Hell Dogs - Nella casa di bambù

This scheme is not new: vengeance, undercover cop, so this violent crime flick from the Rising sun country is only destined to hardcore fans of this kind of material. It is well paced, with an atmosphere and directing elements specific to the Asian film methods; western film industries have of course another way to present and develop a story. I have seen better in the Japanese crime category, easier to follow. A bit too long, but most of those Asian films are rarely shorter. Many talkative parts are useless for me, to appreciate this movie. But I don't regret to have seen it. It is rare, it won't be available on DVDs, I guess, only on Netflix, so if you crave for this Japanese, or even Korean, crime movie.

The film is not easy-to-digest popcorn entertainment, however. I was often on the edge of my seat, not only for the many hardcore action scenes staged for maximum blood-spattering and bone-crunching impact but also to figure out what was going on as characters rattled off reams of exposition.

The setting does not resemble that of a typical yakuza film, where low-level hoodlums chow down on convenience store food and run their scams out of hole-in-the-wall offices.

The film delivers mayhem with punch and panache at a blistering pace, though the two main protagonists sometimes escape certain death with what seems to be nothing but willpower.

Hell Dogs is a gripping crime drama about a damaged police office who goes undercover with the Yakuza and forms bonds with his crime family. There is a lot of Donnie Brasco in here. The acting is great. The action and the violence is top notch. The film's cast is very strong. The direction and cinematography is as good as anything you will find in Korea or Hollywood. The same with the fight choreography. The film's story has been told in different ways but this one is effective and engaging. I really found myself riveted from start finish. These film's walk in the gray area where there is a fine line between the good guys and the bad guys, but maybe that is more realistic. I love the obsession with the Italian Mafia by the Yakuza. Japanese with English Subtitles.

If you are into action, gangster and Yakuza movies, this one is for you. The acting is great and you are not bored one minute. Shogo Kanetaka (Junichi Okada) is a police officer, who suffers from trauma when his loved one was murdered. Since that horrific time, Shogo Kanetaka has only thought about revenge. He then receives an order to go undercover as a yakuza member. And the action just picks up. The narrative is pretty dynamic, so it seems it's always moving/progressing (which it is). There's also a couple of surprises and twists along the way, which add to whole movie. The action and suspense goes on for almost the entire movie.

Netflix has done a masterpiece with this one. Its a must watch.

The idea of going undercover to get a job done is not new, in American cinema it probably goes back at least to Undercover Agent (1939). Police procedurals being popular, almost every other country on the planet has played with this genre also, and it is especially popular in Asia. Masato Harada is a senior director with decades of experience in Japan and this appears to have been his pet project. References in the film show that Harada was very familiar with the American "film noir" (as above), and in many ways Hell Dogs is almost an homage. That said, while direction and acting is sharp, and the action scenes razor-sharp, my concerns are the same ones mentioned in the overseas reviews. Running over 2 hours is just too long; long scenes of exposition with heavy dialog; long distances between action scenes; and so many characters to keep track of that the viewer gets the sense a pop quiz may be coming. Tighter editing would have helped. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))