Getting Any?

Not my favourite Takeshi movie but then he did make so many good ones so it's hard to pick. This one has a more scattershot approach and it also goes on a bit too long; the yakuza material around the middle part feels stretched and repetitive as a result. What starts out as a wacky sex comedy becomes more and more wacky as it goes on, leading to spoofs of various film genres as well as the Japanese film industry in and of itself. Quite unlike anything I've seen, even other Takeshi films.

This is a truly funny film that crosses all boundaries... despite not having English subtitles I was totally gripped by the insanity of the images on display, and Takeshi Kitano's brilliant deadpan performance. It's incredible how such a simplistic tale of a man stumbling from one bizarre situation to another, with little or no rhyme or reason, can be so laugh-out-loud funny.

Takeshi Kitano is worldwide known because of his violent movies such as Brother, Hana-bi, Violent Cop, etc. However in Japan is the other way around, he is mostly known by his comedy tv shows or duo-comedy shows (the two beats), where he got the name "Beat".

Minna Yatteruka! could be Kitano's masterpiece in comedy, but still very difficult to import. At least, Image has released in Hong Kong and USA the DVD of Minna Yatteruka (getting any?) with English subtitles, and we've been able to see the unknown Kitano in a hilarious movie.

First of all, I have to say that I've seen all Kitano movies, even Dolls, and this movie has nothing to do with them, it's a completely different story, has more to do with tv shows he directed like Takeshi's Castle.

So, the movie is just astonishing, it comes from the most stupid situation and developes through gag to gag. One hour and a half of cinema parody fullfiled with Japanese Manga stupidity. The rhythm of the movie is slow, very slow at some points for a comedy, but it's still a good movie. I found parodies from his other yakuza movies, Ultraman, even the gohstbusters! and I'm sure I missed a lot.

Overall Review: A very funny movie, a fresh product, but might be too weird for the general audience. So, if you are interested in the Japanese culture, in Kitano, or if you are openminded for new experiences in comedy, check for it, unless , discard it and look for American Pie.

I don't ever recall writing a user comment for a film before, but considering some other comments here say it is garbage, I thought I would defend it. While this film CAN be considered garbage because it is so stupid and has some of the weirdest parts, you really have to watch this for what it is worth. This film is the single most funny movie I have ever seen in my life. If you can get over the fact at how slap stick and how unlikely it is, this is comic genius. There are so many references in this film also, to thinks like power rangers, road runner and coyote etc. It really is truly funny. This movie is so crazy you'll be on the floor dying of laughter, the comic timing is impeccable, the situations are insane and the outcomes are even more insane. This is the zaniest movie ever made. No it won't change your life, it wont enlighten you, but you WILL laugh.

I love Takeshi Kitano's movies, not every movie he does is perfect but I appreciate the amount of style and effort he puts on each film to do something very singular to his vision. And it just so happens his take on complete satire and slapstick comedy is absolutely fun, but as I said- not perfect.

Getting Any? As the title suggests is about the quest of getting laid at all costs. We follow incel-like pervert Asao (who has his room plastered filled with porn posters) who gets out on the quest to get a car in order to get a gorgeous lady to have sex with him, cause if you have the car then ladies will swarm you to have sex right? Not really. We then follow this completely despicable guy get in all sorts of trouble and mishaps on the way to his quest which is just pure fun- everything from failed bank robberies, yakuza-involvement and scientific experiments- this movie won't end in the way you think it's gonna end and that's amazing! I love that the movie has some sort of criticism on the state of entertainment as a whole, Japanese pervert culture and more- it's never obvious but sometimes it can be on-your-face which is not annoying in this case. It even spoofs a lot of western cultural stuff like movies and music which is interesting to see in itself how the western culture gets translated in a whole new cultural setting in Japan.

The comedy is top notch- one gag after the other, the comedy sometimes can hang on different Japanese cultural references that I'm not familiar with but it's fun nevertheless. The movie despite it's subject matter is filmed in a very very gorgeous way, with crisp and beautiful footage (just look at the opening scene which is just fantastic). It has some "cheaper" looking shots but it's totally appropriate considering which movie this is. The music is also fun, altering between gorgeous tracks to some fun pop music of the era to folk and enka tracks.

This all sounds very fun and it totally is the first hour or so is very engaging and offers many moments to laugh. It is in its second half when it looses a bit of its track and steam, the yakuza segment can feel a bit way too long and the last plot could've been made much more snappier! Don't get me wrong, there are still some very funny moments in the second half I just felt personally that I kind of lost the plot for a bit, until the absurd final takes place which makes up for it absolutely. The portrayal of women in this film can feel a bit weird but considering the film's subject matter and such it's a bit understandable.

Either way I think this movie is totally worth a watch, it's funny, weird, silly and so much more. You will not be disappointed by this movie- I think it's on par with Takeshi's other satire movie "Kantoku Banzai" perhaps even better? Check it out!