Hyôryû-gai

City of Lost Souls, aka Hazard City, is pretty self explanatory from the title. The characters in the movie seem lost and there are dangers lurking around every corner. Who can you trust not to blast one in your back? Well, with Takashi Miike, trust nobody.

I noticed that the cast was a mix of japanese, chinese, and brazilian! It caught my attention when I would hear portugeuse being spoken, then japanese later on. I noticed that Miike included the different languages rather than having it all in japanese which made the film seem more real. Oh, let me say that that's one wacky wedding scene! There are some surprising moments too...which you'll see when you watch the film (no fair in me telling!).

The interactions between the characters seem so random that I felt there really was no good or bad sides. I loved the vodka scene with Michelle Reis who was visually stunning throughout. Plus, Teah plays the cool, suave Mario who speaks through actions rather than dialogue. Also, that yakuza guy is someone you do not mess with!!

Thank you Miike for a unique ending which surprised my friend and I...or maybe it was the Remy Red shots that left me saying "HUH??" I guess I'll have to watch it again....which is a good thing.

I have a troubled relationship to Takashi Miikes films. While i usually find them interesting i have a hard time really enjoying them. And while (or perhaps because) this is one of his less extreme movies i have the same problem here.

When Takashi Miike is discussed people often mention his over-the-top, gore-filled movies with flashy visuals and plots that are usually quite hard to comprehend. Of course plot usually takes the back-seat and are not the reason why you would watch something by Miike to begin with. "The City of Lost Souls" however is a more conventional movie where the plot is easier to understand and the action is not as extreme. And the result is, perhaps not surprisingly, not very interesting in my opinion.

This is the story about a Brazilian gangster and his girlfriend who try to leave Japan to start a new life. But things don't go as planned and before long they end up having both the Triads and the Yakuza on their tail after interfering with a drug deal.

This movie does have some interesting scenes, it's far from all bad. But in the end this is not twisted enough for my tastes. And to me it feels like Miike doesn't really have the ideas or the script to make a more straight-forward movie out of this. Rather it feels like he should either have focused more on the plot here or tried twisting the whole style of the movie a couple of times. In the end this becomes a movie with a weak plot and not enough screwed-up moments to make it interesting. While it's not without entertainment value, it's still a disappointment. I rate it 4/10.

This little gem is a solo Miike film. No sequels and not much publicity, the movie oozes with style and the action is brilliantly choreographed. The idea of Japan being filled with immigrants, a midget brushing his teeth with cocaine, animated cockfights - all examples of Takashi Miike's very vivid imagination. The story is to do with a Brazilian guy who falls in love with the sister of a Chinese mafia boss who disagrees with their relationship.the Brazilian, however, will not let the love of his life go for no-one. Like an ultra violent version of Romeo and Juliet with foul toilet gags. another Miike great

8 out of 10

What Takashi Miike is driven by is of course shock and irreverence. And He succeeded quite well here : lots of useless violence, lots of humor (the blood of the gunfighters drawing "love" on the ground), lots of bad taste. But "Audition" was characterized by the same ingredients. Not to be taken seriously of course. It's true that the codes of the genre are destroyed, played with : the hero is non-asian, the asians (all yakuza or triad members are worthless human beings driven by sadistic and violent impulses) And the end is a jewel in itself perverting the usual codes in the same way as the rest of the picture Great fun ! (another oddity : it must be the only Japanese picture in which half of the dialogue is in Portuguese...)

I enjoyed this movie, but I had hoped for more.

This is a straight forward story with lots of off the wall mini scenes/story's between the meat and potatoes of a very average revenge/gangster/drug tale.

The action sequences are pretty good to very good, and the gore level is not too bad(keep in mind this is Japanese in taste and style) Teah just does not make for a charismatic lead, but the rest of the cast were extremely watchable.

There is as always in these style of movies some light humour thrown it to lighten the violence.

This movie was good, but just not that satisfying or mindblowing...I recommend if you know the style and like the director.