Review of Ichi the Killer (2001) by Jonathan B — 30 Apr 2012

Sadistic - Yes, Gruesome - Yes, Unique - Yes, Recommendable - Nope! Had it not been for my post film read up on Wikipedia, I would have been struggling to comprehend what the film was about, so one star goes to the quality of the plot on wiki! Basically, the film was about two rival gangs and their bids for control, power, and money.

When the film starts, we witness the death of one of the gang leaders and with no real leads, fingers are pointed in all directions. As the torture and the bodies rack up in more viscious and bloody ways, it becomes apparent that there is a homicidal maniac on the loose, someone seemingly acting independently of the bitter rivals and who's injecting fear into the most fearless of the gangs with their massachistic ways.

The film ultimately then becomes a survival of the fittest as the remaing cast battle it out to the very end. With the film being subtitled the whole way through, it is very fast paced making it difficult to follow, and with a large cast and not much character build up, it is also easy to forget who is who and what side they're on.

The main focus of this film was clearly intent on shocking the audience though with a vast amount of blood and horrific ways to carve up a body. Violence was also used as a means of sexual pleasure too, just to make the plot that little bit more disturbed.

In some ways, there was a little similarity to Tarantino's style in Kill Bill what with the comical spurts of blood and severing of body parts, but that's unfortunately where the likeness ended.

I wouldn't be watching this again in a hurry, but I can at least warn others against it!