Review of Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) by Travis R — 04 Mar 2009

I was very worried at first that this was going to be a combination of a late Shaw Bros. studio movie and Raimi?s The Quick and The Dead but played for straight comedic effect, but it quickly got away from Tarantino and onto the Yojimbo set-up. Now this movie made me look into the original Spaghetti Western Django, which I am now interested in, but this movie as a whole is stuck in the wake of what it wants to be ? a mash up of samurai movies and spaghetti westerns, which has already been done in its inception. This one gets completely stuck in character meanderings that are unnecessary, as the characters in these types of movies are usually one-dimensional.

However, this movie has a saving grace. Miike is amazing with the visuals and framework. I?ve seen some of his work and the quintesstial Audition and Koroshiya Ichi, and while Audition appeared to get stuck in the new wave J-horror color palatte (but with richer earthtones) and Ichi was disappointing in visual dynamic, this movie is beautiful to look at. Event the strange studio shot was striking, but his outdoor shots and lighting is great. And the implausible environmental ending in the snow is wonderful. I hope Miike does more of this type of daylight-rural movie. Without the look, this would be 2 stars. But I want to know why he picked English to play it out?