The Fable

I first watched the sequel and then this. Both are kind of similar, although the sequel felt a little more grounded. Great action scenes, all actors do a great job, even the stupid faced Yakuza types that normally just bug out their eyes and jut their chins and shout rude slang, in this film they have a personality and act with care for their characters. As others noticed, it is a film threading a fine line between comedy and dark action, which doesn't always work, but mostly does.

In fact, the film feels really inconsistent: good acting in a manga adaption, forced sex trafficking followed by comedy, great action scenes in a rather unentertaining story, although not a formulaic one, deeper levels of characterization in a movie about an autistic assassin. Worth a watch.

The Fable is a film that shouldn't work. An action-comedy based on a successful Manga series, it revolves around Akira Sato (Jun'ichi Okada), a hitman who finds himself on an unexpected holiday after his latest job. Ordered to lie low, his boss gives him strict instructions not to kill anyone for a year and try his best to live a normal life. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done with two rival assassins looking to take him out, not to mention an ambitious young gangster attempting to start a gang war. It's also not helped by the fact Sato had an...unconventional upbringing at best and isn't really sure how to behave around regular people.

The end result is a film that's very silly, delighting in scenes of a stone-faced killer struggling to socialise with his new co-workers and avoid blowing his cover. Okada's deadpan performance is great, watching him work out how to eat fish in public and delighting in the antics of a childish comedian raises a few laughs and the film is consistently entertaining.

The comedy however is noticeably at odds with the violence. The opening gun battle is a blood-splattered introduction and there's a fast-paced brawl in a factory towards the end which is wildly impressive. The psychotic villains and references to sex trafficking also mean The Fable is only a whisker away from being a very dark film indeed. Sato's social awkwardness is endearing, but when he's blowing holes in torsos and gunning down gangsters en masse, he's borderline inhuman.

The two styles shouldn't mesh but strangely, they do. The Fable winds up being surprisingly enjoyable. It isn't as funny as it wants to be and it definitely handles the action better than the comedy, but for a good seventy percent of the run time, it's a blast.

Known as 'The Fable' an assassin has been trained since childhood to be the perfect assassin; now he has been told that he must take a year off. He must live as 'Akira Sato', an ordinary man. This means no guns and definitely no killing... if he kills anybody, for whatever reason, he will be killed. It won't be that easy though. He moves to Osaka where he gets an ordinary job. Unfortunately for him he keeps running into people who want trouble or want his unique services. Ultimately, when a new friend is kidnapped, he must try to rescue her from a large number of yakuza without killing any of them.

This film may not be the sort that is likely to compete for any major awards but it is a lot of fun. The action begins in the opening scene as we see just how efficient an assassin 'The Fable' is. This action is far from bloodless. The story could have been played straight but it is full of humour. Some of this, such as our protagonist finding a particularly silly comedian hilarious, does wear a bit thin at times but not enough to spoil my enjoyment. The cast is solid; frequently hamming it up in a way that suits the material. Overall I'd definitely recommend fans of action films give this a go. I'll definitely be watching the sequel.

These comments are based on watching the Film in Japanese with English subtitles.

This was the second Japanese film I've watched after Rurouni Kenshin (series)... this one is a pure action/comedy entertainer. I was not expecting this out when I started this movie on Netflix.. Just enjoyed throughout. Simply storyline, but executed very well.

This movie reminds me a lot of the comic City Hunter. Although, this movie is comical comedic, the actions are not. They are very well choreographed.

Recommended for comedy and action fans.

Now, I am going for the part two. Hope it is as good.