ineffective legal system to a person with the “power” to change the situation. Unfortunately, this “power” also corrupts Light.

Visually, Shusuke Kaneko does not really give us blockbuster movie visual, except for the excellent Ryuuk, the demon of death. A CG creation, Ryuuk provides the appropriate visual flourishes and even gives us some comic relief.

I read that the movie is quite faithful to the comic in spirit. I have not read the manga so I can’t really comment on that. The film, viewed by itself, is entirely engrossing and terrific entertainment. One of the best films I’ve seen this year.

The conclusion of the film is slated for release in Japan this November.