Tokyo Tribe

Even more offbeat and outlandish than 'Why Don't You Play in Hell?', this follow-up feature from Sion Sono is a rap musical about feuding gangs, set in contemporary Japan. While unquestionably a bizarre mesh of genres, the project works magnificently thanks to the energy and imagination that Sono brings to every frame. The sets and costumes are a wonder to behold with heavy doses of neon lights, human statue furniture, walls made of red balloons... there is even a gun with a mobile phone built into it and a van with chandeliers attached to the side mirrors! The minimal special effects and spirited choreography are pretty good too and while the violence is nowhere near as brutal or memorable as in 'Play in Hell', it is an experience all the same. Attempting to nut out of finer details of the plot is a little tricky here. There are a heap of key characters, very few of whom are developed in any depth, and side plots including a missing daughter and a mystical quest delivered via hologram crop up without ever being properly resolved. Never to mind, what can be deciphered here is enticing on its own and the film includes some neat messages too regarding how easy it is to pitch gangs against one another and the very petty reasons that some men have for starting (turf or other) wars. There is a fair bit of dark comedy in the mix too and the overall movie is so outrageous and willfully uncanny that its entertainment value is hard to deny as long as one is prepared to forgo the tropes of traditional narratives and indulge in something a little more 'out there'.

'TOKYO TRIBE': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A martial arts/action/comedy/musical flick, spoken almost entirely in rap verse! The film has been described (by it's marketing campaign) as "The world's first battle rap musical", and it's based on the popular Manga series, 'Tokyo Tribe2', by Santa Inoue. It was written and directed by Sion Sono (who's probably most well known for helming 2013's 'WHY DON'T YOU PLAY IN HELL?') and it stars Ryohei Suzuki, Young Dais, Riki Takeuchi, Shota Sometani, Ryuta Sato and Akihiro Kitamura. The movie tells the story of a futuristic Japan, divided into territorial gangs; until one gang leader breaks the truce. It's one of the craziest, and most bizarrely original films, I've seen all year!

Sometime, in the not too distant future, Japan is divided into separate street gangs; each representing a different faction, collectively known as the 'Tokyo Tribes'. The leader of one tribe, Mera (Suzuki), decides to break the peace, and join forces with another ruthless gang leader, Buppa (Takeuchi). Together they wage war on another tribe, and cause an 'all out war'. Blood fills the streets; as everyone turns to brutal violence, and continuous rapping.

The movie is really weird, and definitely not for everyone, but I like 'weird'; and I found myself really enjoying it. The film took a little while for me to get into, at first it's pretty jarring; but once I was 'hooked', I was completely involved and thoroughly entertained! The action is brutally violent, and many scenes are pretty twisted and sadistic; but it's also filled with catchy hip- hop music, and beautifully choreographed fight scenes. The performances are great, and the visuals are always interesting to look at. The film is sure to become a beloved cult classic, by many genre fans, while many others will hate it. You know you're witnessing 'great art', when people are completely divided!

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/41q3ZuWGdEE

You'll either find this mash up of gang violence, martial arts action and hip-hop musical (it is told almost entirely in rap verse), based on a popular Manga series ingenious or totally bonkers, but director Sion Sono delivers a movie that goes beyond the midnight-movie oddness of the plot, and has a knack of making the dumbest of ideas work. In a futuristic Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. When one of the gang leaders breaks the fragile peace, it triggers a brutal street war for supremacy. Featuring a cannibalistic yakuza boss and his son who has a room full of human furniture, a (computer-generated) tank rolling down the streets of Tokyo and bombing buildings, a lot of humour, and even a homage to Bruce Lee (not Kill Bill) in Game of Death, there's a lot to like in this movie even if the novelty of it all does start to wear a little thin after a while.

The costumes/movie set are quite breathtaking and songs are very catchy. Another eccentric movie by Sion even if it doesn't break any grounds. It's probably hard to watch again as the plot is extremely superficial and never takes itself seriously. Never knew Rap was a thing in Japan until I googled some of the actors from the movie that are actually real artists irl.

Actually watching this I can't imagine anyone being serious ... I was surprised at how much "Rap" was in it (even though some of the actors actually weren't that good with their MC skills) - you can and should call this a musical. Obviously, if rap music isn't your thing, you should not even think about watching this.

Anyone else open to a mad world, go ahead and have fun. And you can have fun. There are so many crazy and wicked ideas in this, you'll have quite a lot to talk about with friends or generally on the internet. There were a couple of moments that seemed unnecessary (misogynistic), but other than that, this is really just a fun little movie, that almost made me stand up at the end singing along - Tokyo Tribe