Tokyo Zombie (2009)

As Good As It Gets

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The box bills TOKYO ZOMBIE as the Japanese SHAUN OF THE DEAD, but sadly that turns out not to be the case. This is a very low budget, entirely offbeat Japanese comedy, that's more interested in the sport of jujitsu than actual zombies. In fact, the zombies themselves turn out to be a mere plot device, a background for the central storyline which is about the friendship between two demented buddies.It starts off on a fairly good footing, reminding you of some of the classic Japanese zombie films like JUNK and VERSUS, which all seemed to be filled with loads of chaotic energy and incident. Sadly, as the storyline progresses at a very slow pace indeed, you realise that TOKYO ZOMBIE just doesn't know what kind of film it wants to be. The zombies are dull and the storyline is silly, going nowhere and offering little of the surreal humour I'd expected to see.It all falls apart for me around the halfway mark, where there's a gap of five years, because the second half just isn't as interesting as the first. The whole idea of the satirical gameshow is just a flop from the beginning and the film concludes with a whimper rather than a bang. The characters are an acquired taste to say the least and the production values are low; I usually like offbeat Japanese fare but not this time. I didn't laugh once.

I really enjoyed this movie. It has a very offbeat comedy that left me in stitches. I happened to rent it randomly from a video store one night, based on it's outer packaging and the line from a critic hailing it as "the Japanese Shaun of the Dead". I was so smitten by the movie that I ended up buying it for myself later. I recommend this if you're already a fan of Japanese Cinema. Especially anime or manga. The comedy is so hilariously off the wall and it's probably different from what we would get here in the States. I will preface the rest of my review with the caveat that I am definitely NOT a horror movie fan. At least not regularly. I watched this movie because I thought I would find it funny, and I did. A lot of other people that I showed it to didn't seem to share my sentiment. haha I don't know why. Many seemed to just find it weird/boring maybe but I found it hilarious. It definitely does have a distinct style and that may be off putting for those who can't get with it. I highly recommend it though and I think it is a very unique and quirky hilarious movie with some of my favorite and most interesting moments in cinema watching. The extras on the DVD are really worth it too.A little about the plot..the film follows the exploits of two Japanese mechanics in Tokyo who are trying to survive a Zombie outbreak. Oh and also they are Jujitsu practitioners. It's so funny seeing Tadanobu Asano trying to Jujitsu a Zombie. They travel through the country on a plan to escape to Russia. Needless to say, they face some obstacles along the way. This is a really quirky and frankly hilarious end of the world tale. It is a little bit long and the pacing and way the story develops may not be what some are used to, but I think if you're a fan of comic books (especially alternative ones), you like manga/anime, or Japanese movies, then you will find this movie as fun as I did. Also there are so many little things in the movie to notice that it definitely rewards repeated viewings. Like a certain snack that keeps reappearing. Also if you are a fan of JuJitsu you will appreciate that aspect as it is represented in the movie. If you get a chance watch the extras because it's really fascinating to see the interview with original creator of the comic that his movie is based on and how he himself is a jujitsu practitioner and incorporated it into his story, and how hard the actors worked to actually learn the right way to perform the moves.Overall to me Tokyo Zombie is a really funny movie and it's well worth checking out. Give it a chance! Keep in mind that it is a bit "different" but if you stick with it, you will be rewarded by a unique experience that may just have you yearning for more....brains!

In the last twenty years, the "zom-com" has had a burgeoning rise throughout the world. A major proponent in this rise as of late is SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Films take the zombie genre and twist it into all sorts of bizarre directions. Sakichi Satô's TOKYO ZOMBIE is no different. It's essentially a buddy comedy immersed in the apocalyptic environs of Tokyo where a zombie plague(..caused by the polluted industrial waste buried in a rubbish heap containing the buried dead, murdered by others using this area to escape crime conviction)rises from a mountain of trash nicknamed "Black Fuji". Two working class Japanese men, older bald Mitsuo(Sho Aikawa)and his "Jujitsu student", Fujio(Tadanobu Asano) must bury their disgruntled boss after accidentally killing him after a clunk over the noggin with a fire extinguisher. They bury him in Black Fuji, encounter the dead, and must find a way out of Tokyo with designs of tripping to Russia so Fujio can "become a man"(..because Russia is a "tough country"). Mitsuo reveals to his protégé that he's dying of stomach cancer and soon, after Fujio forgets to grab a toothbrush and cigarettes when taking food from an abandoned grocery store, they discover a young women, Yoko(Erika Okuda), who expresses firmly her resistance towards joining up with them. Yet, Mitsuo insists and loads her in their van against her will, getting bit in the process(..the bite is an amusing gag, revealed at the end of the film). Soon, the van is stolen by another bald guy, Mitsuo leaps off a bridge presumably to his death, with Fujio and Yoko left to squabble endlessly slapping each other around before diving off a bridge to escape zombies coming towards them. Soon, Tokyo falls to ruin, a massive wall is constructed around a giant pyramid with the poor and zombies used as slaves for the rich(..which seem to be mostly loud, demanding women), & Fujio takes the fighting lessons taught to him by his mentor into a ring where he battles zombies for an audience who voices their criticism when his matches end early.The character of Fujio is run through the ringer. His only means of resolve comes from his dedication to Mitsuo, who his fights are won for in the respect of Jujitsu. He is burdened by the shackles of a marriage to the insufferable Yoko, his daughter is mute(..and adorable), his boss(..the ring announcer)wants to have sexual relations(..always coming from behind Fujio, attempting to engage in carnal activity, socked by kicks for his trouble), his best friend is seemingly gone forever, and he must endure the hardships of poverty, dealing with constant combat against foes whose bite can kill, and deal with the constant angered boos of a despicable audience. The poor guy barely hangs in there. Before all this misery, the film seemed to work as a confined story about two men against the backdrop of a fallen city, which I think works rather well since both actors have good chemistry with each other. Jujitsu is a major part of their relationship as Mitsuo uses this skill as a means to prepare him for a harsh world. When Yoko is introduced, Mitsuo leaves the film for a while, and we enter the last leg of Fujio's story, the film became a bit of a trial for me. There's a dark, perverted sense of humor(..pedophilia gags galore, and a group of children attempt to hold up an office worker with a knife)and the expected zombie gore is present(..the violence is so over-the-top, it becomes a parody of the zombie films that came before). Lots of unusual images through the use of CGI and plenty of histrionics by the cast who have animated faces and reactions towards each other(..particularly when characters assault each other). The Black Fuji sequence, at the on-set, is simply bizarre.

A great fun watch. Two workers who prefer to spend their time training in jujitsu accidentally kill their boss and bury him on Black Fuji, an enormous pile of rubbish. There are some great scenes on Black Fuji with the young couple burying the mother of the boy while she continues to call the girlfriend a tart. When the girlfriend soccer kicks her head off the mother still yells abuse. This sets the tone for the whole movie. Our unlikely heroes are afro-ed and bald and spend a lot of time wrestling with each other. When the zombies attack the main motto is "head north to Russia and become a man". American is dissed and maybe that's why Americans haven't taken to this excellent cult manga film. It's not overly violent and has lots of humour.