The Outsider

I for one thoroughly enjoyed this Netflix film, which is rare. Not sure what th deal with Metacritic rating it so low because I found it to be above average compared to most streaming originals. If you don't know the story, go ahead and watch the trailer, and for me, I was immediately drawn in to it by the trailer, because I'm a big fan of Asian crime films. And this film was not a let down in nearly any way. I loved the story, such a unique one in the time of super hero garbage and needless remakes of classics. The story pulled me in and the world it creates is a well represented one, definitely channeling other very successful Asian crime films. The action was true to the genre and definitely satisfied me.

Unfortunately not all the actors shined. Don't get me wrong, some had great performances, but others just seemed to be playing themselves, which I hate. As I said before, the world is well put together, seems very authentic with pretty good cinematography. I didn't like the pacing at some parts of the film but that really had no effect on the enjoyable experience. So I would say this is a pretty decent breathe of fresh air to see on Netflix, better than the majority of bombs that they put out into the public.

I would highly recommend it.

The story is a fairly by the numbers mafia drama in terms of structure but,it is very well executed. The sense of high stakes is always present trough the whole film, every action has a consequence. As the script has no unnecessary filler plots, it keeps the story moving at a prefect pace.

The main themes of the movie are brotherhood and revenge, and even if the characters ar not too deep, you get to know them enough to care for them in dangerous situations and you feel some empathy for the main character in his struggle ro fit into a violent world that does not treat him as an equal Nick is not a hero or a good person at all but he shows enough principles for the audience to understand his perspective.

Is this movie unique? Not at all but it more than a time waster that deserves your attention.

Just because a movie has a snails pace, does not mean it can not be brutal and violent in spades. We got one of those cases right here. It's about honor and loyalty. A major part of the movie is in Japanese (with subtitles of course), but our main character is an english speaking one. Which is the old "stranger comes into town" kind of thing.

In this case his invasion into this culture that most westerners may not be that aware of, is really the driving force. He does learn fast, but he is also human, so he does have some urges and he has feelings too (even if sometimes you may think otherwise). Brutal, honest and without really taking compromises, this may feel too long for some, but will be a masterpiece for others.

Reminds me of the Yakuza (1974) with Robert Mitchum combined with Black Rain!

Stylish and dark beyond darkness; the brutality is almost clinical in its precision and execution just like the movie.

Critics - What do they know - there seems to be a difference between what critics say and the reality of what we all like and what is genuinely good!

This was a good film!

The Outsider (Gaijin), starring Jared Leto, is the latest addition to those Netflix Originals that was slammed by most of the critics and yet turned out to be an enjoyable watch for me. This Netflix Original tries to experiment with the less talk and more acting type of storytelling which is not often seen in the genre of crime thrillers. For an out and out Jared Leto movie, The Outsider is more than 70% Japanese.

The movie follows the story of an American soldier imprisoned in post-war Japan who enters the Japanese Mob Family, Yakuza after befriending one of them while in prison. The support cast of Tadanobu Asano, Kippei Shîna and Shioli Kutsuna are amazing throughout but no gaze goes past the intensity of Nick Lowell, portrayed by Jared Leto. The intensity and honestly he brings to his character is beyond words. The story telling style and the exhaustive usage of Japanese in the movie makes it difficult to convert 'The Outsider' into a fast paced thriller that it could have been.

The way the movie ended was a bit anticlimactic and was open ended, probably with the intention of bringing out a part 2. I would go with the title 'The Insider' for part two though. I would recommend this movie to anybody who is a fan of Jared Leto and likes slow-burn crime drama's. Do not expect any classic dialogues as the dialogues itself are few and far between.