Review of Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) by Chris R — 19 Dec 2008

First of all, I have to say that I love these movies in general. Crouching Tiger, House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Fearless are all great movies in my book. While this replaces swords with guns and adds a whole lot more humor, I still consider one of them and I dug it just as much.

The whole is a broadly stroked cartoon homage to spaghetti western, and there are a crap load of references if you've seen many of the spaghetti westerns and identifying them is an added bonus to the movie.

It could be called corny or silly, and I can't really defend on that front, it is. But it somehow surpasses that and integrates it into the coolness, the same way the spaghettis did really. The set and costume design were especially amazing, all the characters had looks that helped define them and the blend of western and asian in the town were impressive.

The fact that they all speak english is a little akward, as it is clear some of the characters know absolutely no english and are just repeating the sounds, however after the initial jarring it becomes an added part of the western/samurai formula that made the movie so interesting.