Sushi Girl

I have been following this project since I saw the panel at Comikaze long before the film was coming out (they have since gone back to Comikaze). I remember watching the trailer with a high degree of hope and optimism.

Truly, I thought, this could be something special. A good cast, interesting idea, and seemed to have some talent attached to it.

Ultimately the result has been a disappointment. I give credit for the attempt, but there are several problems with this film from the beginning.

First and foremost, the music. It's an odd place to start, but stick with me: the music is formulaic, tinny, and lacks the timing to know when to fill the space with notes and when to let the ambient sound give us time to breathe. I don't know whether to blame the filmmaker or the composer, but I know the composer is responsible for the lackluster scoring. There was no vibrancy and life to the music, so it seemed to siphon the energy from the film too.

The cast was fine, although uneven. Specifically, Mark Hamill plays a very odd character that never quite seems the fit into this gaggle of characters.

The pacing is definitely a problem too. After about 30 minutes in we paused to note how long had passed with almost nothing happening. The character introductions dragged and weren't very engaging. The writing is primarily responsible, as the dialogue lacks the same vibrancy that the music does. It feels cheap, in the same way a movie of the week is cheap. And this is not an issue of budget, as I've seen other films do much more with much less. When you don't have the budget to support you, you need to have the script be sharp as a bladed diamond or the audience will drift.

The whole film seems like echoes of Pulp Fiction, as realized through a narrow, uninteresting lens. I realize that on a small project like this the filmmaker likely reads these reviews, so I want to say something specifically to him: I remember you from the panel, and how enthusiastic and excited you were. I could feel the same excitement and energy from the whole cast (except for Hamill, who exudes this persona of a disinterested deity, which suits him). I'm glad you were so invigorated and excited, but this is not the best you could have done.

The script should have been more polished with more engaging dialogue and situations. The editing was at times to frenetic, giving talking scenes an unnecessarily jumpy quality more reserved for action sequences. And the music was really poorly done, and there's no nicer way to say that.

I feel like there are better things for you on the horizon, but I'd be lying if I said this was a great start. You have better projects ahead of you, but you need better material to work with, and better people to help with the creative process, from writing to production. I do believe you have some really interesting work ahead, so don't let negative reviews discourage you. Take them under advisement, ignore the ones that are petty and useless, and become a better filmmaker.

I want to see what you can do next, so show me something.

Fish (Noah Hathaway) has spent six years in jail. Six years alone. Six years keeping his mouth shut about the robbery, about the other men involved. The night he is released, the four men he protected with silence celebrate his freedom with a congratulatory dinner. The meal is a lavish array of sushi, served off the naked body of a beautiful young woman.

Look at this cast: Tony Todd, Michael Biehn, Mark Hamill, Jeff Fahey, Sonny Chiba, Danny Trejo. And then we start out with the song "Diamonds Are Forever" -- known from James Bond, but with a very different meaning here.

We have James Duval -- is he all grown up? And we have the sensibility and spiritual feeling of "Reservoir Dogs", one of the all-time greatest heist movies.

I do not even need to write a real review because this movie is just so darn good.

A character called "Fish" (Noah Hathaway ) is released from Prison after serving six years for a diamond heist, he meets up with his accomplices whom he protected during his sentence, for a 'celebratory' meal, a lavish array of sushi, all laid out on a beautiful young woman...well it beats a Bernie Inn I suppose!

I wasn't expecting much from this film, I'd never even heard of it until now, just a seen it all before yarn, but what you get is an intriguing blood soaked plot, plenty of twists, a more than satisfying 'twist' finale, and a cool Tarantino style exploitation cast of Tony 'Candyman' Todd, Sonny Chiba, Danny Trejo, Micheal Biehn and an almost unrecognizable Mark Hamill looking like the love child of John Presscott and Eddie Izzard!!

A bloody enthralling slice of cinema that the aforementioned Tarantino could have served out.

I was wanting to watch this movie ever since I heard Tony Todd was gonna produce it and I gotta say, that I wasn't disappointed in the least. It had strong Tarrantino elements and a lot of suspense. I was intrigued every step of the way.

The storyline is simple. 5 criminals are summoned for a Sushi Dinner by Tony Todd who's waited 6 years for one member ; who was caught; to be released and tell him where he hid the diamonds. What transpires; once the 6 men reunite is a clash of egos and personalities}, which ends up "Opening wounds for the past" or the present in order to get some strait answerers as to what happened to the diamonds?

Tonny Todd hasn't been this sinister since his Candy Man days and Mark Hamill was a real treat. I wasn't aware that he had such a huge career in voice overs. Particularly , lending his voice for tons of Super Hero villains. I've seen some of those animated Batman flicks and whereas Heath Ledger and Cesar Romero were perfect as Joker in their respective eras; I believe Hamill does a perfect Joker in the animated series. He obviously found a way to bring his Joker persona onto the screen for his Crow character in Sushi Girl. Add a little flamboyance and passive lunacy and I believe he gave his best performance ever. I kinda felt his performance like I did when Tarrantino first resurrected John Travolta's career in Pulp Fiction.

Besides the great storyline, we also get a lot of favorites from yesteryear. Danny Trejo donning a Machete was a pure classic Grindhouse element that he also played out in one of Steve Austin's latest action films.Jaff Fahey and Michael Beihn also Starr in minor roles. I would have loved for Michael Beihn to have played one of the characters at Tonny Todds table.

The newcomer; Courtney Palm has one killer bod and seemed perfect for this kinda Tarrantinesque Grindhouse flick.

the action scenes were incorporated in flashback style, but it never got boring. IT actually all takes place at Tony Todd's Japanese Restaurant, so expect a lot of Tarrantino style dialog. Throw in a couple of nail biting torture scenes and Mexican Style stand Off ending and you have the movie that Tarrantino easily could have directed.

The cinematography is very stylish and attractive. Mot just for the naked Courtney Palm, but also for the various decorations amidst the restaurant. It is, after all, Japanese- inspired. Very classy. This is definitely, my kinda flick.

SUSHI GIRL is a single location thriller with a nice setting and sense of time and place. It was written and directed by Kern Saxton as an obvious labour of love and tribute to, not only Quentin Tarantino - whose RESERVOIR DOGS is an obvious inspiration - but the B-movie thriller genre as a whole. The setting is an elaborate banquet in which Japanese food is served on the naked body of a woman (the unknown Cortney Palm, effective in a difficult part). A gang of thieves lost a fortune in diamonds six years ago, and upon the release of one of their number from prison, they're determined to find out what happened to it.

Obviously, how much you enjoy SUSHI GIRL depends on how much you like the actors involved. I had a ball with them. Tony Todd inevitably towers over everybody as the cruel boss but the rest of the cast match him, particularly Noah Hathaway's sympathetic rookie; you may recall Hathaway as a child actor in THE NEVERENDING STORY back in the day. James Duval (THE BLACK WATERS OF ECHO'S POND) actually plays his age for once, while Andy Mackenzie is completely believable as a brutal thug. Most notably we have Mark Hamill who hams it up in a Joker-style turn as a sneering, laughing villain. He's unrecognisable and certainly unforgettable in the part.

The running time flies past and the film never bores despite the single location. The flashbacks of the robbery are done effectively and there's a fine sequence featuring brief cameos from Danny Trejo, Michael Biehn, and Jeff Fahey. Even better, the inimitable Sonny Chiba also cameos. The only thing that dragged this film down a bit was that the ending twists were very obvious and that there's a little too much dwelling on extensive torture scenes - never my favourite - to pad out the running time. Other than that, it's a decent B-movie.