Review of Sushi Girl (2012) by Faisal A — 20 Jan 2013

I really wanted to love this movie, and I pretty much was moving in that direction during the first 45 minutes. Mark Hamill and Tony Todd ar the main reasons to appreciate the film as in my opinion they command our attention whenever they are on screen.

Each character is an interesting cut-out from these very odd criminal archetypes and revisions we've seen in films (Hollywood and International) from the 90s. This film clearly loves the films it pays homage to, and it clearly wants to be a cult film on its own.

..Unfortunately I saw it trying way too hard. Once the film goes from a crime movie with interesting character pieces to torture porn territory, it struggles to truly finish the plot properly. These psychopathic characters are reduced to morons and its clear that the movie is so contrived, that it can't push any further.

I no longer believed in the characters and I no longer cared about the movie once the torturing began. Why? Because this film is similar to the kind of film I came up with almost 5 years ago (from writing this review), which is to say, what I wanted to write, was so contrived, so desperate to be fresh, yet so sad, stupid and pathetic.

I see the writers falling into the same trap I did before, and I really wish I didn't. Overall, I did like the performances, and the first 45 minutes of the film, but in the grand scheme of things, even Mark Hamill can't warrant a second viewing really.