Outrage Beyond

I'm refering to the international title of the movie "Beyond Outrage". I do think that the movie is a real good continuation of the first one. Back when I watched it, I didn't know a trilogy would emerge. I don't know what was planned, though I guess certain things might have been set up on purpose. But it's really great how this continues.

Beat Takeshi back again but not really with a vengeance. At least not at first, because he realized he was being used. The first one was quite frantic. I did revisit it, just to remember what had happened. It was a good idea, seeing characters and having them on your radar. A lot of violence and a lot dead people - so not for the faint of hearted ...

With Outrage, Takeshi Kitano returned to his filmmaking roots and he did not disappoint, bringing to the audience one of his signature yakuza movies. Its follow-up, Outrage Beyond offers more of the same as it focuses on a larger scale conflict this time, a conflict that is the direct result of the events in the first film.

The action here revolves around Takeshi Kitano's Otomo and the way his actions lead to a war between two rival yakuza gangs. We find out that Otomo is alive and well, but still in prison after surviving the aftermath of the bloodbath in the first film. His premature release from prison leads to tensions between the two organizations and the apparent peace between them is disrupted. Thus the fight for power begins and the conflict is spiced up by the involvement of a police detective who has interests of his own, all leading to an explosive finale.

The film does not fail to deliver, although it is not in the same class as some of Takeshi's other yakuza efforts. It represents an improvement on Outrage in terms of storytelling, there is less focus on old school action and more emphasis is put on the conflict between the characters, which is a good thing since it adds more dimension to the story. The characters themselves are well developed and the acting is what you would expect. On the other hand, the film lacks some creativity and some artistic touch in order to be truly great. All the elements of a Kitano film are here, but they do not stand out as much as they should, even his trademark deadpan humor is served in smaller doses. All things aside, the film is good in its own right and the only reason for it not being on par with Takeshi's best efforts is because those films have set such a high standard.

While it does not break any new ground, Outrage Beyond is an entertaining film to watch whether you are a fan of the genre or not and it represents a good addition to Takeshi Kitano's filmography.

"Beyond Outrage" is possible more sober and cynical than the first film, exploring further into the bureaucratic side of the struggle between clans. There seems to be no difference in the ways police, yakuza, and politics work in nowadays Japan: honor is for the weak and any chance is good to betray your partner for a promotion. Character development is again minimal, but at least we have a more charismatic cast this time.

"Beyond Outrage" is the sequel to star and auteur Takeshi Kitano's epic of rival yakuza gangs "Outrage." This film is thrillingly lensed in the way that erstwhile widescreen masters such as Kurosawa and Nyquist used the full frame, and done so with a quintessentially oligochromatic Japanese patina. The story has grandeur of conception, keeps you rapt, and slickly amps up the badness of some very bad guys. The violence has larger quantum numbers than the comic book idioms of Tarantino, but is deployed with panache and grace. Among the film's climaxes is vanguard violence that will permanently prefigure how you regard baseball! Here's hoping "Outrage" becomes a trilogy.

i'll try to be as short as possible. essentially, this is a good yakuza film, that picks up different angles from where the prequel left off. eg., in the first 'outrage', the focus is on the yakuza discipline, or a romanticized yakuza clan struggling with modern times. on this film though, the focus is on the "macro-level", the interactions with police, politics, other clans and business.

unfortunately, although this seems very promising, it's not as brainy as other flicks, like 'the godfather' perhaps, and doesn't have the psychological depth or intricate plot of, say, the 1st 'infernal affairs'; it's a rather superficial action/yakuza film, but a very enjoyable one.

if you're a kitano fan: it's not avant-garde like 'sonatine', or kind of experimental like 'hanabi' or 'violent cop', or even a different take on the hollywoodian style like 'brother' - it's more a regular kind of movie. but if you liked the 1st 'outrage', like i did, you'll definitely like this one.