...before gleefully and dutifully engaging this review, let's start off by saying that this viewer is a sucker for a good movie trailer. Beyond the generated hype & publicity of a movie, the advance viewing & review by critics, the suggested star power & creative hand...both behind & in front of the camera, the leaked footage & behind-the-scenes video commentary...it is a stand-out, well crafted movie trailer that quite literally grabs me by the shirt collar, slams me resoundingly up against the wall, and insistently commands my utmost attention. Granted, as does happen from time to time, some movie trailers DO exclusively feature what is best about a specific movie, with the movie itself, on a whole, proving to be something less than what the trailer promised; that's part of the gamble, I suppose...the nature of the beast...when one gets irresistably and invariably pulled in by the suggested content of the movie trailer, and as the result, committedly lays down one's hard earned samolians for the feature film, itself. However, when a movie carried through on the promise...'walks the walk', rather than merely 'talk the talk', via it's intendedly influential and compelling movie trailer, one cannot help but praise that artfully creative little two-to-two-and-a-half minutes of tease...that eye-and-mind-catching vanguard of great things to come...in the same light as the film itself proves to be...the trailer, being merely a tantilizing taste at the bottom of the shotglass...and the film, harboring the numbing contents of the whole bottle...
...that been said, and breaking things down to specifics, this viewer...a devoted fan of the '60's/'70's/'80's drive-in, grindhouse and exploitation styles of filmmaking...cannot help but lovingly embrace the countless, varied and artfully eclectic movie trailers, associated with the films of those eras, and as such, very much appreciates the past half-decade's surge in independent filmmakers, who themselves have assumed a similar and preponderant embrace of the classic drive-in and grindhouse film genres...inspired to homage and emulate those styles, with films of theor own. Admittedly, the balance of good homages and bad homages of 'drive-in/grindhouse' films, has favored more the former, than the latter; however, when they DO work, and are adeptly teased by an accompanying, well-crafted movie trailer, it's drive-in/grindhouse nirvana, at it's finest...
...to make a long story, short (...uh, too late), such inspired viewing 'nirvana'...both film AND trailer, the latter of which, hit this viewer like a sledgehammer, with the movie itself, well...with great understatement, as you will read...is most assuredly the case, with the compelling, alternately slick, abrasive and raw...sand-in-the-teeth-gnashingly gritty, 2012 Tarantino-esque, caper-gone-wrong escapade, "Sushi Girl"...
...unbeknownst to Fish, the stage has being meticulously set for his much demanded and anticipated presence. Having just been released from prison, after a six-year stint...incarcerated, as the result of having been caught, post-getaway...the sole persecuted captive, in a botched, multi-participant diamond heist, in which Fish was the junior man of...his first job, in fact...and reluctantly assigned to be the carrying 'bagman'...he is picked up, and quickly whisked away, to an abandoned and broken-down establishment, where he is confronted by Duke, the leader of the original heist, as well as the heist's other perpetrators...an eclectic rogue's gallery of dangerously ruthless individuals, all of whom seem to insistently believe that Fish knows where the diamonds are huidden, after all these years. Very much taken aback by the whole situation...not only by the suspect demands of his cohorts, suggested upon him, but also, the overall strange and surreal, staged scenario before him...an exotic Japanese-style dinner...Yakuza style...with all the surrounding trimmings and decorations...including a beautiful waif of a girl, laid out naked, vulnerable & unmovingly statuesque across the dining table...her nakedness obscurely decked out in all manner of Japanese sushi, and associated cuisine...Fish repeatedly counters and retorts his fellow conspirators, equally insisting that he knows nothing of the diamonds' location. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Fish's demandant hosts, and as such...putting things quite mildly and understatedly, a progressively torturous & painful line of questioning and bloodletting ensues...in the midst of undisclosed-but-soon-to-be-unveiled secrets, betrayals, hidden agendas, flashbacks to the original ill-fated caper, and other unexpected surprises...
...at first glance, a seemingly pretty much straight-forward, by-the-book scenario, obviously not that far removed, albeit used quite often since, from that of Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", "Sushi Girl" genuinely stands out quite well from the rest of the inspired bunch, by not only taking a most familiar formula, and throwing in some interestingly and unexpectedly engaging curve balls (...as well as a couple of questionable, albeit forgivable holes in the storyline), but also by way of some of the most alluring and eclectically written characters, set to celluloid...with an all-star cast, equally unconventional enough to the task, as far as performance. Actor Tony Todd, often cited for his chillingly grim and commanding presence in the now-classic "Candyman", is similarly unnerving, as the leader of this thieving bunch...and the head instigator of this deliciously diabolical reunion affair. Overseeing the dangerously unstable proceedings herein, Tony's character, Duke, clearly comes across as one not to be crossed...whose stern and unswerving words demand attention and compliance; at one point, during a 'speech' which directly sets into motion, the torturous interrogation inflicted upon the Fish character, this viewer could not help but reflect back to a similarly chilling speech, hauntingly rendered by Quint, onboard the Orca, in 1975's "Jaws"...yes, THAT powerful...
...however, without a doubt, the irrefutable scene-stealer herein, HAS to be the over-the-top flamboyant character of Crow. In a daringly unconventional performance, actor Mark Hamill...whose seemingly 'where the heck has he been' media presence in the past quarter century or so, has been primarily and successfully relegated to that of cartoon character voice-overs...exues, in an exceptionally stand-out role which suggests that Mark deftly reached within himself, and found his inner Truman Capote...giving an undeniably ruthless and diabolical persona, albeit possessed of a slightly, eccentrically effeminate side...the flavorful combination of which elicits an overall dark-as-pitch facet of humor. Further supplementing and rounding out the fine ensemble cast herein, James Duval (...here, further honing a colorfully varied character actor career, and best known in this viewer's book, for his early roles in the films of cult director Greg Araki), Noah Hathaway (...yes, folks...that's the guy who once played little 'Boxy' in the '70's 'Battlestar Galacatica' TV series, as well as the young hero, in the '80's 'Neverending Story' movies), Andy Mackenzie, Cortney Palm...as well as 'look-away-and-you-might-miss-them' cameos by Sonny Chiba, Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn and Danny Trejo...
...in the delectably comparable vein of "Reservoir Dogs", there have been many Tarantino-inspired 'drive-in/grindhouse' style, 'caper gone wrong' flicks, with the best of them, so very few and far between (..."Killing Zoe", "Albino Alligator", "In Bruges", "The Immortals" and "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead", just to name a few); to those considered superior amidst such conceptually inspired company...eh, this viewer would be inclined to say that "Sushi Girl" would, without a doubt, not look out of place amongst them...a most devilishly entertaining delight, despite some negligible and forgivable loose ends in the storyline...
No comments:
Post a Comment