Tokyo Zombie

This movie was way too long. It has left me so cold and disinterested that I struggle to even trash the damned thing!

There are some amusing scenes (not funny, just amusing) but some, like the one where bald man (I forget his name) says he has cancer, that seem to go on for an eternity.

I used to be a stickler for uncut movies but lately I've come around to the position that maybe the distributer and producers were sometimes right to reign in the excesses of wannabe epics, especially ones where so little actually happens that you can probably describe the whole 104 minutes in a few sentences.

This isn't so much a zombie picture as a character study that just happens to have zombies in it and the characters are a bunch of idiotic whiners.

If you want to see a good Asian zombie flick, go check out one called Bio Zombie. It's actually funny (not just amusing), has a better buddy sub-plot, and has real action and suspense.

Two Japanese friends accidentally kill their boss and dump his remains in Black Fuji, a mountain/landfill hybrid. This leads to poor results when the chemicals of the landfill mix with the corpse (and many other corpses) to give rise to a zombie infestation in Tokyo.

This is a pretty bizarre film. Two men fight zombies with jujitsu. Not swords, not guns, but face-smashing jujitsu. One of them has a 'fro haircut while the other is bald. It's just an odd pairing. The film has been called the Japanese "Shaun of the Dead". I see it. I think it's a stretch, but I see it. Comparisons to other recent Japanese films, such as "Machine Girl", seem more appropriate -- there's a similar style of dark humor and violence coupled with cheesy CGI.

There's also an attempt to connect this to "Ichi the Killer". Don't be fooled by that. "Ichi", along with essentially all the work of Miike, is better than this film. "Q", "Audition", and others just put "Tokyo Zombie" to shame. Perhaps it has the same writer, but the fact this film was based off a manga is evident and infuses a humor that doesn't play as well in live action.

This film's biggest flaw is a lack of zombies. Sure, we have plenty of zombies, but there still seems to be a shortage -- there are periods of up to ten minutes without zombie action. These scenes are often filled with sentimental blather. Maybe in the original language this comes off better, but I had little interest in hearing people talk sentimentally to each other.

Typically I watch films while drinking, but due to a cold I was not drinking during this one. That is unfortunate. While this movie was above average, it would have been even better with alcohol. The humor is lame at some points, and is either a cultural thing or just plain dumb. I'm uncertain. But all I know is that parts that were clearly meant to be funny fell flat for me.

If you like "Machine Girl", I'd say give this one a chance. Perhaps even if you liked "Shaun of the Dead", though the connection is slight. A double feature with this film and a stronger Japanese film, such as "Battle Royale", would make for a good evening. Show this one first, of course. It's decent but by no means a headliner.

I picked this up cheap, the DVD case proclaiming it to be "The Japanese Shaun of the Dead". Very misleading. Yes, it's a comedy with zombies but that is as far as the similarities go. Based on a manga comic with the same name, apparently, the story is mainly about two workmates and their obsession with Jujitsu. Only there's a zombie apocalypse (yawn) so they're constantly having to deal with fighting off the living dead. Unless you are a fan of Japanese horror/comedy then this may not be your cup of tea. It is funny at times, tedious at others. Bizarre, or silly, is an apt description. There is plenty of violence but it's more comical than gory, tame enough for a 15 certificate (UK)

A great fun watch. Two workers who prefer to spend their time training in jujitsu accidentally kill their boss and bury him on Black Fuji, an enormous pile of rubbish. There are some great scenes on Black Fuji with the young couple burying the mother of the boy while she continues to call the girlfriend a tart. When the girlfriend soccer kicks her head off the mother still yells abuse. This sets the tone for the whole movie. Our unlikely heroes are afro-ed and bald and spend a lot of time wrestling with each other. When the zombies attack the main motto is "head north to Russia and become a man". American is dissed and maybe that's why Americans haven't taken to this excellent cult manga film. It's not overly violent and has lots of humour.

Fujio (Tadanobu Asano) and Mitsuo (Sho Aikawa) spend their free time wrestling. Their boss interrupts one day and starts yelling at them. After an apparent heart attack, them dump him on the Black Fuji, a mountain of trash that contains everything - including bodies.

The chemicals in the mountain cause the dead to rise, and now Tokyo has some real problems.

You might think that writer/director Sakichi Satô would give us another Ichi the Killer, but you would be wrong. The blood is minimal. This is a comedy. There are a lot of people losing their heads, but no little gore.

The good thing is that they are real zombies, and you can outrun them.

After five years, Tokyo is completely zombified. Fujio is stuck with Yoko (Erika Okuda), a girl Mitsuo saved before he was bitten, and those that are not zombies are slaves for the rich.

Things do get really funny at the end, and a little crazy, too.

I just wish they wouldn't have repeatedly used the "R" word.