The best way to describe Miike Takashi's style would be, "Don't expect anything." It's not even "Expect the unexpected" because most of the things we don't expect...are somewhat expected simply because it's hard to fathom what we haven't seen before that we would actually WANT to see. Who wants to actually see necrophilia in a film? Who wants to actually see children being subjected to enough sexual innuendo to give Mary Whitehouse a heart attack? Who wants to see a person left for dead and eaten away by flies? Nobody really thinks about those things, so even when people tell us to expect the unexpected, there are certain things we won't even consider. This gives Miike the perfect opportunity to completely screw with the audience's preconceptions on what is and is not acceptable in film. I stated in a review of "Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha" that Miike's use of shocking imagery plays with the audience not only by the shock itself, but by the banality of it. The characters in his films have little or no reaction much of the bizarre and crazy things that are happening around them. Their indifference translates to us in a sense...so what should be shocking becomes less shocking, and more confusing...and sometimes the confusion wears off too, to the point where we don't care, it's just par for the course. And in Miike's world, it is.
So here we have a sequel that is not really a sequel, at least not literally. "Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha" begins completely differently from its predecessor, so immediately the audience is confused. We thought we had Miike, or at least the "Dead or Alive" formula figured out, right? Wrong, here we begin not with a frenetic ultra-violent intro, we have a humorous little scenario about Chinese Triads vs. Japanese Yakuza being explained to hitman Otamoko Mizuki (Aikawa Sho, now sporting blond hair) by a magician ("Tetsuo" director Tsukamoto Shinya turning out a funny little cameo). Just as Mizuki is about to pull a hit, his job's done for him by one of the target's henchmen. He finds out that it was his childhood friend Sawada Shuichi. What ensues is a slow-paced trip down memory lane as the two return to the place where they grew up, meet up with another friend who stayed behind, and rediscover the innocence they lost so quickly. The two decide to return to Tokyo to pull off hits together, donating all their profits to vaccinate children in third-world nations.
Like the first film, "Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha" has a great deal of slow-pacing, with a great deal of beautiful scenery similar to Kitano "Beat" Takeshi's "Sonatine." While the action is not entirely lacking, it does not have the frenetic pace and hip-bizareness of "Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha." Instead, action scenes are played with a great deal of symbolism. There is a scene of a Yakuza/Triad gang war being interspersed with scenes of Mizuki and Shuichi performing a play for children (which is hilarious considering the abundant sexual innuendo in the play, but nobody apart from the players seems to get it...and the kids love it). There is a recurring motif of seeing the main characters as both adults and the children they once were, with the phrase "Where are you?" popping up occasionally. In the confusing, almost David Lynch-like ending, it changes to "Where are you going?" Does violence beget violence? Is innocence truly lost when we grow up? And is it ever truly too late to get it back?
Thematically, it's similar to "Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha," with both beckoning the question of what is acceptable and unacceptable in human behavior, and is there ever a point to give up? The recurring element in both movies is that of whether or not to quit. The question seems to be answered with a resounding "no." None of the characters quit, and in the end, it ultimately destroys them, for better or for worse. Is "Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha" any less confusing and any less "what the hell?" then its prequel? No, but while one relies on ultra-violence and attitude, the second one relies on emotions and symbolism. Two different approaches to what ultimately are the same themes. Aside from this and the actors, there's not much of a connection between the first and second "Dead or Alive" films, but...hey, it's thoughtful storytelling, Miike-style.
So here we have a sequel that is not really a sequel, at least not literally. "Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha" begins completely differently from its predecessor, so immediately the audience is confused. We thought we had Miike, or at least the "Dead or Alive" formula figured out, right? Wrong, here we begin not with a frenetic ultra-violent intro, we have a humorous little scenario about Chinese Triads vs. Japanese Yakuza being explained to hitman Otamoko Mizuki (Aikawa Sho, now sporting blond hair) by a magician ("Tetsuo" director Tsukamoto Shinya turning out a funny little cameo). Just as Mizuki is about to pull a hit, his job's done for him by one of the target's henchmen. He finds out that it was his childhood friend Sawada Shuichi. What ensues is a slow-paced trip down memory lane as the two return to the place where they grew up, meet up with another friend who stayed behind, and rediscover the innocence they lost so quickly. The two decide to return to Tokyo to pull off hits together, donating all their profits to vaccinate children in third-world nations.
Like the first film, "Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha" has a great deal of slow-pacing, with a great deal of beautiful scenery similar to Kitano "Beat" Takeshi's "Sonatine." While the action is not entirely lacking, it does not have the frenetic pace and hip-bizareness of "Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha." Instead, action scenes are played with a great deal of symbolism. There is a scene of a Yakuza/Triad gang war being interspersed with scenes of Mizuki and Shuichi performing a play for children (which is hilarious considering the abundant sexual innuendo in the play, but nobody apart from the players seems to get it...and the kids love it). There is a recurring motif of seeing the main characters as both adults and the children they once were, with the phrase "Where are you?" popping up occasionally. In the confusing, almost David Lynch-like ending, it changes to "Where are you going?" Does violence beget violence? Is innocence truly lost when we grow up? And is it ever truly too late to get it back?
Thematically, it's similar to "Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha," with both beckoning the question of what is acceptable and unacceptable in human behavior, and is there ever a point to give up? The recurring element in both movies is that of whether or not to quit. The question seems to be answered with a resounding "no." None of the characters quit, and in the end, it ultimately destroys them, for better or for worse. Is "Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha" any less confusing and any less "what the hell?" then its prequel? No, but while one relies on ultra-violence and attitude, the second one relies on emotions and symbolism. Two different approaches to what ultimately are the same themes. Aside from this and the actors, there's not much of a connection between the first and second "Dead or Alive" films, but...hey, it's thoughtful storytelling, Miike-style.