Review of Ichi the Killer (2001) by Eli S — 02 Feb 2010

I make it a rule to not walk out of movies. I paid the money, I'm seeing this shit through to the end, you know? I broke my rule with this particular film. I am a fan of violent movies, so long as the violence has worth; be it realism (Braveheart), comedy (Holy Grail), or Horror (Alien).

What I have a problem with is violence and gore for the sake of cheap shock. This movie was made worse with the always unnecessary and overdone gore in virtually every scene in this thing. There was a glimmer of a plot and I like certain ideas in the movie, but the gore-storm that seemed to accompany every scene was forced and stupid.

I watched for an hour and ten minutes...hoping that they would cut this shit out and get to a coherent story, but it never happened. Shock for shock value is fine if executed well. This movie was not, and it's a shame because it could have been so much more.

I don't understand why this film has such high marks here. Maybe I'm the only one.