I was originally a little leery about seeing this movie (even though I'm pretty Boss and can usually take stuff like this)...I heard it was actually pretty hard to watch. So like 10 minutes ago, I finally finished it and felt like a pansy for thinking I couldn't. Don't let people come up telling you "OMG it's so horrible and blah blah blah." Um, no, it's awesome. I'm a HUGE fan of cool splatter-gore, crazy, freak you out movies and this one has it all...including a whole load of torture by the COOLest bad guy everrrr Tadanobu Asano (Kakihara) and his 2 foot needles. He looks like a pierced up rockstar who you want to get to know, but stay away from at the same time.
Best Lines: 1. Kakihara: "There's no love in your violence." 2. Kakihara: "Damn... Nobody left to kill me." 3. Kakihara: "Put some feeling into it, already! If you're going to give someone pain, you've got to get into it!" 4. Jiro: "Is it possible to rip someone's arm off with your bare hands?"
Other Super Cool Things: The acting by Tadanobu Asano (Kakihara) and Nao Ohmori (Ichi) is so right on point. There's never really a dull moment in the entire movie, which is kind of a mix of horror and comedy. But the real reason why this movie is so good, is because of how it makes you feel sad for these killers/heroes the whole time...especially Ichi who seems at one minute, completely mental, and the next, completely sweet and innocent. Not to mention the gore is pretty cool and the torture scenes are pretty cool also (especially what they do to the character Suzuki who really gets it) Some other stand out characters are the twins who will make you LOL toward the middle of the movie and Takeshi (Kaneko's son) who winds up having a big part.
My Only Problem: They introduce most of the characters to you all at once so if you aren't realllly paying attention to the names, you might get a little lost toward the middle.
Best Scenes (Without Spoilers): 1. The very beginning when Kakihara turns around and you get to see his face for the first time...he's smoking...it's awesome. 2. The Suzuki torture scene and the torture scene with the...arm (as quoted above)...haha 3. When Ichi goes to the hotel (we see his work for the first time) and he speaks to the beaten lady from the club. 4. When you find out why Ichi kills people. 5. The new Anjo gang with leader Kakihara is shown walking down the street in slo-mo. 6. The entire ending scene on the roof. 7. When Jijii takes his shirt off towards the end...you will never see it coming...
Overall: It's not for everyone, but I will put it on my list of super cool foreign movies. This one has heart to it (and tons of gore) so if your up for it, do yourself a favor and sit through the 2 hours of great cinematography and splatter-gore/torture/love story/bullying story/horror/comedy. Then tell me what you made of the amazingly (left-open) ending.
9/10 Stars. Check out all my reviews at http://dianalynn5287.blogspot.com/
Best Lines: 1. Kakihara: "There's no love in your violence." 2. Kakihara: "Damn... Nobody left to kill me." 3. Kakihara: "Put some feeling into it, already! If you're going to give someone pain, you've got to get into it!" 4. Jiro: "Is it possible to rip someone's arm off with your bare hands?"
Other Super Cool Things: The acting by Tadanobu Asano (Kakihara) and Nao Ohmori (Ichi) is so right on point. There's never really a dull moment in the entire movie, which is kind of a mix of horror and comedy. But the real reason why this movie is so good, is because of how it makes you feel sad for these killers/heroes the whole time...especially Ichi who seems at one minute, completely mental, and the next, completely sweet and innocent. Not to mention the gore is pretty cool and the torture scenes are pretty cool also (especially what they do to the character Suzuki who really gets it) Some other stand out characters are the twins who will make you LOL toward the middle of the movie and Takeshi (Kaneko's son) who winds up having a big part.
My Only Problem: They introduce most of the characters to you all at once so if you aren't realllly paying attention to the names, you might get a little lost toward the middle.
Best Scenes (Without Spoilers): 1. The very beginning when Kakihara turns around and you get to see his face for the first time...he's smoking...it's awesome. 2. The Suzuki torture scene and the torture scene with the...arm (as quoted above)...haha 3. When Ichi goes to the hotel (we see his work for the first time) and he speaks to the beaten lady from the club. 4. When you find out why Ichi kills people. 5. The new Anjo gang with leader Kakihara is shown walking down the street in slo-mo. 6. The entire ending scene on the roof. 7. When Jijii takes his shirt off towards the end...you will never see it coming...
Overall: It's not for everyone, but I will put it on my list of super cool foreign movies. This one has heart to it (and tons of gore) so if your up for it, do yourself a favor and sit through the 2 hours of great cinematography and splatter-gore/torture/love story/bullying story/horror/comedy. Then tell me what you made of the amazingly (left-open) ending.
9/10 Stars. Check out all my reviews at http://dianalynn5287.blogspot.com/