Sushi Girl (2013)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Overrated

Just perfect...

Sushi Girl. What a title for a film. Could go one of many ways, and the filmmakers here have wrought a neat little genre package that would make Tarantino applaud. It's bloody, pulpy, larger than life and a siful little cinematic treat. After a diamond heist blows up in the face of a group of hapless criminals, they gather in a dank warehouse to smoke out and eliminate the one who has betrayed them, inch by ultraviolent inch. Their leader Duke (the awesome Tony Todd) is a dangerous dude who will go to any lengths to obtain the stolen wealth. Fish (Noah Hathaway) is the punching bag for their little inquisition, taking quite a disturbing beatdown at the hands of Crow (Mark Hamill) the deranged lunatic of the group. Hamill steals his scenes, injecting a bit of his Joker persona and a whole ton of really scary energy into a psychotic performance that keeps the intrigue buoyant and electrically charged. The other two members of the group are two unsavory lowlifes called Max (Andy MacKenzie) and Francis (James Duval). The group doesn't know how to play nice, especially Hamill, and we are treated to delightful vignettes of profanity, distrust and extreme violence for much of the film. This all plays out while a nude girl (Courtney Palm) splays out on the table in front of them, covered in sushi prepared by a strange chef (Sonny China, who else). This seems arbitrary.. trust me, it's not. It's pure pulp with a vague horror vibe, due to the presence of such genre titans and the graphic nature of the violence. It's also got a brain in its head, a genuine story to tel which took commendable effort, and a cast that's game to have a little fun as they take a trip into a twilight zone that's part Reservoir Dogs, part Agatha Christie with just a dash of the macabre. Watch for a trio of hilarious cameos from Danny Trejo, Jeff Fahey and Michael Biehn, who are short lived in the film, playing the joke to the hilt.

I went into this film with reservations but as with all films, I wanted to give it a chance. I found it boring at best. The premise of the film sounded ridiculous to me but at the same time, somewhat interesting. It seems that the story was an afterthought and they just wanted to make a movie based around a nude girl, used as a sushi platter.It could barely hold my attention but I suffered through it in the hopes it would get better. It did not. There wasn't much to the story and I was not impressed with the acting. I agree with others; it is very similar to a Quentin Tarantino film. I, however, have a disdain for Tarantino's work so this movie was, unsurprisingly, a disappointment for me.In films like these, the story needs to be very engaging but the story in Sushi Girl lacked steam and left me with an unbearable taste in my mouth.It could have been better but it seemed that the focus was more on shock value than on the story, where it should have been. I really wanted to like it but now I know why it was in the bargain bin.

Fish has been in jail for six years, without his comrades from a diamond heist gone bad. He took the fall, he did the time, and now he's out.Duke, Max, Francis, and Crow treat him to a sumptuous dinner in a reserved room. The food is sushi, served off the body of a naked young woman. The woman has been trained not to react to what the guests are doing, and this probably served her well.Soon enough, the real reason for the meeting surfaces. The robbers had a bad accident: their van and a car encountered each other at speed. The gang's driver was killed, the other driver was dealt with by Duke, and the cops and firemen showed up quickly. In the process, most of the gang got away, but the diamonds seem to have gone missing. The ones who got away want Fish to tell them where the diamonds are.There are many flashbacks as the details of the heist are rehashed, particularly the events surrounding the traffic crash. When Fish refuses to tell his erstwhile partners where the diamonds are, they decide to encourage his veracity by force.Will there be a falling out among thieves? -----Scores-----Cinematography: 5/10 Perhaps this was done intentionally, as Tarantino sometimes does, but the visuals looked gritty and jumpy, rather sub-VHS quality. In other segments, the visuals were of reasonable quality.Sound: 9/10 No problems.Acting: 10/10 Mark Hamill, Tony Todd, and Noah Hathaway were great. In much smaller roles, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, and Danny Trejo were fine. Cortney Palm also had a limited role, but it was pivotal to the overall effect of the film.Screenplay: 4/10 The last five minutes were just exquisite. On the other hand, the characters played by Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, and Danny Trejo seemed to be vastly underused. The worst part for me was the disposition of the diamonds after the accident. It should have been abundantly clear where the diamonds were, and the whole extended torture sequence was unnecessary.

Mark Hamill is one twisted bastard, and that is a good thing! This movie was an odd one for me, didn't know much about it, but I loved the artwork. I am glad I took a chance. Basically it plays out like many Post-Tarantino movies, but this one is a bit different. For one thing, it is actually pretty damned good. For another, it has some good twists and will keep you engaged. Finally it has a killer cast that really makes the most of their characters. The violence erupts in glorious style at points in the film, but it is more about the story and finding out where the road will take you. Each character holds a key to the final twist, and some huge genre favorites do great work here. Come for the sushi, stay for the fun!