Ichi The Killer


Were you really bullied in high school and forced to watch while a girl you had a crush on was brutally raped? Or was that idea just implanted in your head by a renegade vigilante cop bent on transforming you into a death-dealing anti-yakuza justice machine?

Does it really matter? Ichi knows that sometimes you have to stop asking questions and just slice a motherfucker in half.

Did your boss really betray you and run off with your money? Or was he sliced and diced by a death-dealing anti-yakuza justice machine?

Does it really matter? Kikihara knows that sometimes you just need to deep fry a motherfucker and skewer his ass like yakuza tempura.

Will your son blame you for slicing a prostitute's nipples off and then kicking her to death? Don't sweat it, Fujiwara, just put your shiny pants on and bar-b-que her remains on your roof.

Ultra-violent Japanese live-action magna Batman does not fail to disappoint. And LOTS of great work for women: whether it's as a prostitue being savagely beaten and raped by a sadistic yakuza boss or as a prostitute being sadistically interrogated and tortured by a yakuza hit man, the full blossom of Japanese womanhood has never received such loving artistic attention.

Plus, there's a refreshing lack of lactation scenes. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for watching middle-aged Japanese women dress themselves in garbage bags and milk themselves into baby bottles for sale to tourists...BUT ONLY IF IT ADDS TO THE PLOT. If it's gratiuitious, well, that's just too easy.

Takeshi Miike is my new hero.